Scan barcode
sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
4.0
“Such is, alas, the drawback of an excessive civilization. At the age of twenty, the heart of a young man, if he has any education, is a thousand leagues from that devil-may-care attitude without which love is often only the most tedious duty.”
It is a powerful combination of a satire and a romantic novel. The satire parts are where Julien, the young man, is trying to find a living in a society which he finds full of arrogant hypocrites wherever he turns – rich of the country, priest, governments etc with their ridiculous ways.
“In Seminaries, there is a way of eating a boiled egg which reveals the progress one has made in the godly life”
Throughout he believes that poor are better for not being such hypocrites only to be disillusioned later on by his own father. That we call ‘maturity’ looks like accepting this hypocrisy. That seems to be the only way to earn a living in upper society. Julien, because of his ambitious nature, tries to adopt to those ways but they don’t come naturally to him. His sensitive nature and learned mind makes it difficult for him to take their arrogant ways.
“How am I to destroy this humiliating sensibility?”
Mostly his efforts fail and where they succeed (or appear to succeed) they only make him feel ashamed of himself.
“ All the first steps taken by our hero who fancied himself so prudent were …. foolish in the extreme. Led astray by all the presumption of an imaginative man, he mistook his intentions for facts, and thought himself a consummate hypocrite.”
However not all are hypocrites. There is Madame D. Renal, who has remained secluded from need of turning into a hypocrite because of her wealth, sex and lack of education. Like Julien, she is too innocent for her age, and here comes the romantic part. They fall in one of the slowest love affairs ever. Later Julien falls in love with Matilda too. Both affairs run hundreds of pages. May be a bit too long. There is a lot of holding hands (Strendhal made it sound almost errotic), embraces and kisses in there. The details provided will have you believe that author is giving you blow-by-blow account until suddenly, amid all that holding hands and kisses, heroine announces she has got pregnant. But, but how? I mean... how? By holding hands?
Reminds me of a lot of 80s bollywood movies that way – where couples get pregnant by dancing in the woods.
Anyways, both satirical and romantic parts are full of some beautiful quotes and psychological observations. It is the psychological building of Stendhal’s characters which I liked more than anything else. Also, he opens his chapters with some great quotes from other authors but I haven’t included those here.
“remorse is the only danger that sublime soul dreads!”
“No argument is sufficient to destroy the mastery acquired by ten years of pleasant fancies.”
“'The worst drawback of a prison,' he thought, 'is that one can never close one's door.” True for mobile-phones too.
“ In bold and proud natures, it is only a step from anger with oneself to fury with other people; one's transports of rage are in such circumstances a source of keen pleasure.”
“Were she left alone for a moment with him, she saw him grow visibly embarrassed. This troubled her, for her womanly instinct made her realise that his embarrassment was not in the least degree amorous.”
princewales's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
anna_kristina_nord's review against another edition
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
nataliedallaire's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
fakk3uzi's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Lectura amena casi contemporánea a su ambientación que tiene un poco de todo: Crítica de los estratos sociales decadentes del Antiguo Régimen, líos de faldas, dilemas morales y un protagonista carismático pero atormentado y con múltiples defectos. Un antihéroe bien construido.
jess_mango's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
I'm just not 100% into Julien, the handsome. ambitious young Frenchman trying to advance himself in society.
Julien Sorel is the son of a carpenter and has gotten himself an education and is pretty well-read. Napoleon is his idol and Julien yearns to advance higher in society. He gives the military an attempt (the red) and the clergy (the black). He ends up being hired as a tutor by a wealthy family where he decides to lure the wife into an affair...and so begins his conniving ways to move up in the world.
I just didn't like Julien. at.all. It made it hard for me to like this book more. I can appreciate the writing and it helped me learn more about French society in the 1800s.
I'm just not 100% into Julien, the handsome. ambitious young Frenchman trying to advance himself in society.
Julien Sorel is the son of a carpenter and has gotten himself an education and is pretty well-read. Napoleon is his idol and Julien yearns to advance higher in society. He gives the military an attempt (the red) and the clergy (the black). He ends up being hired as a tutor by a wealthy family where he decides to lure the wife into an affair...and so begins his conniving ways to move up in the world.
I just didn't like Julien. at.all. It made it hard for me to like this book more. I can appreciate the writing and it helped me learn more about French society in the 1800s.
fr_eddie's review against another edition
3.0
3,5 Un libro con una storia molto interessante, una storia sull'ambizione e l'orgoglio di un uomo che lo portano alla sua inevitabile sconfitta, una storia in cui i personaggi sono vivi, con tutti i loro pregi e difetti.
Una storia che, nonostante questo, ho faticato a leggerla per il modo in cui era stata scritta. Proprio non il mio genere di scrittura, cosa che mi ha fatto prolungare la lettura più di quanto avrei voluto, quasi annoiandomi in certi punti più lenti.
Il finale è stato un finale azzeccato alla storia, forse uno dei passi più interessanti per tutte le emozioni che mi ha fatto provare. Una conclusione per un personaggio frammentato, pieno di difetti ma senza malvagità, che avrebbe potuto compiere grandi cose.
Lo consiglierei? Sì, perché, nonostante il modo in cui è stato scritto non è stato dei miei preferiti, è una bellissima storia, molto interessante.
Una storia che, nonostante questo, ho faticato a leggerla per il modo in cui era stata scritta. Proprio non il mio genere di scrittura, cosa che mi ha fatto prolungare la lettura più di quanto avrei voluto, quasi annoiandomi in certi punti più lenti.
Il finale è stato un finale azzeccato alla storia, forse uno dei passi più interessanti per tutte le emozioni che mi ha fatto provare. Una conclusione per un personaggio frammentato, pieno di difetti ma senza malvagità, che avrebbe potuto compiere grandi cose.
Lo consiglierei? Sì, perché, nonostante il modo in cui è stato scritto non è stato dei miei preferiti, è una bellissima storia, molto interessante.
suchasuckerforbooks's review against another edition
Первая треть истории чем-то напоминает "Мартин Иден". Знаю, что и в этой книге должен быть трагический конец . Я только хотела узнать, как именно все сложится в итоге, но мне в процессе стало настолько скучно, даже с аудиокнигой, что я решила, что оно того не стоит.