Stendhal: The Red and the Black

Landmarks of World Literature

by Stirling Haig

Stendhal's great novel The Red and the Black, published in 1830, is seen as one of the most distinguished monuments of literary realism. In this introductory study, Stirling Haig shows how this realism derives from the incorporation of both history and legal reportage into the novel, and how it combines autobiography with mimesis. Professor Haig locates the novel in the context of Stendhal's own experiences as a Commissariat officer in the Napoleonic army, journalist, opera-lover, salon dandy and traveller in Italy and Restoration France, and highlights the constant inter-penetration of personal, documentary, and fictional elements in Stendhal's writings.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published June 22, 1989

Reviews

[Richard Bentley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novel-length version of Long Days Journey Into Night. The weeping! The wailing! The angst! The tragedy! The pitiful! The throwing one's self at whatever! O'Neill gets the trophy for dysfunction in the drama category, and Stendhal gets it for a novel. Oh, sorry. I forgot the screaming!

[Leena Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the best novel I have ever read ,,