Customer Reviews

Le Rouge et le Noir

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Il etait une fois... once upon a time, the two essential avenues for advancement for a poor youth in France were the military and the Catholic Church, symbolized by the red of the army uniforms (yes, before the machine guns of World War I made them change their pants) and the black of the clerical gowns. Stendhal, the nom de plume for Henri Beyle, had his classic work published in 1830, just as Louis-Philippe d' Orleans was restored to the throne. The protagonist is Julian Sorel, of - dare I use the word - "humble" origin, the son of a carpenter, born in Franche-Comté, a rugged area of France that borders Switzerland. He was determined to "make his way in society," and Stendhal says that Hercules was an inspiration; it was not a question of a choice between vice and virtue, rather it was one between the mediocrity of an assured well-being and all the heroic dreams of youth.

Post-Napoleon, Sorel felt that his greatest chances of advancement to a high level of society were in the Catholic Church. Remember, it was a very different time, far away from the empty cathedrals that only tourists visit in France today. And as the novel adequately describes, the sexual hypocrisy of the male clergy was focused on women, and not the alter boys of today. Yet the "eternal truths" of the novel require only the modest substitution of Wall Street for the Catholic Church, and the rest, the careerism and political opportunism, the cynicism and the hypocrisy remain remarkably the same. Sorel decides to "utilize" well-placed women in his rise in society, starting with the wife of the mayor, Mme. De Renal, and later, one of his pupils, Mathilde, who will bear his child. Though Stendhal does not use the particular phrase, "hell hath no wrath like a woman scorned..." he does use the expression, "these terrible instruments of the feminine artillery..." which in the end exact the ultimate in revenge.

As other reviewers of the English language translation have pointed out, this is one of the very first "modern" French novels. There is the in-depth psychological drama of Sorel's moves as he struggles up the "ladder" of society, and there is also Stendhal's acerbic comments on the society itself. Anticipating Sinclair Lewis' "Main Street" by over a hundred years, Stendhal says: "The tyranny of opinion, and what opinion! It is as foolish in the little villages of France as in the USA." Or again, "In their eyes, he was convicted of this enormous vice - he thought, he made judgments by himself, in place of blindly following authority and example." Stendhal anticipates the anti-clerical sentiments of the Third Republic with: "In the ordinary positions of the life she hardly believed in religion, thought Julien, she loved it as very useful to the interests of her caste." Likewise, "My faith, if I find the God of the Christians, I am lost, it is a despot, and as such he is filled with the ideas of vengeance."

Wise and insightful of the human condition, consider a few other Stendhal observations: "The Russians copy French morals, but always 50 years later. They are now in the century of Lousi XV." Or, "My faith, not so foolish; each for himself in this desert of egotism that one calls the life." And foreshadowing his own doom, and rendering a stronger metaphor for that aforementioned feminine artillery: "An English traveler retold the tale where he lived with a tiger; he raised it, and caressed it, but always on the table was the loaded pistol."

I love well-chosen epigraphs, and Stendhal has them "in spades," in three different languages. "The Red and the Black" was written over 180 years ago, but remains marvelously insightful of the human condition, including all its hubris and petty revenges. A solid 5-stars.

This is a classic French novel that I had wanted to read for a long time. I was not disappointed. It is beautifully written. The characters are well developed and it provides a good sense of the time period. The main character is a somewhat perplexing combination of sheer ambition and wayward love. I admit, I found the ambitious side of his nature more convincing, but towards the end of the novel that seems to have given way to a more philosophical frame of mind. I purchased both the paperback and the Kindle versions. I am happy to have it in both of my libraries.

Article neuf et livré rapidement. Le texte est très bon et très bien écrit, je conseille à tout le monde de le lire.