The Charterhouse of Parma

The Charterhouse of Parma is an 1839 novel by Stendhal. Wikipedia says it tells "the story of an Italian nobleman in the Napoleonic era and later, it was admired by Balzac, Tolstoy, André Gide and Henry James" and "While in some respects it is a "romantic thriller", interwoven with intrigue and adventures, the novel is also an exploration of human nature, psychology, and court politics." You can read it online here. There's a guide for new readers here. It was adapted as an opera in 1939, for film in 1948, for film again in 1964, and twice for foreign television (1981 and 2012).

You can listen to it here, part 1:

part 2:

Again from Wikipedia: "The novel is cited as an early example of realism, a stark contrast to the Romantic style popular while Stendhal was writing. It is considered by many authors to be a truly revolutionary work."

It's been on my TBR shelf for ages, probably decades, and it was time I approached it. I enjoyed The Red and the Black by this same author, so I was hoping to like it and did. That said, I didn't finish it. I did enjoy it -honest- but life is short, this book is long, and I just drifted away from it somehow...

from the book jacket:

The Encyclopedia Britannica has an article. The New York Times calls it "an epic and yet intimate tale of political intrigue and erotic frustration, set in the (largely fictionalized) princely court of Parma during the author's own time" and says, "Almost since the moment it appeared, in 1839, Stendhal's last completed novel has been considered a masterpiece" and praises the translation I read (pictured at the top of the post).