Books: The Genius As a Young Man

THE PRIVATE DIARIES OF STENDHAL (570 pp.)—Edited and Translated by Robert Sage—Doubleday ($7.50).

Poor Henri Beyle! He had no looks, no money, no social status, not even a good job. All he had was genius. But at 18, Henri Beyle was the only one who knew it, and not even he could be sure. He had just left his native Grenoble on what was to become a lifelong journey devoted to la chasse au bonheur—the pursuit of happiness—and the first stop was Milan, where young Beyle served as a sublieutenant in Napoleon's army of...