\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \qj\li105\ri195 \f1 \b Les MΘmoires d'Outre-Tombe (Memoirs from Beyond the Tomb)\b0 \i \par
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\i0 The expressive title (\i Memoirs from Bey
ond the Tomb) \i0 of this masterpiece by Chateaubriand derives from a clause in the contract for the work stipulating that it was not to be published until after the author's death. He started writing it in 1809 (the account of his childhood and adolesce
nce) and continued work on it - though not without interruptions - until 1841, seven years prior to his death. While the vanity that he displays may put off the reader, the work remains fascinating for the richness of its language, the subtlety of its ps
ychological analysis, and the accuracy of its portraits, as well as for its admirable descriptions of scenery, unequalled in the history of French literature.\par
