So, I just finished the first part of Stendhal's Lucien Leuwen, and I have thoughts! This isn't your typical 19th-century epic. It's quieter, sharper, and feels weirdly current.

The Story

We follow Lucien, a smart and wealthy young man from Paris who gets kicked out of university for political reasons. His father, a powerful banker, buys him a commission as a lieutenant in the army and ships him off to the fictional town of Nancy. Lucien expects military glory, but what he finds is a boring garrison town where the real action is in the drawing rooms. The local high society is split between loyalists to the king and secret supporters of the exiled Napoleon. Lucien has to learn a whole new set of social rules, where a wrong word or glance can cause a scandal. His life gets even more complicated when he meets Madame de Chasteller, a beautiful, pious, and politically inconvenient widow. Suddenly, his mission is less about army drills and more about navigating heartache, pride, and the minefield of provincial politics.

Why You Should Read It

Stendhal writes with this dry, observant wit that makes you laugh and wince at the same time. He's a genius at showing how people lie to themselves. Lucien is a fantastic character because he's not a perfect hero. He's often naive, makes mistakes, and gets in his own way, but you root for him because his heart is in the right place. The book is less about grand battles and more about the tiny, significant battles we fight every day: the struggle to be authentic, to love honestly, and to find purpose in a world that often rewards the opposite. Reading it, you realize how little human nature has changed. The social climbing, the political hypocrisy, the performance of everyday life—it all feels very familiar.

Final Verdict

This book is perfect for anyone who loves character-driven stories and sharp social observation. If you enjoyed Jane Austen's insights into society but wished they had a bit more political grit and male perspective, you'll love this. It's also great for readers who think classic literature has to be stuffy—Stendhal is anything but. Be warned: this is only the first volume, so the story isn't complete here. But the journey into Lucien's world is so rich and compelling, it's absolutely worth starting. Dive in for a masterclass in irony and a surprisingly relatable story about a young man trying to figure out who he is.