In the novel's Preface, the Author states: "In a few short words, the content of the book is this: A boy dedicates himself to the clerical profession with the fire of childlike enthusiasm, the youth goes astray in his profession, and the man, 'because not all flowering dreams ripened, ' has the notion of giving it up and 'fleeing to the desert.' Yet Heaven has decided otherwise. With resignation he comes back to himself and begins again to believe in his calling. Besides this, everything which is presented in the book belongs partly to the characteristics of the hero appearing in it, partly to the characteristics of our time chiefly with regard to religious, ecclesiastical, and especially clerical matters."