▁quite ▁concrete ▁choices ▁on ▁Howard ' s ▁part , ▁not ▁least ▁of ▁which ▁is ▁his ▁rendering ▁of ▁French ▁ver bs ▁more ▁cr isp ly ▁and ▁col lo qu ial ly ▁than ▁has ▁been ▁done ▁before ." ▁ ▁Liter ary ▁significance ▁While ▁in ▁some ▁respect s ▁it ▁is ▁a ▁" rom antic ▁thr iller ", ▁inter w oven ▁with ▁intr igue ▁and ▁advent ures , ▁the ▁novel ▁is ▁also ▁an ▁expl oration ▁of ▁human ▁nature , ▁psych ology , ▁and ▁court ▁politics . ▁ ▁The ▁novel ▁is ▁c ited ▁as ▁an ▁early ▁example ▁of ▁real ism , ▁a ▁stark ▁contrast ▁to ▁the ▁Rom antic ▁style ▁popular ▁while ▁St end hal ▁was ▁writing . ▁It ▁is ▁considered ▁by ▁many ▁authors ▁to ▁be ▁a ▁truly ▁revolution ary ▁work ; ▁Honor é ▁de ▁Bal z ac ▁considered ▁it ▁the ▁most ▁significant ▁novel ▁of ▁his ▁time , ▁Tol sto y ▁was ▁heavily ▁influenced ▁by ▁St end hal ' s ▁treatment ▁of ▁the ▁Battle ▁of ▁Water lo o ▁in ▁his ▁dep iction ▁of ▁the ▁Battle ▁of ▁Bor od ino , ▁forming ▁a ▁central ▁part ▁of ▁his ▁novel ▁War ▁and ▁Peace . ▁André ▁G ide ▁described ▁it ▁as ▁the ▁greatest ▁of ▁all ▁French ▁nov els , ▁while ▁Henry ▁James ▁ranked ▁it ▁" am ong ▁the ▁dozen ▁fin est ▁nov els ▁we ▁possess ". ▁ ▁Crit ic ism ▁St end hal ▁wrote ▁the ▁book ▁in ▁just ▁ 5 2 ▁days ▁( from ▁November ▁ 4 , ▁ 1 8 3 8 , ▁to ▁December ▁ 2 6 ▁of ▁the ▁same ▁year