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nomadjg 's review for:
Red and Black
by Stendhal
I didn't like Julian, but was sympathetic to his quandary of how to proceed in life in late 1830's France. I think Stendhal perfectly captured all of the internal drama of youth - freaking out about the smallest thing, agonizing over what it meant that someone looked at you, going between extremes in feeling, and dreaming of a more heroic past. This seems familiar to me. Stendhal shows how books effected many of his characters.
Stendhal's style was so direct, intentionally unlike his contemporaries, that the writing really flowed. He was much criticized for this, but he wrote that readers in the future will enjoy his book. Also, Hippolyte Taine suggests that he was completely in control of the effect of every word and the reader doesn't notice the style and language because he brings the story to life.
I don't know very much about 1830's France, but from reading this book, it is clear what a corrupt and unsettled time it was. The trial was an excellent device for getting this point across, too. This impression I got was confirmed by the background I read later. He definitely shows the fall of the re-instated aristocracy to come. "Birth and bravery will no longer be enough to make it in this age." Girard's essay on nobility and inner dialogization as it pertains to Red and Black is recommended on this topic as well.
I have to note that I was also reading Orientalism by Edward Said when I read this book, and I found definite references to the Orient nearer the end of the book, which basically served to back up Said's argument. One is a statement that "No man knows the source of the Nile" - the Orient representing the unknowable - and the other a reference to Voltaire's Mahomet about the strong leading ignoble minds.
Finally, this is also a slightly tragic love story of 3 people, and I don't remember seeing this so well done.
Stendhal's style was so direct, intentionally unlike his contemporaries, that the writing really flowed. He was much criticized for this, but he wrote that readers in the future will enjoy his book. Also, Hippolyte Taine suggests that he was completely in control of the effect of every word and the reader doesn't notice the style and language because he brings the story to life.
I don't know very much about 1830's France, but from reading this book, it is clear what a corrupt and unsettled time it was. The trial was an excellent device for getting this point across, too. This impression I got was confirmed by the background I read later. He definitely shows the fall of the re-instated aristocracy to come. "Birth and bravery will no longer be enough to make it in this age." Girard's essay on nobility and inner dialogization as it pertains to Red and Black is recommended on this topic as well.
I have to note that I was also reading Orientalism by Edward Said when I read this book, and I found definite references to the Orient nearer the end of the book, which basically served to back up Said's argument. One is a statement that "No man knows the source of the Nile" - the Orient representing the unknowable - and the other a reference to Voltaire's Mahomet about the strong leading ignoble minds.
Finally, this is also a slightly tragic love story of 3 people, and I don't remember seeing this so well done.