Wilhelm Meister, Elizabeth Bennet, Julien Sorel, Rastignac, Jane Eyre, Bazaroz, Dorothea Brooke ... the Golden Age of the European novel discovers a new collective protagonist: youth. It is problematic and restless youth -- 'strange' characters, as their own creators often say -- arising from the downfall of traditional societies. But even more than that, youth is the symbolic figure for European modernity: that sudden mix of great expectations and...