A CHRONICLE OF The Modern Library . opposed to reading— Le Rouge et Le Noir has given me new respect for the virtuosic brilliance by , when Stendhal's great novel Le Rogue et le Noir was published, Stendhal's tone . His portrait of Mathilde de La Mole in The Red and the Black is clearly drawn by a.
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Such a gift can be a great resource that can be exploited for financial gain or it can be a burden that keeps a person in perpetual misery. Sorel, the hero of our story, experiences both the wonders and the loneliness that sometimes goes hand in hand with being too aware to accept fate without attempting to manipulate a better future. He is handsome, witty, and when money is plentiful dresses in such a way as to enhance his best features. He is prideful of his talents and humbled by his modest beginnings in equal measure like two halves of the same tarnished coin.
Because he comes from the lower class of French society his opportunities for advancement are limited to the church or the military. Even though he shows few signs of or inclinations towards pious behavior Julien is sent to the church. He is calculating, manipulative, hostile, and seductive and each of those characteristics are hampered by his own naiveness producing comedic results and embarrassing moments that left this reader squirming in his seat with personal memories of being equally stupid in moments of social ineptness.
Those characteristics that we like the least in Julien are also the characteristics that we like the least in ourselves and leads us to identify so closely with Sorel that his triumphs and his setbacks create diverse reactions from a sheepish grin to burning shame. She could see it. The worst things that the vilest debauchery could stamp on the notion of sensual love swarmed into her mind.
These ideas were trying to stain the glow of the tender, divine image she had constructed, both of Julien himself and the happiness of loving him. The future was painted in ghastly colors, She saw herself as contemptible. As enemies of both Father Pirard and Julien attempt to destroy them Stendhal, as he does through the whole book, shows that pettiness, hypocrisy, wealth, and social standing are to be found in equal measure among people of influence.
Honor is discussed in great detail throughout the book, but is revealed as a chimera when pride or money are being threatened. Julien rises with the help of Father Pirard to private secretary for Marquis de la Mole. His office is to be the library. So no one would come to him, excited as he was, he hid himself in a dark corner. The books speak to me stirring up fond memories of when words become images, scents become detectable, and fictional characters become flesh and bone.
Editions of The Red and the Black by Stendhal
The tactile feeling of individual books, unique in typeface, paper, and design are an important part of the reading experience for me. Books are more than just words to me, but a form of art. I love the idea that more people are reading books because of the evolution of ereaders, but for me the experience that Julien has in that library is what I want. In fact he finds her annoying in so many ways. You could say the daylight goes right through it! And what arrogance, when she greets people, when she just looks at them!
She holds herself, she moves, like a queen! He has unsustainable ideas of honor ruled more by passion than any real sense of established decorum. He even defends immorality with affectionate intensity.
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We do the most incredibly cruel things, but without cruelty. How can we even begin to justify them for any other reason? He can bound out of the chains of his birth and achieve a social position that would be talked about for generations. His present and his past collide with devastating effects that will leave you flipping the final pages as fast as your eyes and mind can comprehend the sentences. Marie-Henri Beyle AKA Stendhal I noticed with interest that there is a turning point in the book when I could tell that Stendhal began to like his own greatest creation.
He lent more sympathy to the plight of Julien Sorel. He started softening the edges and letting the reader know that even when Sorel is an ass he is still a well meaning ass. Julien was certainly more innocent than those that were trying to manipulate him. It was as if in creating this character Stendhal started to understand himself through the character and maybe even started to tolerate those aspects of himself that had given him trouble throughout his life or at least look on them as youthful fallacies.
Intelligence does not come wrapped with discretion or for that matter wisdom. Time is the only device that allows us to grow into our intelligence and hopefully use it to better ourselves and strengthen our communities. I came away from the novel knowing more about myself and wishing that I could meet the youthful Julien Sorel when he has some gray at his temples and a more docile tongue, but then maybe I just need to go look in the mirror. Highly recommended for all reformed smarty pants.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http: View all 73 comments. The Red and the Black draws a colorful mosaic about the required hypocrisy to climb the ladder of social status in the France of the July Revolution. Chronicled by an omniscient narrator, who meets every requisite to be Stendhal himself, the reader follows the story of Julien Sorel, a young man of humble origins whose only ambition is to ascend in the social hierarchy in a world still dominated by the Machiavellian politicking of the clergy and the nobility after the downfall of the Emperor.
Des The Red and the Black draws a colorful mosaic about the required hypocrisy to climb the ladder of social status in the France of the July Revolution. The army The Red is no longer in fashion and so he chooses his career among the pious men of faith The Black.
First as a seminarist and then as a tutor of Latin, Julien will learn the bearing, the deferential poise and the conversational skills to achieve his so much desired goal that will lead him to Paris, the capital of sophisticated Savoir-Faire. Straddling literary naturalism and romanticism, a tragicomedy of the most entertaining nature unfolds in a quick paced prose not short of acerbic satire and wry humor, where all sort of characters are presented as caricatures of the motley social strata of the convoluted era.
He treats his masters with proud dignity to hide his sense of inferiority, he falls in love with the idea of seducing women of noble descend to cover his need for validation, he conceals his vulnerabilities and cheats himself with delusions of grandeur, and so his moods fluctuate between his artificial objectives and his true feelings, cleaving him in two. Is Julien a victim or the outrageous product of his time?
In the blink of an eye, Stendhal flips the tone of his narration and the reader finds himself facing the paradox of a protagonist that can be either understood as an arrogant moron or as a valiant idealist. Having dropped the masks, he can see clearly into his heart and avoid "this desert of selfishness which is called life. View all 63 comments. May 18, Foad rated it really liked it Shelves: View all 5 comments.
Dec 02, Quinn Slobodian rated it really liked it. It's a book about the dangers of reading. The novel's characters are seduced by ideas, poetic gestures, tragic endings, narratives they might inhabit and soon find themselves enslaved to them, marching lockstep in the footprints of characters whose stories they've read. Stendhal obviously takes pleasure in his position as most recent seducer of the book's reader and he sugar-coats his narrative pills just enough that it's only later, with the feeling of slight corrosion in your stomach, that you It's a book about the dangers of reading.
Stendhal obviously takes pleasure in his position as most recent seducer of the book's reader and he sugar-coats his narrative pills just enough that it's only later, with the feeling of slight corrosion in your stomach, that you wonder about the wisdom of what you've done. Which character's glances, turns, heartbeats and feints are you doomed to re-enact now?
View all 6 comments. It chronicles the attempts of a provincial young man to rise socially beyond his modest upbringing through a combination of talent, hard work, deception, and hypocrisy. He ultimately allows his passions to betray him.
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Book I presents Julien Sorel, the ambitious son of a carpenter in the fictional village of Although he appears to be a pious, austere cleric, Julien is uninterested in the Bible beyond its literary value and how he can use memorised passages learnt in Latin to impress important people.
Book II takes place in the years leading up to the July Revolution of During this time Julien Sorel lives in Paris as an employee of the de la Mole family. Despite his moving among high society and his intellectual talents, the family and their friends condescend to Julien for being an uncouth plebeian. The Marquis de la Mole takes Julien to a secret meeting, then despatches him on a dangerous mission to communicate a letter Julien has it memorised to the Duc d'Angouleme, who is exiled in England; however, the callow Julien is mentally distracted by an unsatisfying love affair, and thus only learns the message by rote, missing its political significance as a legitimist plot.
Unwittingly, he risks his life in service to the monarchists he most opposes; to himself, he rationalises these actions as merely helping the Marquis, his employer, whom he respects. Jan 16, K. I just finished watching the latest movie adaptation of Les Miserables and there is a song there about Red and Black.
I got excited because both Les Miserables and this book Scarlet and Black also known as Red and Black were both written by French novelists and set in the 19th century France. So, when I heard the song being sung by those young actors in Les Miz I said so that's the other meaning of those colors!
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Black - the dark of ages past! Red - a world about to I just finished watching the latest movie adaptation of Les Miserables and there is a song there about Red and Black. Red - a world about to dawn! Black - the night that ends at last! However, the two novels depict a different period in the 19th century France. Red and Black is the period between Napoleonic empire and the Revolution that led to July Monarchy.
On the other hand, that rebellion in Les Miserables was called June Rebellion or Paris Uprising in and was an attempt to reverse the outcome of the Revolution in Red and Black. I read and enjoyed this book even prior to seeing the movie.
I already had a review in my mind for the book but when I saw the movie this evening, I got excited because it reminded me of those colors. I liked the book because it is easy to read and it has the ability to transport you to the 19th century France. I love everything about France. The book is a bildungsroman and at the same time a sociological satire. It exposes the political tension leading to the revolution particularly depicting a society that was about to change that the dying aristocracy would no longer witness. I think countries about to metamorphose into something else have enough drama to serve as a backdrop for a great novel.
Jun 22, Chuck LoPresti rated it it was amazing. It's fairly easy to see why this book isn't more well-known as it was ahead of its time in and overshadowed by Flaubert, Balzac, and Hugo. And despite the fact that some consider it among the first "modern" novels it is probably a bit too dated to appeal to a more modern-focused crowd.
I think I've come to a perfect period in my reading where this makes perfect sense. After Proust, Banffy and Zilahy - another read about courtly high society was a tough sell but I persevered a bit exhausted It's fairly easy to see why this book isn't more well-known as it was ahead of its time in and overshadowed by Flaubert, Balzac, and Hugo. After Proust, Banffy and Zilahy - another read about courtly high society was a tough sell but I persevered a bit exhausted but wiser for my efforts.
Like Witkacy - this means infinitely more interesting and prone to emotional swings that are sometimes deadly and often sexy. I imagine this was pretty racy stuff in the 's as characters brush elbows as gently as the petals in the ornate gardens and meet their deaths with profoundly less subtlety.
The range of human feeling is rendered with a wide palette of interactions that are executed with a fine intelligence that never condescends and tells you exactly how to feel. Who are the pious? You'll decide but only the most overtly hapless bores are worthy of disregard. No sharp mind will be too bored - but no dullard will be engaged.
As much and I enjoyed this - it was work. The prose isn't anything so difficult - but it's all very contemplative and dense. There's little alacrity in general but Stendhal has a subtle sense of humor that works much like Zilahy's Angry Angel - nothing base or cheap. The Red and the black is like a field-guide to exploiting rich women who are so bored that they are happy to be dragged to hell just to have someone do something exciting to them.
Social climbing is seen as the worst sin that only results in calunmy and humiliation. As in other similar dramas - the victims are educated just enough to enter society and love-sick enough to attract rogue genius up their ladders for a dangerous liaison. This invariably leads to non-marital impregnation, social downfall and subsequently death.
A scoundrel and the child of a scoundrel never occupy life together for long. Pay close attention and you will learn fairly time-tested formulas for attracting, conquering and devouring your prey if such things appeal to you. But woe to thee that doesn't have the heart and mind to benefit from their advantages - because like Witkacy made clear - it's insatiability that invites Mephistopheles. Unlike Banffy and Zilahy - Stendhal rarely shares a meal or several glasses of wine with the reader.
So the next time I won't not read a courtly screw and stew - I think it will be set about miles to the east of Paris and people will at least dance a czardas. View all 3 comments. Julien Sorel tanto nos pode irritar como comover. Podem bocejar, mas leiam. View all 9 comments. Dec 01, Mariel rated it liked it Recommends it for: Ultimately, Stendhal's The Red and the Black almost pissed me off. If I see this book again I'm tempted to say to it, "I'm not rationally sure why you kinda pissed me off. I just know you did! I hate that feeling of self persuasion as inevitable, as people being trapped in mind games.
It sucks but I cannot swallow the idea that there is no other outcome. I know it's satire. I kinda hate satire. I don't want to read something that the point of it is to point out how something else is wrong if it isn't going to be right itself. I had better feel more than surface-y surface if I'm going to believe otherwise. I think I was bothered because people are not mind readers. Choosing to live as a liar does not make a more honest person out of you, if you are doing so because the claim is that there's no other choice.
There was something passive-aggressive about the whole thing: My former friend went on and on about Stendhal's theories on love being a chosen journey, that no one takes that journey unless they choose to. Made me hate Stendhal a little bit more.
Something about ending up in Bologne. He referenced a Garfield reference to this idea with a Bologne joke! I freaking hate Garfield. Anyway, I hate that too much is taken for granted like some sweeping statement about love and honesty and ambition could be swept up in "events". Garfield can have Stendhal and lasagna. I'd rather not have excuses. Mar 20, Elizabeth K.
I read this for two reasons: Maybe there's some sort of deathbed reckoning for book snobs that involves a Ghost of Literature Past. Then our conversation could go like this: Ghost of Literature Past: And you've read Stendhal The second reason is that it is one of James's favorite books. I don't do very well predicting what he will like in general, let alone what would make his list of favorite books.
I'm pretty confident that if I had to read this for a class, I would hate it quite a bit. But as leisure reading, it was solidly enjoyable. The gist is we have this guy, Julien, who is from a working class family but is rather bright and wants to move up in the world. He's got a Napoleon fetish, but unfortunately for Julien, we're already firmly into the Restoration, so his best plan for upward mobility is through the church.
He also finds the time to have affairs with two women of the upper class, both of which conist of "I love her! But she despises me! But if she thinks I despise her, she will love me! But if she loves me because I despise her because I love her, I will despise her! Then she will despise me because I despise her because she loves me because I despise her because she despises me because I love her, and I will love her again!
Not kidding at all here. James has this great s paperback copy of this book, with an intro by Clifton Information Please! Fadiman where he goes to great lengths to explain the significance of Stendhal's work being the first psychological novel, and then adds "no one reads Stendhal for the plot. It's also my impression that the book has a lot of insights about French politics which were completely wasted on me because my knowledge of this time period is somewhat scant, and I couldn't figure out if the book was taking place before or after the July Revolution.
Actually, Julien gets caught up in a bit of political intrigue that very well could have been the July Revolution now that I think about it. My education in French history consisted of lots of info about Charlemagne, then there was the Years War, then there was the Sun King, and then they stormed the Bastille, and then Napoleon, and then Vichy, and then they named the airport after Charles De Gaulle, which shows how history always come full circle because Charles De Gaulle and Charlemagne are both named Charles, more or less.
If this has been hanging around on your list of classics that you're meaning to read, definitely go for it. If nothing else, read Moncrieff's translation to seep yourself in the highly latinate, generally overeducated and comfortably contorted prose 'But the adroitness with the want of which we are reproaching him would have debarred the sublime impulse of seizing the sword which, at that moment, made him appear so handsome in the eyes of Mademoiselle de La Mole' -- it will do wonders for the style of your work emails. Trust me on this one.
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I think he exists halfway betwee If nothing else, read Moncrieff's translation to seep yourself in the highly latinate, generally overeducated and comfortably contorted prose 'But the adroitness with the want of which we are reproaching him would have debarred the sublime impulse of seizing the sword which, at that moment, made him appear so handsome in the eyes of Mademoiselle de La Mole' -- it will do wonders for the style of your work emails.
I think he exists halfway between Austen and Dostoevsky. The Red and the Black is fundamentally a novel of manners concerned with class mobility and lack thereof, as with Austen, but with a healthy dose of bombast that Dostoevsky so enjoys. A great bulk of action occurs in drawing rooms and such, though not all. Stendhal lacks Austen's narrow provincialism, and the characters certainly lack the British reserve.
Where Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy may achieve their final unbridled passionate consummation by holding hands, Stendhal's lovers will fornicate wildly under the cover of night with the aid of purloined ladders, sometimes each desperately trying to believe they feel what they think they should feel while their primary concern is really with who gets the better of whom. Or sometimes the love is impossibly sweet and self sacrificing, unyielding and frightfully destructive. Some time ago I heard the sixteen year old girl next door have a clandestine, tearful conversation with someone much quieter in front of our houses at two in the morning on a weekday.
Overheard in brief moments of wakefulness -- 'Don't run away from me -- I'll chase you. Like she's trying on a daring dress, looking at herself in the mirror, both scandalized and seduced by the effect. That's what Stendhal is all about -- that moment of discovery.
Revolution and the turmoil of change in the world has led to this lamentation, in much the same way our gener Oh, nineteenth century! Revolution and the turmoil of change in the world has led to this lamentation, in much the same way our generation has lamented and continues to lament the condition of the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries: Once again, there is nothing new in the world.
The prose is engaging and moves quickly though the typos and formatting mistakes of my almost-free Kindle copy, frustratingly, did get in my way quite a bit. I especially enjoyed the sarcasm of the authorial interludes and the ingenious tying-together of threads and characters as the work reached its end. I had a vague notion it would be a dry, perhaps violent, political read. It is political, but its focus is on the personal including the psychology of those personalities within that dynamic.
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