The Story Archive

The Red and the Black

Stendhal · 1830 CE · Novel · French · Romantic

Julien Sorel, a carpenter's son with Napoleon in his head and the priesthood in front of him, takes a post tutoring the children of the mayor of Verrières. Provincial adultery, a seminary and then a Paris secretaryship carry him upward on charm, memorized scripture and calculated seduction. Ambition as a career.

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