The Red And The Black by Stendhal, a 19th-century French writer, is a long psychological novel, recording a poor handsome gifted young provincial’s attempts to rise into the high society of Paris with a combination of talent and hard work, deception and hypocrisy -- yet he finally allows his paions to betray him.
The life of the main character, Julien Sohill, reflects poor young people’s experience and destiny at that time.Julien is talented, enthusiastic, determined but selfish and mistrustful.He is looked down upon because of his family background and decides to rely on individual talent to make his own succe like Napoleon.
Then his amazing reciting ability leads to an opportunity for him to teach in the home of the mayor.In that period, he has a love affair with his mistre, Mrs.Dee Rena.Later his life further strengthens his climbing ambitions and hypocritical style.As he is getting close to the \"brightne\", he completely ruins his future by shooting Mrs.Dee Rena.
The Red And The Black is a description of 19th century France filled with corruption and greed, after the exile of Napoleon to St.Helena.As a fine critical realism novel, the book criticizes the social realities of the time of ever-lasting pursuit for power and money and the pain when they cannot be gotten, and this is the reason why the charm of the novel will never fade.
19世纪法国作家司汤达的《红与黑》是一部长篇心理小说，讲述了一个贫穷、帅气、天资过人的年轻乡巴佬试图通过他的天分、勤劳、欺骗和虚伪，跻身于巴黎上流社会，但最终他的野心背叛了他。
小说的主人公于连-索黑尔的一生反映了当时穷苦青年的经历和命运。于连聪颖、热情、坚毅，但又自私、多疑，因自己的家庭背景而被人瞧不起。他立志要像拿破仑那样靠个人才智建功立业。
后来，他惊人的背诵能力使他有机会成为市长家的家庭教师。在那段时期，他与女主人德-瑞娜夫人传出绯闻，后来他的生活进一步坚定了他向上层攀爬的野心和虚伪的作风。正当于连一步步走向“光明”时，他因枪击德-瑞娜夫人彻底断送了自己的前程。
《红与黑》是拿破仑被流放到圣赫勒拿岛后19世纪法国社会的写照，充斥着腐败和贪婪。作为一部优秀的批判现实主义小说，《红与黑》通过人们对金钱和权力的执着追求，以及追求不到的痛苦来批判那个时代的社会现实，这也是《红与黑》魅力长存的原因。
《红与黑》英文书评The Red and the Black
