Scarlet and Black

by Stendhal, Margaret R.B. Shaw (Translator)

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Handsome and ambitious, Julien Sorel is determined to rise above his humble peasant origins and make something of his life-by adopting the code of hypocrisy by which his society operates. Julien ultimately commits a crime-out of passion, principle, or insanity-that will bring about his downfall. The Red and the Black is a lively, satirical picture of French Restoration society after Waterloo, riddled with corruption, greed, and ennui. The complex, sympathetic portrayal of Julien, the cold exploiter whose Machiavellian campaign is undercut by his own emotions, makes him Stendhal's most brilliant and human creation-and one of the greatest characters in European literature.

Translated with an introduction by Margaret R. B. Shaw.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, France, Literature, 19th Century, Historical Fiction, Novels

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1830

About the author

Marie-Henri Beyle, better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his two novels Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black, 1830) and La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma, 1839).

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished watching the latest movie adaptation of Les Miserables and there is a song there about Red and Black. I got excited because both Les Miserables and this book Scarlet and Black also known as Red and Black were both written by French novelists and set in the 19th century France. So, when I heard the song being sung by those young actors in Les Miz I said so that's the other meaning of those colors!

♪♫♪Red - the blood of angry men!
Black - the dark of ages past!
Red - a world about to dawn!
Black - the night that ends at last!♪♫♪
♪♫♪Red... the color of desire, black... the color of despair...♪♫♪

However, in this Stendhal book, red is the color of the army but the protagonist, the handsome and smart Julien Sorel is born too late to join the army because Napoleon is already dead and it is the time of Bourbon Restoration and his only option to be rich and great is to join the church and its color is black.

However, the two novels depict a different period in the 19th century France. Red and Black is the period between Napoleonic empire and the 1830 Revolution that led to July Monarchy. On the other hand, that rebellion in Les Miserables was called June Rebellion or Paris Uprising in 1832 and was an attempt to reverse the outcome of the 1830 Revolution in Red and Black.

I read and enjoyed this book even prior to seeing the movie. I already had a review in my mind for the book but when I saw the movie this evening, I got excited because it reminded me of those colors.

I liked the book because it is easy to read and it has the ability to transport you to the 19th century France. I love everything about France. The book is a bildungsroman and at the same time a sociological satire. It exposes the political tension leading to the 1830 revolution particularly depicting a society that was about to change that the dying aristocracy would no longer witness. This reminded me of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina that depicts Russia at its crossroad: whether to stay traditional (monarchy and all) or adapt the western influences (that ultimately paved way to communism). I think countries about to metamorphose into something else have enough drama to serve as a backdrop for a great novel.

Great book. My first Stendhal and I am looking forward to reading his other novel, The Charterhouse of Parma.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julien Sorel is a brilliant portrait of a young man with a huge chip on his shoulder. Everything he does is calculated and often driven by the suspicion that his companions are either making fun of him or secretly plotting his downfall. He's kind of like a 19th century suicide bomber. He is the gifted son of a peasant who dreams of performing heroics like his hero Napoleon. When he goes to work for local landowners as a tutor he sets his sights on seducing his master's wife, initially viewed as a means of taking revenge on the affluent who he despises. Julien is consistently unlikeable throughout. I got a bit bogged down in the politics at times but this is a very insightful depiction of the destruction caused by social envy and an overly romantic imagination.

[George Ilsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Red and the Black refers to the army and the church: two career paths open to bright young men who are talented and ambitious and clever enough to be able to get an education.

This biting, sharp, satirical work is entertaining and illuminating. It is definitely one I always want to keep reading forever. I remember finding it trenchant and witty. As soon as I have the time, I’m going to reread this again, and see what I think of this chronicle on the next go around.

[Yuri Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books, novellas mostly, need to be taken in one gulp; others gain something by being savored slowly, which is what I did with Stendhal’s classic. This depiction of the rise and fall of an ambitious young man in post-Napoleonic France is on the face of it plainly told, but it is also a stealthy journey into the vagaries of true love and how to recognize it.

[Magdelanye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This brilliant study in character development well deserves its place as a classic masterpiece.

Julien Sorel is a prototype anti-hero. Noble in spirit in spite of his "low" birth,he is able to detach himself sufficiently to play the role perfectly.Self-controlled to agonizing extremes,he is the perfect opportunist,and his relentless ambition divines opportunities everywhere he proceeds.It is not that he has not a sense of ethics;he may even be overscrupulous in complying with his own sense of honour,eroded as it is by contempt.But the anger boiling beneath his polite mask propels him to dangerous behaviors,and when it finally explodes,he shatters his carefully cultivated dreams in one rash act.

It could be argued that this act,being an authentic expression of passion,is the catharsis of a tranformed being. For the first time,Julien experiences a calm acceptance of his fate,ironically in fact,when so many of those who cared for him so energetically try to alter it.His newly awakened conscience,something he had early on dismissed as a drain on his grand designs on life,allows him for the first time an empathic understanding and with that,deep remorse,where before he had been merely cynical, about the state of the world and the events in his life.

Whereas earlier,lost in the midst of his rigid calculations "...even at the most sweetly blissfull moments a victim of his own queer pride...he kept the idea of a duty towards himself unceasingly before his eyes....afraid of making himself forever ridiculous if he departed from the model of perfection he had resolved to follow.... and so... made incredidibly determined efforts to spoil what was lovable in himself....that prevented him from enjoying this happiness right in front of his eyes."Finally,he has become capable of feeling.It is not the cold and haughty young upstart,shamed by his sense of pride and inferiority,concerned mainly with appearances,whom we met at the beginning of this tale,that faces his last day with delight in the open-air.He has proved himself to be what he fantasized all along,a man of consideration and courage.

In spite of the quite relentless exposure of his characters most unappealing aspects,Stendhal's genius is in the delicacy of his observations.He does not judge but allows his harsh light to shine,through the antics of his characters, on the quintessential character of his age.

[Jaclyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

“a mayfly is born at nine o’clock on the morning of a long summer day, to die at five that very afternoon - how should it understand the word ‘night’? give it five more hours of life, it will see and understand what night means”

that’s all thank you for attending my book talk



i’m really not sure what to say here. i’m quite certain that i wasn’t able to grasp the full depth or meaning of this book, as many of the religious or political storylines had me lost more often than not. however! what was far easier to grasp was all of the melodrama and ambition and romance and madness. the characters are.. too unhinged to be fictional characters.

i couldn’t tell you what this book was about, and i am truly unable to write any kind of essay or commentary on this. but, well. i did want to try reading books that presented an actual challenge to process and absorb and understand.

despite boring and baffling me to the highest extent at times, this was also entertaining (and confusing) and dramatic (and confusing) and interestingly philosophical (and confusing) at times. this is absolutely not how i would like to write, but it is still, most definitely.. a way to write. yeah. i’ll leave this at 3 stars bc while it gave me thematic and tonal whiplash several times with no warning, it still felt cohesive enough, and certainly human enough, to be immersive.

[Pip · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter bought and read this book in 1980 and it has been in my TBR pile ever since. I read the introduction by the translator, Margaret Shaw, and she immediately revealed tbe plot. I have scanty knowledge of nineteenth century French politics, so I needed the explanation of the tensions of the time between Royalists and Liberals to understand anything that was being discussed, so it was necessary background material. However I felt that knowing the plot meant less enjoyment of the novel. The plot was really just a device for Stendahl to discuss politics, to contrast the divide between town and country, between the aristocrats and commoners and the power of the clergy. He also exposed the aristocratic supposition that they could manipulate the law, but also that greed was universal. But I would have preferred the tension of not knowing what was going to happen. The protagonist, Julian Sorel, was charismatic and goodlooking. He was ambitious but aware of his ethical failings. Although the plot was dramatic most of the action was within the characters heads. I really enjoyed this novel and believe

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A grumpy three stars from me, mainly (and irrationally) because it was not as good as I had hoped it would be. The rise of Julian Sorel, a carpenter's son with a prodigious memory, a fearsome thirst for power and a libido to match. This is France, 19th century: Parisian foppery, duels, scheming clergy, compliant married women, intrigue and drama. I should have adored this, but it failed to spark my interest like either the breathless storytelling of Dumas or the gritty realism of Zola. There was something about the novel's pacing that was not quite right, but other than that, I cannot put my finger on why I did not engage more fully.

[Feliks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably my favourite European novel of the 1800s. Stendhal's storytelling voice is very modern-sounding and confident. The story is vast and fun (you must read both books I & II to really see it). And its true what they say about Stendhal as well..namely, no one captures the pangs of violent love as he has done here. Not until Proust came along much later, was this ever to be so vividly drawn. His reputation is deserved in this area.

[Lilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

He really went and shot her

[Federica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book ages ago and, finally, I decided that the time had come.
I have to be honest about the motivations that led me to start this novel: I am a huge fan on the musical of Les Miserables in which there is a song called exactly as this book, so I thought "I have to read this", and here I am.

It was a challenging reading, since it was not easy to follow every developments of the characters' decision and psychology. The protagonist is a clear example of this: he is the embodiment of ambition, so he does everything in order to reach an higher social status, but quite often he is in contradiction with himself, because he is a young boy, after all. Moreover, he is too sensible and with a sense of honor too great to be able to lower himself to all those mean and miserable actions that he should do to become someone important in the French society in 1830. He is fascinating, and everyone feel it, but he is too clumsy because he does not know anything about high society, even though he aspires to be part of it, since he is just the son of a poor craftsman.
His interactions with the other characters were interesting because they were an opportunity to notice the deep difference between what he said and what he really meant. This was surely one of the part which I liked the most, in fact I truly appreciated the ability of Stendhal to explore the deepest fold of the human soul.
I preferred the relationship between Julien and Madame de Renal over the one between Julien and Mathilde. At first it was the contrary because Mathilde seemed to be a more mature and a more endearing character than Madame de Renal. But, at the end of it, I understood that Mathilde was in love with the idea she had created of Julien, with his idealized image, even though her feelings were just as deep as those of Madame de Renal. For what concerns her, maybe she is a bit too naive, but probably she was the only one who loved Julien for who he really was.

I really liked the plot too, even if some descriptive parts were too long. In my opinion, the whole novel is based on misunderstanding and hypocrisy. For example, if only there had been less misunderstanding between Madame de Renal and Julien, the whole story would have been much easier. But probably it is thanks to them that this novel is special.
I have to mention it: Julien's gaycrush for Napoleon was quite fun. I know that this is not the way to describe his admiration for him, but really, he has his portrait under his pillow!
The last part of the book, after Julien's imprisonment was my favorite. All the veils of hypocrisy and lies have fallen, and there is nothing else but the truth to face. Probably it was unfair the way Julien treated Mathilde, and in fact I am quite sure he could at least have showed gratitude.

It was a good book, I recommend it.

[Dionysius the Areopagite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good times

[Adrienne Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Every one of our hero’s first steps, for all he thought himself so cautious, were, like his choice of a confessor, careless blunders. Led astray by all the overweening confidence natural to a man with imagination, he took the will for the deed, and thought himself past master in hypocrisy.”

And so it is with pride. A confession of my own before delving into the missteps and frailties of Julien Sorel, the hero of Scarlet and Black: I feel a very strong kinship to Julien. It’s hard to really know if everyone is led by the rules of hypocrisy and pride in romance. Am I worse than most?

Certainly I am not as foolish as young Julien. But then I remember my reasons for marriage long ago to a man I never loved. I had convinced myself that friendship was the same as love. A feminist professor (a new form of cleric) told us that romantic love was a social construct. This learned theory about human relations gave me the excuse I needed to blunder (cautiously) into a bondage that briefly looked like safety.

Wasn’t it cunning of me to accept the adoration of a man I was ambivalent about in order to avoid work outside the home? The bitterness of producing children with a man I little respected seemed a natural price to pay for that elusive thing called safety. In a cynical world of transactions it felt like a noble and practical thing to brush off the feelings of passion I hid in my heart for my husband’s brother. Once this brother asked me how it felt to be married to someone not as intelligent as I was. This brother was always very competitive with the man I married. Hypocritically I denied this truth. I lied. I knew I had betrayed my heart.

“After several months of incessant application, Julien still continued to look as if he thought.”
Julien Sorel, a handsome, young Frenchman, is beaten at home by his father and brothers for having intellectual pretensions. Julien’s family sees his ambitious memorization of Scripture in Latin as a useless endeavor until a local priest obtains for him work as a tutor at the de Renal family estate.

Julien dreams of glory. He wishes he’d lived to be a soldier in Napoleon’s day, but understands that in this present era of hypocrisy his only chance at material success is through the church. He little believes in the actual faith of clerics and common folk and sees the practice of religion only as a vehicle for his successful escape from poverty and the derision of those lucky enough to be born into nobility.

I wonder if we imagine the university of our present age in the same way—as a sort of necessary conscription into the cult of societal norms. So many students (and some with far less ambition than our hero) trudge off to college because it’s what’s done. Even dim-witted students obsessed with video games and make-up routines travel to faraway locales to experience college life. Hypocritical and sometimes delusional professors are the cult leaders. They teach students to despise truth, to focus on ancestral sin and to expect monetary gain as a right.

Julien, like many college students, sees the hypocrisy of the cult but instead of rebelling completely he seeks to understand and use the hypocrisy of the age for his own gain. Julien’s superior intelligence is a curse. Mediocrity hates minds like his. Even in the best houses Julien is treated as a plebian necessity, a curiosity—certainly not equal to the men with illustrious genealogies and sprawling estates. Julien is too cunning to wear his beliefs on his sleeve. His grasping is done in secret. His misery is in knowing his true position in life despite his superior mind.

Students at college who are blind to the learning gaps of their youth sometimes seek courses in victimhood after they find they are unsuccessful on their first term papers. Their hearts, if not their minds, find an outlet in childish studies of blame. Julien succumbs to self-pity at times, but his real flaw is one so common to children of abuse: a destructive desire to be loved at any cost.

Passion has its place but so often it leads to derailment of a student’s worldly ambitions. Julien falls in love with the pretty wife of a powerful man. He uses his mind to consider the many ways he will rise above his station to be with her, but it’s an illusion. He is sent to seminary to avoid scandal and finds that his very mannerisms and his ability to think original thoughts make him hated among the other students. Julien briefly dumbs himself down in a vain attempt at fitting in but finds only more misery.

I remember deciding to become popular with the cheerleaders at the private school I attended. It was easy enough with the smallest amounts of cunning and hypocrisy to be invited to sit at the popular table, but after a week, I felt my soul dying. Vapid girls gossiped all the day long with smiles on their faces. How often that week did I nod with false enthusiasm as they discussed Snoopy merchandise? These girls, considered the most cultured and desirable in eighth grade, survived on unremarkable mediocrity and seemed happy! After a week I longed for the awkward silences of the nerd table.

In high school I determined to be popular again but only in order to get the best boys. I smiled and giggled, told outrageously stupid stories and pretended at compassionate friendship with the most popular girl in my grade. Whenever her boyfriend cheated on her, her popular friends froze her out of the group until she forgave the boy. During those times this girl sought me out for my listening skills. Little did she know I used her as much as she used me. There were many moments of hollow victory in high school. Every move I made was false. Each false move was rewarded.

Julien Sorel, after years of studying the society he despises yet yearns to be a part of, betrays himself. Early in the book we witness his father’s hatred and brutality against his bookish son. Yet the father knew better than the son that the tragedy of being too smart for his station would lead to misery. Julien rightly distrusts the hearts of others yet fatally falls in love when cunning and hypocrisy would have served him better. And that is the way of the human heart, isn’t it? Some of us think we have the skills to protect this vital organ, but it’s impossible to become a complete brute if you are not one.

Julien longs for heroic times and actions. He plays his heroism out, not on a battlefield but in the house of a proud girl who sees in Julien a vision of France’s heroic past. Do we do the same when we fall in love with followers and likes on our social media accounts? Do we convince ourselves that there is something more meaningful in re-blogs than there is? Or do we pretend not to care what people think at all? Do we all secretly wish we were Napoleon? How cunning are you in life? How self-seeking? How courageous are you in love?

Julien Sorel will not be mourned by me in the same way I still mourn Prince Andrei in War and Peace. Andrei met God on the battlefield only to realize the glory of God and the emptiness of his own glory seeking. Poor Julien, so abused and misled by his own mind, finds only himself. As he waits to die in prison Madame de Renal reassures him of her love but given the social constructs of class and reputation her love is less than satisfactory.

Brutish allegiance to mediocrity and hypocrisy is only easy for people who hate thought. Their passions play out with little self-reflection. Life is just a series of days preserved in mass produced scrapbooks. Misery comes with intelligence and ambition. David Foster Wallace worried about what his signature bandana said to the world even as he pretended not to care what the world thought of him.

David foster Wallace killed himself and in a way, Julien Sorel does the same.

[Alexander McAuliffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

“He was constantly giving hundreds of louis away and going to court over hundreds of francs. High-spirited, wealthy men seek entertainment and not results from their business transactions.”

The French novelist Stendhal was a veteran of Napoleon’s wars, including the catastrophic Russian campaign. As he watched the conservative reaction against the revolutionary and imperial excesses of his generation deepen under the restored French monarchy, he wrote this novelistic attack on the reign of vanity and pretension he saw among every class in France.

His hero, Julien Sorel, is a great commander whose only battalion is himself: his arms are merciless self-discipline and calculating hypocrisy. Every act is a fatal gamble and he steels himself for combat in the language of Napoleonic gloire. The eve of such calculated actions as daring to kiss Madame de Renal’s hand (inspired only by Rousseau) fill him with all the horror and anxiety of an imminent battle. He anguishes over his own accomplishments sought solely for the illustrious, glorious Career.

Along the arc of this career, sometimes hilarious and often surprising, Stendhal skewers the pretensions and psychological disorders of his time - and many of ours, too. I had a shock of recognition at Stendhal’s aimless, stultified culture ruled only by vanity and his heroic vaniteux “succeeding” through it. By showing a man so perfected to make a way through his own time, he can show us some of the ways we have over-adapted to our own.

[lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

the exploration of class relations in post-Napoleon France is a really interesting topic! the exploration of horniness in class relations in post-Napoleon France is,, less so.
and though i appreciate that the primary draw for this book is the groundwork it laid for realism.... god it's so so so so dry. i think i would have appreciated 100 times more if i was reading as a contemporary Frenchman... but is my failure to understand the characters' motivations and reasoning my fault or stendhal's?

[Jeanine · Rating 3 out of 5]

he seems like he'd ask you whether you'd still love him if he were a worm

[Jeremy Walton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mirror journeying down the road
I pulled this off the shelf to read on a couple of recent trips to France. It's the tale of Julien Sorel, an intelligent and ambitious young man in 19th century France, who tries to rise above his plebeian origins by using his wits, talents and gift for deception. Julien is first employed by the mayor of his hometown as a tutor to his children, but finds greater diversion in the seduction of the mayor's wife. He's then sent to a seminary, which he finds stultifying and more worldly than he'd expected, and from there to employment as private secretary to a Parisian diplomat. Here, he becomes enmeshed in his employer's political conspiracies, and also in a relationship with the diplomat's beautiful young daughter.

It's probably not giving too much away to say that things don't end well for the hero, but the novel is only partly concerned with his actions and their consequences: it also shows the political and religious aspects of French society during the period of the Bourbon restoration (following the 1814 fall of Napoleon). This includes a lot of historical detail about the tensions between the Liberals and Ultra-Royalists in politics and the Jansenists and Jesuits in the church, which might appear too archaic to merit close attention by the modern reader. However, the story touches on eternal truths about love and ambition, and there's an emphasis on the thoughts and feelings of the characters which is apparently considered prescient when compared to other novels of that period. In addition, the author occasionally speaks directly to the reader in a way that appears refreshingly modern; perhaps the most memorable of these asides comes on p367:

"Why, my good sir, a novel is a mirror journeying down the high road. Sometimes it reflects to your view the azure blue of heaven, sometimes the mire in the puddles in the road below."

Spot-on, I thought.

Originally reviewed 19 September 2016

[Babs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was very interesting, and although I wish I'd paid more attention as I was reading it, as you can see it took me the entire gestational period of a human being to read this as it was.
The story is principally an exploration of religion and laicity in the France of the early 1800s (hence the title). It follows the story of Julien Sorel, who is born into a poor family with a bunch of philistines as brothers whom he Simply Abhors, and who through reading and study manages to raise himself bit by bit through society's rank ranks. He is full of ambition, very hard-minded, but also hugely concerned with acting in a noble way. Largely contemptuous of the upper classes of both society and Church, Julien is impressed by strength of cahracter alone, and his ambition is largely due to feeling that, in this capacity, he merits a superior position in society.
Julien falls in love with the wife of his first rich employer, but is forced to move away after she has a religious crisis of guilt; he then falls in love with his new employer's daughter. Things get very exciting when the daughter, Mathilde, after a period of regularly throwing herself at his feet and crying a lot, then falls pregnant; soon after, Julien's previous lover, Mme. de Rênal, rears her not very ugly head. All seems lost! Then Julien shoots Mme. de Rênal in a church, which needless to say does not improve the situation. I won't tell you what happens (you'll have to go through the same arduous 257 pages of small print as I did).
This book was intelligent, thought-provoking, and at times genuinely funny and gasp-out-loud dramatic. I did wonder about the nature of Julien's love though: Stendhal depicts Julien as one day fainting and obssessed with a woman he is in love with, only for his feelings to fade after a few weeks... and then for this 'love' to be resurrected at a later date with the same intensity. He is sick with love for Mathilde, and - causing her to lose her money, elevated social status, friends and even the love of her family - they embark on a love affair. After Julien is arrested following the shooting, she still declares herself his 'wife', and makes it clear to all that she and Julien - still a lowly employee of her father, social suicide for her - are a couple. She bribes guards with gold in order to visit Julien in his cell, and once there throws herself at Julien's feet (again). Julien sighs, is irritated by Mathilde's presence, and day-dreams of how much he loves Mme. de Rênal. I got the feeling that Julien may have been the first psychopath to appear in European literature.
What is also interesting is that these characters all have 'character faults' that are rather off-putting, and Julien in particular has a complex and ambivalent character, but regardless they are fascinating and seem very real. Despite not liking them as such, I wanted to know more and more about their story as it progressed. It goes without saying that this is excellent writing from Stendhal, even in translation, and an absorbing and important book.

[Paul O'Leary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, my white western canon ass may be showing on this one. The Scarlet and the Black by Stendhal is considered a foundation stone in literary history. It’s typically touted as the beginning of Realism and the psychological novel. Published in 1830, it touches on France’s recent past history by making its lead character, Julien Sorel, a dreary devotee of Napoleon and all the romantic ideals that dragged along after the Little Emperor’s demise. Stendhal does an admirable job demonstrating that lofty ideals often discount down in everyday practice into immoral behavior and terrible manners. Unfortunately, for me, the story discounts down to an overlong tale of a cad, a bounder, and a bore, all rolled into one. As the characters in the Scarlet and the Black either love poor, high-strung, pretentious, obnoxious Julien for no apparent reason, or hate him for the same attributes, but with more grounded reason on their side, I guess Stendhal’s successfully co-opted me into my place in his story, as well. Touché. My head gave it three stars, but my heart screams two. Either way, I can say Stendhal provides one of the more satisfying cut scenes at the end of this book—for me. Many others continue to speak fondly of this novel, not least Oprah, so I know this cult can’t be a fringe of second-story men looking for a good read, but I’m gonna have to offer my brief dissent and move on...

[Mad Medico · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely feels like a bridging point between Romanticism and Realism; all the elements of later Realists are present, but still with the older verbose 'literary' style that I'm still not used to. There's a lot of depth here, with the satirical and psychological elements of the story working with each other (the tension bewteen Julien's code of hypocrisy and his irrepressible passion acting as a microcosm of the Bourbon Restoration vs. revolutionary liberalism). I think this is best illustrated by the scenes in which Julien is required to deliver information regarding a legitimist plot by M. de la Mole, only for the political significance to be sidelined in favour of his receipt of a cache of love letters which he uses to ignite the jealousy of Mathilde - this highlights Julien's passionate character, in contrast to the stuffy, airless atmosphere of the Parisian society which he attempts to infiltrate, perfectly; Julien fails not due to his politicial liberalism and low birth, but due to his character being opposite to what is required to succeed (namely, cool dispassionate scheming). Mathilde's burial of Julien's severed head in the manner of her Medieval forebears sets him as a hero of the Middle Ages trapped in the age of the cynical Machiavel. Great, but far too long!

[Kezia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic. It's interesting that this is usually considered a novel about the ambitions of the working classes in post-Napoleonic times, but it has as much to say about the ambitions of the upper classes and clergy. Mathilde's ambition for heroism, Mme de Renal's ambition to be loved, M. de Renal's ambition for power, Mme de la Mole's ambition to society. Julien himself is a character that should stand side by side with the great, flawed heroes of literature. Insecure yet egoic, delicate yet strong, romantic yet callous.

There are some weaknesses that may have been self-inflicted - Stendhal's pursuit of a "realistic" novel told in the common vernacular makes him leave off some grand speeches and important conversations with a note along the lines of "and so on for a quarter of an hour." These moments showed a lack of creativity to me, or perhaps he just grew bored with his own subject matter.

[Nathan Hobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scarlet and Black is incredible for its depth of psychological and social insight at a time when there wasn't the novel as we know it today. Reading it I had to keep reminding myself that Stendhal was inventing what the novel was to become.

I can't help feeling he holds his characters in faint contempt, that he is holding them all up to ridicule. It balances the earnestness of his main character, Julien Sorel, that we have an author who can see so clearly when Julien is being ridiculous. The novel captures the spirit of the age so well, the ambitious peasant, the clash of enlightenment values and tradition.

It was something of a marathon to read; I spent six weeks on it, and kept on starting other novels in the meantime (a bad idea). It is an achievement, and yet for me not a novel I enjoyed reading.

[Heidi · Rating 1 out of 5]

No, I did not like this book. I disliked the intertwining of its two central themes, one being a criticism of French society after the fall of Napoleon and the crazy, unbelievable love affairs. The language is old-fashioned, formal, complicated and wordy, I've read many classics prior and never had this issue.
The book is extremely slow, even if it does pick speed as it nears the end only to fall again at the conclusion.

I highly disliked Julian he makes me angry enough to strangle his skinny ass with my bare hands. This… pseudo-intellectual, pointlessly and directionlessly cynical, self-unaware, unreflective, self-centered, man honestly cannot make his mind up with women. One moment he's deeply in love with Madame de renal, next minute it's Mathilde and the back to Madame de renal, like what is this guy doing. I truly do not understand him.

[Aiden Krysciak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow there’s just so much here. So much of this book is catalyzing in that it doesn’t really have a direct effect on the narrative but the result of that is such a wealth of information that Stendhal draws upon in the end when he starts to wrap things up. I was sort of doubting it when I was like half way through because some much stuff happens that doesn’t really get picked up again till the end. But oh my go the end is so good I don’t care how corny it is I’m such a sucker for this type of romance.

[elissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize that I hadn't added this one, until a friend added it "to read" yesterday. I loved this in college! I was shocked that it was as good as it was, and I couldn't put it down. I totally remember reading it all over the campus. It was for this great Modern French History class, in which the teacher mostly had us read and discuss 19th c. novels. GERMINAL was another one that I read and loved that semester.

[Anna Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scarlet and Black is interesting as a glimpse into France's social climate in the early nineteenth century, but what I most enjoyed about it was the way Stendhal draws his characters, especially Julien. Julien behaves rather reprehensibly towards the women in his life, but Stendhal makes it possible for readers to empathise with him by telling the story from his point of view. For anyone who likes tragic romance and well-constructed characters.

[Harry Burnside · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although the French novelist Andre Gide rates it as on of the top ten books of all time and also it is listed in the 1001 books you must read before you die I found it very hard to read. So many characters, some with more than one name, the storyline was very complicated.
I took a long time to read it as I wasn't enjoying it and tended to leave it to do something else now and again but I was determined to read it to the end and was glad I did as it was a good ending which ranked the one star.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who would have thought Stendhal could have produced another protagonist as wierd as the hero of his other major work The Charterhouse of Parma? Yet he managed to do it! I didn't really enjoy this, the main character, Julien, is arrogant, suspicious, hypocritical (even the author admits this in the text) and ultra proud. Avoid it if you can, a 500+ page waste of paper.

[M. Cornelis van der Weele IV · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was thinking something written by a guy who's first reaction to incredible beauty was to collapse in a gibbering heap of convulsions and hallucinations would be incredibly profound. It is not. It is, instead, like wading, waist-deep, through a swamp filled with pudding.

I have an English degree. You can trust me on this.

[Stephen King · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book embracing high drama and passion in early nineteenth century France. A carpenter’s son with rare academic talents finds a job as a tutor to the children of the Mayor of a small town in South- Western France and becomes the object of affection from the Mayor’s wife. A story of talent, ambition and love with high (melo)drama follows.