What a surprising autobiography this is! First, the great
19th-century French novelist Stendhal has used the pseudonym of
Henry Brulard instead of his more familiar name, which is itself a
pseudonym. The work purports to deal only with his first 17 years,
though he refers to much that happened after that, up to the time
of writing when he was 53. The story jumps about, is filled with
digressions, and burns with passion, venom and great frankess. The
book seems to have been written to expunge the horror of his early
life rather than for publication. 'Henry Brulard' was the victim of
'the most unwaveringly aristocratic and religious education', which
he vehemently rejected. His mother died when he was seven, and
thereafter his life was one of constant unhappiness, persecuted by
his vicious aunt Seraphie and his totally antipathetic father. He
was never allowed to talk to a child of his own age. Only his
grandfather loved him and inculcated in him the great love of books
and ideas which was his one light in the gloom. However, he
remained nauseated for the rest of his life by 'bourgeois baseness,
jesuits and hypocrites of every sort'. Obsessed by impotent hatred,
his fervent wish was to get away from the ghastliness of Grenoble
and his snobbish family. Raised 'under a belljar' and under the
'frightful tyranny' of the abbe Raillane he realized that his
passion for mathematics was the only means he had of escaping that
abhorrent town. Finally permitted to go the Ecole Centrale, he
wasn't a great success with his classmates; far from his imagined
noble companions, he found them selfish brats. The few he could
share some friendship with were just those of whom his family would
disapprove. Finally, at 16, he achieved his dream of going to Paris
for further study, but was shocked to find the city a bitter
disapointment. Mathematics no longer charmed him. Now he longed to
write comedies, and even more to meet a woman with a loving heart.
From his earliest childhood he had always had an underlying loyalty
to the most ferocious of principles of the 1789 Revolution, and
there are many references to the conflicting and dangerous
allegiances of those turbulent times, and to French literature. The
immediacy and clarity of Stendhal's passions leave one in no doubt
that this is the man who wrote two masterpieces, The Red and the
Black and The Charterhouse of Parma. (Kirkus UK)
"The Life of Henry Brulard" is the autobiography of one of France's
greatest writers, Stendhal, author of "The Red and the Black" and
"The Charterhouse of Parma." Here, writing at white heat and with
such ferocious honesty and indignation that his book was to remain
unpublishable for more than a century after its composition,
Stendhal revisits his unhappy childhood in a stuffy provincial town
and bares his rebellious heart. His adored mother, who died when he
was only seven; a father devoted only to his own social ambitions;
the aunt whose daily cruelties passed for care: these are among the
indelible portraits in a work that captures the sights, sounds,
places, and characters of Stendhal's youth, its pleasures and
sorrows, with preternatural clarity and immediacy. Full of dazzling
images and burning emotions, "The Life of Henry Brulard" is a vivid
memoir that is also an extraordinary work of the imagination.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
