The Red and the Black

by Stendhal
List(s):"Carp 500"
Category: "Fiction - General"
Pages:506
Year of Publication:1830
Date Read:05/31/1996
Notes:Julien 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.

COMMENTS — The title apparently refers to the tensions in Sorel’s character and to the choice he is faced to make in his quest for success: the army — symbolized by red or the church — symbolized by black.
My Rating: 4

Reviews for The Red and the Black

Review - Red and the Black, The

I was contemplating giving up on the book, and then Julien shot Madame de Renal and it got a little bit interesting for a while. By the time it got dull again, I was close enough to the end to keep reading.

Reviewed by Roger on 2003-07-21 19:14:59

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