
A tender, impressionistic portrait unfolds as the narrator revisits the first flickers of consciousness that shaped his childhood. He likens those early memories to sudden bursts of light on a photographic plate, each bright flash etching fleeting scenes of summer mids—sun‑lit courtyards, the glow of a hearth, and the quiet awe of a world just beginning to reveal itself. The prose drifts between the delicate wonder of a newborn bird perched on a roof and the comforting, almost reverent, shelter of a loving household that cushions every stumble.
In a series of vivid, almost vignette‑like episodes, the narrator recalls discovering the joy of running, the crackle of fire in a family dining room, and the shy emergence of his own curiosity. Written as a modest tribute to a distant sovereign, the work balances lyrical introspection with a child’s raw, unfiltered perception, inviting listeners to linger on the purity of those first, unguarded moments.
Language
fr
Duration
~5 hours (301K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at DP Europe (http://dp.rastko.net)
Release date
2007-11-09
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1850–1923
A naval officer who turned travel and memory into vivid fiction, this French writer became famous for books that carried readers to Istanbul, Japan, and beyond. His work blends romance, melancholy, and a strong sense of place, giving even distant settings an intimate, personal feel.
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