Prior to the twentieth century, philosophy was the driving force behind all literature. Authors used the novel as a means to communicate their ideas on mans purpose and his place in the universe. With Louis Lambert, however, Balzac takes the idea of the philosophical novel a little too far in giving us this odd, chimerical mashup of philosophical treatise and coming-of-age novel. The novel seems to focus on the life and particularly the thoughts of the genius boy protagonist Louis Lambert. Set mostly in a school at Vendôme, it examines the life and theories of Louis fascinated by the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg (16881772) and his book Heaven and Hell. However, the main core of the novel is not about the life of Lambert as it is on his thoughts and ideas, as well as about emotions in humans lives. A beautiful novel by the great French novelist Balzacs novel sequence La Comedie Humane, which fall into the Etude Philosophic section of the sequence!