Elizabeth's review
The Charterhouse of Parma (Oxford World's Classics)
by Marie-Henri Beyle (Stendhal)
I agree with Bill, this is a slow one, best to go to someone else, say Proust, where you are rewarded for the druggery with an outstanding multi-page passage so amazing it lilts and lifts the last 100 pages from your mind.
Hey, you know what guys? I'm actually really enjoying this book! It kind of bums me out that you are all so negative... :(
Right now (im about 200 pages in), it reads like a good old fashioned adventure novel, and for me, a passionate fan of Italian history, I'm enjoying all the traveling he does... so there.
I found that one much less captivating than The Red and The Black. Though I must confess the opening scene at Waterloo was rather brilliant. All the dealings with the Italian aristocracy struch me as tedious, not to mention implausible. I know Stendahl is regarded for his psychological realism. But this novel didn't convince me. Goethe did the same sort of thing in Wilhelm Meister, only better.
Elizabeth's review
The Charterhouse of Parma (Oxford World's Classics) by Marie-Henri Beyle (Stendhal)
Elizabeth's review
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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.
I agree with Bill, this is a slow one, best to go to someone else, say Proust, where you are rewarded for the druggery with an outstanding multi-page passage so amazing it lilts and lifts the last 100 pages from your mind.
Hey, you know what guys? I'm actually really enjoying this book! It kind of bums me out that you are all so negative... :(
Right now (im about 200 pages in), it reads like a good old fashioned adventure novel, and for me, a passionate fan of Italian history, I'm enjoying all the traveling he does... so there.
I found that one much less captivating than The Red and The Black. Though I must confess the opening scene at Waterloo was rather brilliant. All the dealings with the Italian aristocracy struch me as tedious, not to mention implausible. I know Stendahl is regarded for his psychological realism. But this novel didn't convince me. Goethe did the same sort of thing in Wilhelm Meister, only better.
