Who Doesn't Love a Classic? discussion

The Red and the Black / Stendhal

Handsome and ambitious, Julien Sorel is determined to rise above his humble peasant origins and make something of his life-by adopting the code of hypocrisy by which his society operates. Julien ultimately commits a crime-out of passion, principle, or insanity-that will bring about his downfall.The Red and the Black is a lively, satirical picture of French Restoration society after Waterloo, riddled with corruption, greed, and ennui.

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Discussion begins here. We operate on the assumption that members have read the book before checking in here, so there may be SPOILERS if you have not finished the book.

FYI, this will be our group read through April. That way it'll give people more time with the book through this transition from Shelfari.

After April, we'll revert to having a group read every two months.

Ok, I was going to try to read it in French (I still have my college copy!) but I think I'll be done in 2017 if I go that route... :D

I'm done and waiting and hope I remember enough ;).

Karin wrote: "I'm done and waiting and hope I remember enough ;)."

Karin ... go ahead and begin discussion. I never got to it what with Hubby's surgery in March. I don't think Lara is back from her honeymoon yet.

Oh, I missed this! I'll start by putting my review here, since I am sure others liked it more than I did (sorry, but I gave it 1 star; but then sometimes I learn the most when discussing books where the readers ranged from 1 to 5 stars in their ratings of the book), so we could discuss the whys and wherefores of what we did and didn't like about it, plus all the other things people will ask and have to say.

This is a classic, but I certainly don’t care for it. There isn’t one likable character, I found the plot and story far less than stellar and, frankly, other than good grammar for the era, couldn’t find one redeeming point in this book other than that, once done, it was finally over. So why, then, bother to read it at all given that I’m long past school? I chose to read it as a group read, and having never read Stendhal before, thought I may as well give it a go. I didn’t read this exact copy, and while I understand that the translator of the library copy I read, Charles Tergie, might not be the best translator of this work around, there is nothing any translator could do to fix the worst parts of this for me.

Naturally, at least one person I know is likely to love this novel or at least like it, and, as always, there is nothing personal about disagreeing on novels such as this. After all, not everyone needs to like a novel’s character to enjoy it. They might like the psychological aspects of it, or appreciate points about it that did nothing for me, and given that this is literature and not something involving human rights or safety and so on and so forth, they are entitled to enjoy it. But, honestly, Julien is so unlikable; at one time brilliant in certain ways and on another so doggone shallow, egotistical and self centred, not to mention rather manipulative at times, with absolutely character growth of any value whatsoever that I just didn’t like him, nor based solely on this novel, could I form any good opinion of the author. Don’t even get me started on the inane character Madame de Rênard or the other women who came into Julien’s life. Based on this novel alone, Stendhal’s understanding of women appears to have been extremely limited and superficial. There wasn’t one woman in the lot I could like.

However, if you frequently love books I hate, try it and see what you think. If you are passionate about nineteenth century French literature you might love it. I’ll stick to authors such as Victor Hugo. For sure, Hugo tended to ramble and lecture, but at least he knew how to create characters we could get behind and root for passionately.

I got the book from the library and tried to start it, but other books kept getting in the way and I finally gave up and returned it. Maybe another day...

Karin wrote: "Oh, I missed this! I'll start by putting my review here, since I am sure others liked it more than I did (sorry, but I gave it 1 star; but then sometimes I learn the most when discussing books wher..."

I was just reading through this topic for the first time and I must say, I think your review is hilarious! "However, if you frequently love books I hate, try it and see what you think." Ha!

I haven't read this one yet, and don't know if I ever will. It's been on my TBR forever but I just can't seem to pull the trigger.

I'm with Kari but would add that it was boring as well.

Megan wrote: "I got the book from the library and tried to start it, but other books kept getting in the way and I finally gave up and returned it. Maybe another day..."

Ditto what Megan said....

I read this about 8 years ago, and remember liking it then. I don't remember much about it, though. Over at the 1001 book group, we're gearing up to read Stendhal's Charterhouse of Parma as a September read. I'm hoping it's good...