The Red and the Black (Signet classics) (Paperback)

by Stendhal (Author), Lloyd C. Parks (Translator), Donald M. Frame (Afterword) "Verrieres is no doubt one of the prettiest small towns in Franche-Comte..." (more)
Key Phrases: little seminarist, wood dealer, ten louis, Marquis de Croisenois, Marquis de La Mole, Julien Sorel (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Novel by Stendhal, published in French in 1830 as Le Rouge et le noir. Set in France during the Second Restoration (1815-30), the novel is a powerful character study of Julien Sorel, an ambitious young man who uses seduction as a tool for advancement. The Red and the Black is generally considered the author's major work and one of the greatest 19th-century novels. Sorel is a sensitive and intelligent youth who, seeing no road to advancement in the military after Napoleon's fall, endeavors to make his mark in the church. Viewing himself as an unsentimental opportunist, he sets out to win the affections of Mme de Renal, whose children he is employed to tutor. After spending time in a seminary, he goes to Paris, where he seduces the aristocratic Mathilde, the daughter of his second employer. The book ends with Sorel's execution for the attempted murder of Mme de Renal after she had jeopardized his projected marriage to Mathilde. The title apparently refers to both the tensions in Sorel's character and to the conflicting choice he is faced with in his quest for success: the army (symbolized by the color red) or the church (symbolized by the color black). Incisively and with subtlety, the novel examines careerism, political opportunism, the climate of fear and denunciation in Restoration France, and bourgeois materialistic values. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
Praise for Burton Raffel’s translations

For Balzac’s Père Goriot

“Raffel’s Père Goriot is both faithful and beautiful, and that makes it a masterpiece.” —Alain Renoir

“I predict that this translation will give Balzac’s great novel a new life for English and American readers. . . . The definitive translation for this generation.” —Peter Brooks

“[Raffel’s] translation has the vigor and elasticity of Balzac’s style, and catches with uncanny accuracy the tone of the period.” —Guy Davenport

For Cervantes’s Don Quijote

“[Raffel’s Don Quijote] recasts the original into lively English, without losing the complexity and flavor of the Spanish. . . . This Quijote flows smoothly and reads, in fact, like original prose rather than a translation.” —Adrienne Martin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 536 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics (July 1, 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451517938
• ISBN-13: 978-0451517937
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #414,571 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent psychological novel, March 10, 1999

By A Customer

Strangely, all of my friends who were raised outside the United States are well aware of this book--everyone raised inside has no knowledge (even people who have taken three years of french in college!). If anyone has any theories on this I'd love to know. "Red and the Black" is a terrific look into the power structure of 19th century France, the wheeling and dealing of the church and aristocracy. Depictions of drawing room socials and seminary politics feel very right (though I wouldn't know much about either, as historical fact), and have a very engaging cynical edge to it.

In addition, it is about a man who is pulled by two opposing forces: an ambition to gain power (either through the church or state; it matters little to him which), and intense passions that are in his heart. He realizes from a young age that in order to succeed in the world, he must master the art of hypocrisy. And as he reaches the age where he first begins to explore his passions, this desire for hypocrisy and conquest get horribly mixed up, leading to horrendous self-analysis on the part of the main character, followed by equally strange actions. The personality of the characters are wonderfully believable--the interactions of these people, full of all sorts of emotions and ideas, are a good study in interpersonal dynamics (in a sort of extreme case) and emotional growth. The characters are alive, they grow and learn, and their excesses of suffering and joy make this a page-turner. To sum up: a well-written, engaging work that depicts 19th century power struggles, incredibly interesting characters, and a few ideas about life to chew on as well.

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars in flagrante delicto, August 21, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Red and the Black (Modern Library) (Hardcover)

About halfway through this arch and amusing tale of the foolish, machiavellian Julien Sorel we read: "He almost went mad with joy on finding an edition of Voltaire. He ran and opened the library door so as not to be caught in the act. Next he gave himself the pleasure of opening each of the eighty volumes." You too will almost go mad with joy when you slip into a book that can startle with its pulse, its passion, its ability to seem like a forbidden pleasure. You will smile with glee as you run your hands across pages racy enough to make you feel like you could be caught in the act. You'll find yourself sighing on page 248 when you realize Julien has a full eighty volumes of Voltaire to keep his fires burning, while you only have 500 pages of the Red and the Black. But don't give into that familiar panic--that it might end, that you will spend years regretting those 500 pages of momentary pleasure--because it only gets better with each successive read. Like Cleopatra, it doesn't cloy where most it satisfies, but leaves you short of breath, wanting more-

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's all there in black and white., January 31, 2004

By	Wordsworth "David" (Greenwich, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Red and the Black (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

The Red and the Black is a profound and witty book about the rise of a poor, handsome and intellectually gifted, young provincial into the salons of High Society in Paris. This novel is also a portrait of an era in 19th century France after the exile of Napoleon to St. Helena. The powerful, witty epigrams that appear in page after page of gorgeous prose left me almost as intrigued by the talent of the author as by the unexpected twists in the exhausting love life and fascinating careers in church and state of Julian Sorel. The language of the Gard translation was truly a joy to read -- it was lyrical and rich. Stendhal's novel is an astonishing but lesser read masterpiece from the salons of Paris, which produced Moliere, Balzac and Proust to name only a few. I can't recommend highly enough this worthy and rapturous novel by Stendhal. If this is Al Gore's favorite novel, then my respect for him has gone up a notch.