Book Review
Title: The Life of Henry Brulard
Author: Stendhal (Henri Beyle), Trans. from the French by Catherine Alison Phillips
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Date: February 20, 1925 (written 1835)
ASIN : B000MMIJYK (ASIN for a more recent available edition)
Stendhal is a great writer so you cannot go wrong buying this book. Most readers are familiar with his two great and classic novels The Red and the Black and The Charterhouse of Parma. The present book, The Life of Henry Brulard, is much less known . He lived an eventful life so there’s a lot of material to make a compelling story. The book was written in 1835 when Stendhal was 52 years old (bn. 1783). Most of the book dwells on the author’s life as a child and young adult.
The main counterpoint of Stendhal’s childhood is his antipathy for his father versus his reverence for his grandfather. Satellite characters more or less align with one or the other, as “evil” or “good” forces in his life. Stendhal lived a suffocating life, prevented from knowing or playing with other boys, kept from exposure to the outside world, which he hated and struggle against constantly. The grandfather is his only real companion for many years, the only one with whom he can share ideas and agree.
Stendhal’s life shifts from the worst depression to the liveliest happiness when the liberty of which he had dreamed, came true at the Central school at age 11. Stendhal studied drawing and music extensively, along with Latin and others.
At age 17 he became a lieutenant of the 6th Dragoons. We see Stendhal transition into manhood at a young age, considering his sheltered youth. He engages in battles across Europe, which we see through his eyes, which see absurdity in everything.
Ultimately Milan became Stendhal’s favorite place to live, where he spent most of his time from 1800 to 1821. We learn this in the last few pages, and the story ends. The book is written in 1835, and he lives to 1842, but the book does not cover those later years.
Stendhal did not complete this book, and it was never published in his lifetime. It must be read in light of the fact that it is an unfinished draft of randomly recorded memories. In this light, it is an interesting study into Stendhal’s retrospection and the psychology of memory. He often comments on the tricks the mind plays on memory, and alternative ways of interpreting his childhood experiences.
The book is a must for anyone interested in Stendhal, or who enjoyed his novels. I also recommend it for anyone interested in history in general.