The Red and the Black, Volume I


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(3.9 stars; 40 reviews)

Stendhal - a German pen-name for a French writer who hated the English. Contemporary to some of the great names of French literature like Balzac and Flaubert, Stendhal is quite often considered a writer that doesn't seem to fit a defined genre. Some say he's a Romantic, others that he's a Modernist and that Le Rouge et Le Noir is the first modern novel. On one point they are all agreed: the novel is a masterpiece that shows a young theology student - Julien Sorel - intelligent, handsome and who is determined to rise above his humble peasant origins. Stendhal presents the reader with a satirical plot that will involve you in passions, intrigues, last-minute reversals and, mostly, the hypocrisy by which society operates. (Summary by sailormoon) (9 hr 12 min)

Chapters

00 - Introduction 23:22 Read by Sandra Luna
01 - A Small Town 8:54 Read by Nadine Eckert-Boulet
02 - A Mayor 7:55 Read by Nadine Eckert-Boulet
03 - The Poor Fund 11:38 Read by Derrick Coetzee
04- A Father and a Son 8:51 Read by Derrick Coetzee
05 - A Negotiation 18:56 Read by Kirsty Leishman
06 - Ennui 17:42 Read by sganatra81
07 - The Effective Affinities 26:52 Read by Nicole Lee
08 - Little Episodes 19:21 Read by Kirsty Leishman
09 - An Evening in the Country 19:26 Read by Kirsty Leishman
10 - A Great Heart and a Small Fortune 7:55 Read by Nadine Eckert-Boulet
11 - An Evening 13:02 Read by Nicole Lee
12 - A Journey 14:56 Read by sganatra81
13 - The Open Work Stocking 12:32 Read by Nicole Lee
14 - The English Scissors 7:14 Read by sganatra81
15 - The Cock's Song 9:05 Read by Kirsty Leishman
16 - The day After 11:42 Read by Nicole Lee
17 - The First Deputy 10:52 Read by sganatra81
18 - A King at Verrieres 30:05 Read by sganatra81
19 - Thinking Produces Suffering 20:38 Read by Kirsty Leishman
20 - Anonymous Letters 8:41 Read by sganatra81
21 - Dialogue with a Master 29:36 Read by sganatra81
22 - Manners of Procedure 29:37 Read by Kirsty Leishman
23 - Sorrows of an Official 31:08 Read by Kirsty Leishman
24 - A Capital 15:05 Read by Gail Timmerman Vaughan
25 - The Seminary 16:51 Read by Gail Timmerman Vaughan
26 - The World, or what the rich lack 23:32 Read by Nicole Lee
27 - First Experience of Life 11:59 Read by Martin Geeson
28 - A Procession 15:49 Read by Nicole Lee
29 - The First Promotion 31:28 Read by Nicole Lee
30 - An Ambitious Man 37:23 Read by Gail Timmerman Vaughan

Reviews

Poor narration


(0.5 stars)

Very poor narration. I appreciate the narrator's attempt, but it was just too heavily accented. I wasn't able to focus on the story, for I was trying just to understand the words. If you can make it through 20 minutes, maybe it's for you. It's unfortunate, as it's one of my favorite books.


(3 stars)

the story is wonderful but the narration is very uneven. I realize there are multiple narrators but a basic requirement of treading a translated novel is that the reader can at least pronounce the original language proper names with a modicum of correctness. Some of the French names were absolutely massacred.


(1.5 stars)

The narration is stupendously poor at times and quite unbearable. But battle through the agonising passages and you'll be rewarded.

barely literate readers


(1 stars)

Why do you utterly destroy the experience of fine literature by allowing garbage readings? Just disgusting!

fantastic as always!


(5 stars)

Librivox never disappoints, thank you so much for the beautiful rendition of this amazing story.

Fascinating!


(4 stars)

Great story marred by a few mediocre readers.

good stuff.


(5 stars)

Love it so far. Enthralling.