The Ascetic is the work of the French novelist Margaret Eusenault.
"Ascetics" originated from a novel written by Eusenaar around 1926, and in the years that followed, with intermittent contingencies, Youssenaar grew up with her characters until the publication of "Ascetics" in 1968, spanning forty-two years. When she first started writing, Eusenaar and her protagonist Zenon were about the same age when they traveled, and by the time they finished writing, she was 5 years older than Zenon was when he died. It's really touching to think of it. On the one hand, "Alchemy" is the term of the alchemist, the most difficult stage in alchemy, on the other hand, the process of Zenon casting wisdom into his own life, and finally, the process of the writer Eusenaar melting his life into a work of art. This process, because it takes place in the real world, is more like an individualistic modern epic.
Medieval towns were filthy, plague-ridden, and war-torn, an era in which philosophy, science, religion, and superstition were intertwined. Zenon was an illegitimate child who grew up in the church. At the age of twenty, he decided to run away from home and go to the world to explore knowledge. He traveled most of the world for more than thirty years, then returned to Bruges in anonymity to see the poor. An accident that had little to do with him revealed his true identity, and after a secular trial, Zenon was sentenced to the stake.
In the end, Zenon ended his life on the eve of his execution at the end of the winter.
The plot of the story is not as twisted and bizarre as popular novels or general historical novels, and the climax is repeated, but it aptly shows the noisy atmosphere of Renaissance Europe, and at the same time shows the wisdom of the author, almost every page is full of aphorisms, and it is thought-provoking, and when you read it, you can't help but think of Jane Austen, Proust, Montaigne, dostoevsky's theotheistic discussion, Nietzsche's philosophy of survival, spinoza's deism, and Locke's religious tolerance.