The Charterhouse of Parma

Stendhal · 1783–1842 · France

Originally La Chartreuse de Parme (French)

Why it matters

Dictated in fifty-three days: a young Italian's adventures through Waterloo (rendered, revolutionarily, as confusion) and court intrigue. Tolstoy studied its battle scenes; Balzac called it the finest novel of the age.

At a glance

Rapid, digressive plotting and dense court-intrigue politics move at breakneck pace.