The Life of Henry Brulard (New York Review Books Classics) [Paperback]

Stendhal (Author), Lydia Davis (Preface), John Sturrock (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: New York Review Books Classics | Publication Date: December 31, 2001

The Life of Henry Brulard is the autobiography of one of France's greatest writers, Stendhal, author of The Red and the Black and The Charterhouse of Parma. Here, writing at white heat and with such ferocious honesty and indignation that his book was to remain unpublishable for more than a century after its composition, Stendhal revisits his unhappy childhood in a stuffy provincial town and bares his rebellious heart. His adored mother, who died when he was only seven; a father devoted only to his own social ambitions; the aunt whose daily cruelties passed for care: these are among the indelible portraits in a work that captures the sights, sounds, places, and characters of Stendhal's youth, its pleasures and sorrows, with preternatural clarity and immediacy. Full of dazzling images and burning emotions, The Life of Henry Brulard is a vivid memoir that is also an extraordinary work of the imagination.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Unfinished autobiography by Stendhal, which he began writing in November 1835 and abandoned in March 1836. The scribbled manuscript, including the author's sketches and diagrams, was deciphered and published as Vie de Henry Brulard in 1890, 48 years after its author's death. The work is a masterpiece of ironic self-searching and self-creation, in which the memories of childhood are closely interwoven with the liberating joy of writing. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

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Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: NYRB Classics (December 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940322897
• ISBN-13: 978-0940322899
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 1.3 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #957,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars goosebumps, July 16, 2000

By 

John (Louisiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Life of Henry Brulard (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Who would think that an unfinished autobiography could be so good? But despite its rough edges and the odd passage of interest only to the author, the Life of Henry Brulard is very good indeed, and as moving as The Red and the Black. Early in the Life, Stendhal describes the pleasure of reading Florentine goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini's memoirs, so fresh, he notes, that they seem to have been written yesterday. The same could be said for Stendhal's own autobiography.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stendhal being Stendhal, August 4, 2003

By 

A. Lowry (Madison, MS United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Life of Henry Brulard (New York Review Books Classics) (Paperback)

I didn't look forward to trying this book---memoirs of childhood seldom do much for me---but there being so little Stendhal out there in translation, I couldn't overlook it. Well, long book tho it is, H.B. is very readable and a lot of fun for those who love Stendhal's style and persona. Chatty, honest, quirky (all those little maps!), skipping around madly, with the strange mix of irony and idealism that makes Stendhal so "modern," this is an enjoyable book for "the happy few." I doubt there are many books like it---Rousseau's confessions feel much more polished, & hence less "real," than Stendhal's book does. (Of course I'm agnostic on how honest S. really is---but it's a good book, true or not!)