Stendhal

The Red and the Black, The Charterhouse of Parma

The first modern psychological novelist. The Red and the Black dissects Restoration France through Julien Sorel's ruthless ambition; The Charterhouse of Parma — which Balzac reviewed in a 72-page essay of pure admiration — is the great Napoleonic novel. He predicted he would be understood only in 1880; he was right.

Key works

• The Red and the Black1830— Ambition, hypocrisy, and the guillotine
• The Charterhouse of Parma1839— Waterloo, prison, and love — Balzac's favorite novel

Connections

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