The Red and the Black Audiobook

" I loved it in high school, but now all I can say is, "what was I thinking?" "

" Brilliant! Absolutely marvelous book and one of my all time favourite in literature classes. And Julien Sorel is a spectacular character. "

" Assigned reading, and I'm glad it was. This was a really fun story about one young man's attempt to drag himself up the social ladder. He starts with nothing but heroic dreams and ambition and struggles to attain what he believes is important. The ending is fantastic. "

" I almost quit halfway through. Really glad I read all the way to the end. "

" I listened to this because it's a classic, and supposedly one of the first "psychological" novels, but I felt the same way about it that I did about The Bonfire of the Vanities, which I couldn't get through: It's a book about unlikeable self-obsessed people who have no redeeming social value, but who also actually never lived and thus have had no real effect on society -- in which case, why do we want to read about them? "

" Young people need. "

" So far, the best translation, but I'm still looking. Any recommendations? "

" Sorel has no discernable redeeming qualities and so the tragedy of his downfall fails to be tragic. This book makes tax forms seem scintillating. "

" It has been a long time since I read this book, but I have never forgotten it. A revolutionary and tragic book. "

" how people can be cheated. again - how few has changed during the generations of people and priests. "

" very dry writing style and sense of humor, but i enjoy that sort of thing. solid characterization "

" It has some good parts, but it's a LONG read! "

" This book walks a line between dark comedy and just plain freakishness as you see overarching ambition reach its logical conclusion. "

" The story of the rise and downfall of a very confused boy. A Machiavellian tragedy. "

" One of the most curious heroes in literature. Not exactly faultless, but then neither were his women! "

" Apparently burying your husband's decapitated head is a mighty noble thing to do... "

" Great book. Fast-paced, incisive, exciting, sprawling, sloppy, brilliant. "

" Stendahl didn't like the aristocracy or the clergy. And he thought ambition was a no-win way to behave. "

" Like this reader, Julien Sorrel is a fool, a hypocrite, and melancholic. Stendhal manages to make everyone and everything seem bovine. Thumbs up! "

" This is the book that I got me hooked in French Literature. Ended up majoring French Literature in college back in Japan many many years ago. "

" I believe this is Stendhal's best book - beautifully written and great subject matter. "