'The Red and the Black' by Stendhal

The Red and the Black, Stendhal (3.0)

I found this book among our ‘100 Greatest Books’ collection and was surprised that I had never heard of it. Stendhal is a pseudonym for Henri-Marie Beyle who wrote this as a thinly veiled autobiography. The book centers on Julien Sorel, a carpenter’s son with grand ambitions to move up in life. It is set in the mid 1800’s – post Napoleon with the politics that go with that time. Sorel moves up in the world due to his remarkable memory and good looks. The neighborhood clergy sees an opportunity for him to tutor a rich man’s family and off he goes. The book is mostly about his ambitions and the two affairs he engages in as he moves through society. I’m sure the writing was considered scandalous at the time, but it was so obtuse I found it hard to understand how far these ‘affairs’ had actually gone. I was eventually clued in when one character got pregnant. I wanted to get more out of this book than I did. The main character was annoying and unlikeable as were his mistresses. This is the kind of book that is probably better read in a class with some guidance as it was just too arcane for me.