Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black)
The first great novel of romantic obsession and social ambition. Julien Sorel's love affairs with two women are the engine of his attempt to transcend his class, and Stendhal shows us how desire and calculation become indistinguishable. The final section, when Julien finally understands what he has chosen and lost, is shattering.
Nobody in the book is likable, Julien included, which leaves a real share of readers with no one to root for; one writes flatly, “There isn’t one likable character.” He himself is the flashpoint, called “so doggone shallow, egotistical and self centred” by one reviewer. The women, especially the first married woman he seduces, read as thin, and multiple readers conclude Stendhal’s grip on female characters was limited, one writing that “Stendhal’s understanding of women appears to have been extremely limited.” The seminary stretch at Besancon is flagged even by fans as the slowest part of the book, and Stendhal’s habit of extended interior monologue gets pushed, some say, to excess. One reviewer sums up the whole experience with “this book should go and have a seat next to Vanity Fair,” ranking it below other social novelists who handle sprawling casts better. Some readers set it aside partway through rather than finish.
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
