Charterhouse of Parma, The
by Marie-Henri Beyle (Stendhal)
published
August 1st 1990
(first published 2000)
by Bantam Classics
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binding
Mass Market Paperback
isbn
055321389X
(isbn13: 9780553213898)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 539)
Read in March, 1999
Richard Howard's recent translation of Stendhal's classic rescues the novel from the fustiness of the Penguin version*; I almost felt as if I were reading the book for the first time. For me, Stendhal is one of the pure pleasures of literature, one of those "effortless" novels that makes up for a whole lot of everyday ugliness.
* I was referring to the translation I read in the 80s. After I wrote this review, I noticed that Penguin has a new (2007) translation by John Sturrock – o...more
* I was referring to the translation I read in the 80s. After I wrote this review, I noticed that Penguin has a new (2007) translation by John Sturrock – o...more
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Read in September, 2007
Seriously, why does anyone read anything written before 1870? this SUCKED. the plot goes all over the place and the characters weren't especially memorable. I was hoping it would be like Adam Cadre's "Varicella," and there was certainly a good deal of intricate court machinations within Italian city-states...but Stendhal takes away from that with an interminable prison sentence/escape, a long drawn out romance I couldn't have cared less about, and an asinine ending. It was like four bo...more
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I learned that upper class Italian women of the nineteenth century were expected to have a "cavaliere servente" -- a lover. Those Italians! So sophisticated!
It's a good book, a bit of a history lesson. Stendhal has a good sense of character, although he is more about the story, and it's kind of an epic, not my usual choice in reading, but I'm enjoying this one. The tone is satisfyingly arch.
If set in the current day, I'd give it five stars. Probably would have more sex i...more
It's a good book, a bit of a history lesson. Stendhal has a good sense of character, although he is more about the story, and it's kind of an epic, not my usual choice in reading, but I'm enjoying this one. The tone is satisfyingly arch.
If set in the current day, I'd give it five stars. Probably would have more sex i...more
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Read in January, 2002
All time favorite, I view this as a 'must read' but try to not force it on others. I hated the brisk ending and quickly, greedily returned back to the first page in a ridiculous attempt to keep the tale alive before the embers went cold. But, its still only a book so I moved on. I love it when I meet people who understand what it means to label someone a Fabrizio. I've yet to meet an American who gets that label, but it's taken for granted among a strata of Europeans of a certain age.
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Read in January, 1990
Stendhal is now recognized as a major figure in world literature and known for injecting Realism ahead of its time. This novel, set in Italy, focuses on the nuances of love. It is a romantic thriller of sorts, w/ a dose of the Napoleonic wars and court life also depicted. Stendhal creates of my favorite female characters, La Sansévérina.
The novel ends abruptly...several years are condensed. Still, it's a fun ride.
The novel ends abruptly...several years are condensed. Still, it's a fun ride.
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Read in February, 2008
This is considered a classic and like a lot of books considered classics "for their time" it loses something over the centuries. However, there is a still an interesting story here if perhaps not as astounding as it would have been when first published. Also in its favor, it does give a view into the way of life for that era's nobility and their human satellites.
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A very long book.
This wasn't the best long boo I have ever read, but it was fine. The plot, too long to summarize is intertwined, as usual, with a hidden agenda constantly poking at certain aspects of life. I think that this is more of an adult book, or college, but it was fairly overwhelming for me, but I pushed through it.
If you read it, good luck!
This wasn't the best long boo I have ever read, but it was fine. The plot, too long to summarize is intertwined, as usual, with a hidden agenda constantly poking at certain aspects of life. I think that this is more of an adult book, or college, but it was fairly overwhelming for me, but I pushed through it.
If you read it, good luck!
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
Anyone who loves beautiful literature
what can be bad about a book about turn of the 19th century Italian noblemen and their glamorous, gossip-fueled lives? What is most amazing about this book to me is, as fascinating as Murakami can make the daily banal, Stendhal can make the the lives and emotions of the most elite group of people in 19th Century Europe easy to relate with.
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Read in January, 1975
I read this on the beach in Scarborough. Hardly your quintessential beach read. But I swear I was in Italy with this little hotheaded, prototypically hormone-driven angry young man in love with (who else?) a most beautiful young woman. Oh yeah. And something about Waterloo. Where else to read about Waterloo than hard against the ocean?
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Re-reading this classic after thirty years--this time in Richard Howard's 1999 translation--I am struck by Stendhal's dogged refusal to indulge in the purple prose and turgid melodrama that even the best of his contemporaries indulged in, replacing them with a very sophisticated sense of whimsy and no small measure of dead-pan irony.
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Read in April, 2008
This is my first experience with Stendhall, I don't know why & I loved it, I couldn't put it down. The language, the imagery, the history, the sense of place and time, and just the master storytelling ability - no wonder he is named as "favorite author" by many. I'm checking our Red and Black this week.
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Read in June, 2007
A beautiful tale of court intrigue, untoward feelings toward female relatives, the importance of self-knowledge and the oddness of fame. Very much like War and Peace, in terms of sensibility and setting. Highly recommended, a great French novel, a wonderful translation.
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
people who read classic
The Charthouse of Parma is Stendhal´s second best book. He is the master of expressing passion and feelings of the characters. You would feel immediately connected with the characters.
It was the second time I read this book. I still highly recommend this book.
It was the second time I read this book. I still highly recommend this book.
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Stendhal is literary rococo - over the top romance and gallantry. Beautifully written, fun period literature. Reading the Charterhouse of Parma or The Red and the Black will teach you everything you ever needed to know about the French spirit : )
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ترجمه ی اردشیر نیک پور که اوایل دهه ی پنجاه به فارسی منتشر شده، اگرچه ترجمه ی خوب و روانی ست اما روح این اثر استاندال و زبان او را ندارد
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Slogging through this one. Only about six chapters in and I'm still waiting for the plot to pick up speed. The narrator has a really strong voice in this, also there lots of funny comparisons between Frenchmen and Italians.
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4 comments
recommends it for:
wiseguys
the misadventures of an italian noble. the book is slightly uneven and parts of it and certain characters feel rushed (especially the ending which comes out of nowhere), but the good parts are really good
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Read in July, 2008
a thoroughly romantic novel, but up to the point where i've reached (about 350 of 500 pages), it is far more concerned with court intrigue than what we normally consider 'romance.' one thing that is impressive is its treatment of the protagonist, fabrizio del dongo. fabrizio is constantly hidden, in disguise, captive, suffering from mistaken identity, getting blown from one part of the world to another, the subject of (or, literally subjected to) competing and petty nobles who use him in their o...more
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Read in July, 2008
Finally finished this book. Tried to read it once before, several years ago, and never got through it (which is not like me--usually I stick with a book no matter if I like it or not). Really wanted to like it but just couldn't really get into it.
This is a book written by a French author in the 19th century, but the subject is actually Italy. The book jacket on my edition describes it as "Stendhal's epic tale of romance, adventure, and court intrigue set in early 19th century Italy&q...more
This is a book written by a French author in the 19th century, but the subject is actually Italy. The book jacket on my edition describes it as "Stendhal's epic tale of romance, adventure, and court intrigue set in early 19th century Italy&q...more
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Read in July, 2007
The Charterhouse of Parma! I finally finished it. The last one half to a third definitely picked up. I guess what strikes me the most is the narrators unerring sense of irony and how finely applied it is to the characters and situations. I bought this in March and three months later, here we are. I have intended to read this for so many years, its great to have done it. This is the earliest example of the purely ironic novel that I recall having read.
“Fabrizio at first utterly rejected the no...more
“Fabrizio at first utterly rejected the no...more
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