The word for today is…

bildungsroman (noun) – A novel whose principal subject is the moral, psychological, and intellectual development of a usually youthful main character.

Source : The Free Dictionary

Etymology : Bildungsroman is the combination of two German words: Bildung, meaning “education,” and Roman, meaning “novel.” Fittingly, a bildungsroman is a novel that deals with the formative years of the main character, and in particular, with the character’s psychological development and moral education. The bildungsroman usually ends on a positive note, with the hero’s foolish mistakes and painful disappointments over, and a life of usefulness ahead. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s late 18th-century work Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship) is often cited as the classic example of a bildungsroman. Though the term is primarily applied to novels, in recent years some English speakers have begun to apply it to films that deal with a youthful character’s coming-of-age.

Peter is a fourth-generation New Zealander, with his mother's and father's folks having arrived in New Zealand in the 1870s. He lives in Lower Hutt with his wife, some cats and assorted computers. His...