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Title: Ridiculous
Review: Very disappointed in Stendhal, who is said to be an early realist. I found the pacing in this novel awful. Scenes that should build dramatic effect for pages (a duel, for instance) are brushed over in one paragraph. Worst of all, perhaps, is the way Stendhal handles the courtship between Julian and Mathilde, which is totally ridiculous. Part of my problem may be that I've been reading a great deal of Tolstoy, who is brilliant, and never makes the sophomoric narrative mistakes that define The Red and the Black.
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