5 h 4 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What belongs to you when the crowd, your teachers and your habits all claim a share of your mind?
In Maurice Barrès’s A Free Man, Philippe tries to build an inner life that others cannot take from him. He watches his moods, tests his desires and asks what he should keep for himself. The struggle is quiet but demanding: how can he protect his independence without letting other people decide who he is?
Published in 1889, this French novel is the second book in the Cult of the Self trilogy. It offers less a plot than a method of self-examination. Barrès treats freedom as a craft that needs practice, not simply a feeling. Sensations, memories and desires become material to study, enjoy and question as Philippe searches for self-mastery.
What you’ll discover
- A mind at work Follow Philippe as he examines the moods and desires that shape his inner life.
- The pressure of others Explore the threat that crowds, teachers and familiar habits pose to independence of mind.
- Freedom as a craft Consider an approach to freedom built on discipline rather than a passing mood.
- A self in motion Meet a vision of the self as a stream of sensations, memories and desires.
- The pleasure of reflection Settle into slow self-examination, where watching a mind matters more than following fast action.
Who will love it
For readers who love introspective fiction, French literature of the 1880s, and questions about independence of mind, self-mastery and inner freedom.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Other people threaten the inner self
- Freedom needs a method and discipline
- Feelings are material to study and enjoy
- Self-mastery leads outward, and critics push back
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 5 h 4 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 4 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear A Free Man in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
A Free Man
by Maurice Barrès · 1889
Philippe studies his moods and desires to build an inner life that no crowd, teacher or habit can take from him.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
Other people threaten the inner self
The trilogy begins from a feeling of siege. Barrès calls the outside world the barbarians. By this he means the crowd, the convention and the ready-made opinion that press on a sensitive young person. In the first volume the hero is hurt by them. In A Free Man he answers back.
The answer is not to fight the world in public. It is to guard a private territory. Philippe withdraws so that he can find out what is truly his, apart from what he was taught to feel and think. The book treats this retreat as a first step, not a final home.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about A Free Man
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is A Free Man by Maurice Barrès about?
It follows a young man who tries to protect and train his inner life against the pressure of society. Through self-observation and discipline, he looks for a freedom that belongs to him alone.
What is the Cult of the Self trilogy?
It is Barrès's three-book series of the late 1880s and early 1890s. It consists of Under the Eye of the Barbarians, A Free Man and Berenice's Garden, and it studies how a person builds an inner life.
When was A Free Man written?
It was published in 1889 in France, between the first and third volumes of the trilogy. It is a work of fiction, though it draws on the author's own youthful questions about independence.
More by Maurice Barrès
All 2 books
More like this
Free
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in classics
See all
Free
Free
Free
