….. not the book I was hoping for, but a story that I have a long history with.
In 1993 I watched a BBC adaptation of Stendhal’s The Red and The Black, starring the then barely known Ewan McGregor and Rachel Weisz. I liked it, I thought I might try the book one day …..
In 2007 I spotted a book I’d always intended to read in a charity shop: The Red and the Black by Stendhal. I brought it home, added it to LibraryThing, put it on a shelf. And there it stayed, because I did want to read it but it looked big and dense, and its moment never quite came ….
In 2012 when I scanned my shelves for books that I needed a push to read for my Classics Club list I spotted it again: The Red and the Black by Stendhal. It was a bone fide classic, I hadn’t read it, and so it went on to the list.
And the rest you know. I put it on my spin list and its number came up.
I would like to read it, but there are seventy five chapters and I don’t think it’s going to be an easy read.
I plan to treat it as a serial – it was originally published as a serial – and read a few chapters a day over the course of the month.
I hope I’ll be glad that I’ve been given the push to read it. But time will tell …
I’d love to know if you’ve read my spin book.
And tell me, what book has the Classics Club spun for you?
Fleur in her World 
Could it be possible, I ask myself, that I read this in French in college? It’s incredible (not credible, I mean) since I am so far away from that skill and that time, but I think I may have. Wow! 🙂
This is one I’ve always wondered if I should read, so I’ll be interested to hear what you make of it!
I hope you enjoy it – treating it as a serial seems a good idea! I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts as I have another Stendhal book, The Charterhouse of Parma, on my Classics Club list and have no idea what to expect from it when I eventually get round to reading it.
hope you enjoy it- I think I would be daunted by it too.
gosh this takes me back decades. I read it when I was in my ‘foreign fiction’ phase in my very late teens.Not sure I understood much of it though! good idea to read it as a serial
Good luck – it sounds a bit daunting but will be a good title to cross off your list.
I’ve heard Stendhal is good, though I admit I haven’t gotten to him yet. My Classics Spin selection is Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence. I’m a little leery but you never know. I did read Sons and Lovers a few years ago and was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. The characters were not very nice people but I had no trouble finishing it. Now that I think about it I can’t remember how it ends!! Still, I won’t give up on Lawrence yet. At least it’s not too long.
Like Audrey I read this in college – during my brief turn as a French major. I can’t remember anything about it, and I’ve always meant to try it in translation. I hope you enjoy it!
I’ve never seen the tv adaptation or know anything about this really except that it seems intimidating! Good luck with it – it was brave of you to put it on your list 🙂
This book scares me, too, but I think your idea of approaching it as a serial may help. Good luck.
I remember watching that adaptation too, I was a bit of a Ewan McGregor fan. I hope you get on with this book ok, I think I would be a bit daunted by it. I am thinking of joining in with the classics club though I know I am a bit late to it.
I did not know there was a TV adaptation. I have to admit I struggled with “The Charterhouse of Parma”, and did not finish. But I have been wondering whether I should give Stendahl another chance on this book.