The Red and the Black
by Stendhal · Le Rouge et le Noir
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1830
- Form
- Novel
- Language
- French
- Length
- Long · 500 pp300 to 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Red and the Black, translated by Roger GardPenguin Classics, 2002Accurate and current; Burton Raffel's Modern Library translation is brisker.
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Julien Sorel, a carpenter's son in a provincial town under the Restoration, admires Napoleon in secret and takes holy orders as the only route open to ambition. As tutor in the house of the mayor, Monsieur de Rênal, he seduces the mayor's wife; sent to a seminary and then to Paris as secretary to the Marquis de la Mole, he wins the marquis's proud daughter Mathilde. A letter from Madame de Rênal wrecks the marriage, and Julien shoots her in church, is tried and goes to the guillotine. A study of hypocrisy and class in 1830.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Red and the Black are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
