As the young narrator succumbs to the charms of the enchanting Gilberte, we are presented with an unparalleled account of the pangs of adolescent life. Following an illness, Marcel is sent to recuperate at the seaside resort of Balbec, together with his grandmother.
Young Stalin is a remarkable adventure story about an exceptional, turbulent young man, born in exoticism, raised in the church, fancying himself a poet, then embracing revolutionary idealism and thereby finding his romantic Messianic mission in life.