The Red and the Black - Stendhal Audiobook

Written by Stendhal
Read by Davina Porter
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 48 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
Original Release Date: 1988
Digital Release Date: 2010
Duration: 20:05:33

Handsome and ambitious, Julien Sorel is determined to rise above his humble peasant origins and make something of his life-by adopting the code of hypocrisy by which his society operates. Julien ultimately commits a crime-out of passion, principle, or insanity-that will bring about his downfall. The Red and the Black is a lively, satirical picture of French Restoration society after Waterloo, riddled with corruption, greed, and ennui. The complex, sympathetic portrayal of Julien, the cold exploiter whose Machiavellian campaign is undercut by his own emotions, makes him Stendhal’s most brilliant and human creation-and one of the greatest characters in European literature.

A review - Sorel’s quest to find himself, and the doomed love he encounters along the way, are delineated with an unprecedented psychological depth and realism. At the same time, Stendhal weaves together the social life and fraught political intrigues of post–Napoleonic France, bringing that world to unforgettable, full-color life. His portrait of Julien and early-nineteenth-century France remains an unsurpassed creation, one that brilliantly anticipates modern literature.

Neglected during its time, The Red and the Black has assumed its rightful place as one of the world’s great books.

This is not the best of recordings but is the better of my two choices. Recorded Books always has a few minutes of historical background at the beginning of the recording.