Headstrong and naïve, the young Italian aristocrat Fabrizio del Dongo is determined to defy the wrath of his right-wing father and go to war to fight for Napoleon. He stumbles on the Battle of Waterloo, ill-prepared, yet filled with enthusiasm for war and glory. Finally heeding advice, Fabrizio sneaks back to Milan, only to become embroiled in a series of amorous exploits, fuelled by his impetuous nature and the political chicanery of his aunt Gina and her wily lover. Judged by Balzac to be the most important French novel of its time, The Charterhouse of Parma is a compelling novel of extravagance and daring, blending the intrigues of the Italian court with the romance and excitement of youth.
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'The Charterhouse of Parma often contains a whole book in a single page... If is a masterpiece' Balzac 'What you find so much of in this novel - and in this new translation more than ever before - is, in a word, life' New York Times
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Henri Marie Beyle (1783-1842) had a post in the Ministry of War and followed Napoleon's campaigns before retiring to Italy. Here, as 'Stendhal', he began writing on art, music and travel. He later wrote novels, literary criticism, and various biographical and autobiographical works.
John Sturrock is Consulting Editor for the London Review of Books, a literary critic, travel writer, and translator. His translations for Penguin include novels by Stendhal and Hugo, one volume of the new Proust translation: Sodom and Gomorrah, and most recently (with Jeremy Harding) a volume of Rimbaud's poems and letters (0140448020).
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On 15 May 1796, General Bonaparte made his entry into Milan at the head of the youthful army which had just crossed the bridge at Lodi and let the world know that after all these centuries, Caesar and Alexander had a successor. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
On 15 May 1796, General Bonaparte made his entry into Milan at the head of the youthful army which had just crossed the bridge at Lodi and let the world know that after all these centuries, Caesar and Alexander had a successor. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This book sits in my top ten novels of all time, next to the likes of Anna Karenina, War and Peace, Middlemarch, Crime and Punishment, The Karamazov Brothers, and of course the Red and the Black.
Why? Like the other authors of this select crowd, there's nothing about human behaviour Stendhal didn't understand. Dostoevsky will tell you all about the seamier side of life, Stendhal tells you about love - love in all its glory, fragility and pain - and he tells you about it as no one else can, with an empathy of startling depth. He wrote it in only about six weeks, too - not bad for a masterpiece of this calibre. Read the Red and the Black and On Love too, if you like this.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Colin C
Format:Hardcover
Stendhal's second great novel, written in 1839, nine years after 'The Scarlet and the Black' is set in the years following 1815 in the small state of Parma. The hero (or anti-hero?), the wonderfully named Fabrizio del Dongo, is swept along by the tide of events around him - the Battle of Waterloo and the tides of political power in Parma, both of which Stendhal describes and illuminates with incredible detail.
The plot of the novel is gripping for the most part and has plenty of twists and turns, and the nature of power and ambition are analysed in a way which still feels completely relevant today. The only disappointment I felt on reading 'The Charterhouse of Parma' was that the much-praised insights on love seemed far less interesting. The handsome but empty headed Fabrizio, to me at least, was a hapless, selfish and irritating creature throughout the tale, a sort of cross between Johnny Depp and Bertie Wooster, relying on his gorgeousness and aristocratic birth for all the favours and adventures that he enjoys. The author tries to describe his development from someone too shallow to love, into a great passionate lover, but this doesn't quite come off. However, Parma remains a wonderful political novel and period piece of post-Napoleonic Europe. Highly recommended for these reasons.
The plot of the novel is gripping for the most part and has plenty of twists and turns, and the nature of power and ambition are analysed in a way which still feels completely relevant today. The only disappointment I felt on reading 'The Charterhouse of Parma' was that the much-praised insights on love seemed far less interesting. The handsome but empty headed Fabrizio, to me at least, was a hapless, selfish and irritating creature throughout the tale, a sort of cross between Johnny Depp and Bertie Wooster, relying on his gorgeousness and aristocratic birth for all the favours and adventures that he enjoys. The author tries to describe his development from someone too shallow to love, into a great passionate lover, but this doesn't quite come off. However, Parma remains a wonderful political novel and period piece of post-Napoleonic Europe. Highly recommended for these reasons.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Not long after Stendhal's "The Charterhouse of Parma" was published, Balzac wrote a review of the book and said: "One sees perfection in everything". And he was not wrong. Almost two centuries later - it first appeared in French in 1839 - the novel still is one of the best, most funny and captivating ever. Andre Gide and Henry James were also enthusiasts of this book. Recently Jonathan Franzen listed this novel in his top five.
But, for the modern reader, the one who can't focus on sentence longer than 140 characters, what does "The Charterhouse of Parma" have to offer? To begin with, a delightful journey. The length (about 560 pages in the Penguin Classic edition) can put many readers off, but after overcoming this anxiety and getting started it is, to use a cliché, impossible to put this book down. The prose is light - not to confuse with shallow - and the narrator comments are funny.
At first, "The Charterhouse of Parma" sounds like a historical soap opera - replete of intrigue, unfulfilled love, betrayals and so on - , but the story of Fabrice del Dong, his aunt, Gina, Duchess of Sanseverina, and her lover Count Mosca has all the qualities a reader can expect. Reading this Stendhal novel is like a ride in a roller coaster. There are some inconsistencies in the narrative - characters and events appear out of the blue, and, then, the narrator says, `we haven't mentioned that... ` - but, these flaws bring colors to the book. Fabrice is an early Forrest Gump who is inserted in important historical moments, but fail to realize them - specially early in the novel when he is crazy about Napoleon, and witnesses Waterloo.
What is most appealing in Stendhal's "The Charterhouse of Parma" is his view of the human condition and the irony of politics. The emotions the characters have to face are timeless and any reader, anywhere, can relate to them. Anyone can like this novel - and you don't have to be a writer as Balzac, Gide, James or Franzen.
But, for the modern reader, the one who can't focus on sentence longer than 140 characters, what does "The Charterhouse of Parma" have to offer? To begin with, a delightful journey. The length (about 560 pages in the Penguin Classic edition) can put many readers off, but after overcoming this anxiety and getting started it is, to use a cliché, impossible to put this book down. The prose is light - not to confuse with shallow - and the narrator comments are funny.
At first, "The Charterhouse of Parma" sounds like a historical soap opera - replete of intrigue, unfulfilled love, betrayals and so on - , but the story of Fabrice del Dong, his aunt, Gina, Duchess of Sanseverina, and her lover Count Mosca has all the qualities a reader can expect. Reading this Stendhal novel is like a ride in a roller coaster. There are some inconsistencies in the narrative - characters and events appear out of the blue, and, then, the narrator says, `we haven't mentioned that... ` - but, these flaws bring colors to the book. Fabrice is an early Forrest Gump who is inserted in important historical moments, but fail to realize them - specially early in the novel when he is crazy about Napoleon, and witnesses Waterloo.
What is most appealing in Stendhal's "The Charterhouse of Parma" is his view of the human condition and the irony of politics. The emotions the characters have to face are timeless and any reader, anywhere, can relate to them. Anyone can like this novel - and you don't have to be a writer as Balzac, Gide, James or Franzen.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Beyle-full...
This is a glorious novel - although I have not read this particular translation (by Richard Howard) and concede that the negative review here might be valid. Read more
Published on 21 Nov 2010 by Sporus
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic
This is a classic book. Stendhal's description of Waterloo is famous and deservedly so.
Published on 9 May 2010 by Mr. Christopher Harris
1.0 out of 5 stars
unreadable translation
I had a go at this classic because it's Alfred Brendel's favourite novel. All I can say is he can't have read this new translation by John Sturrock. Read more
Published on 18 April 2008 by N. Housley
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