“A novel is a mirror walking along a
main road.” – Stendhal
Born in 1883, Marie-Henri
Beyle - who wrote under the pseudonym Stendhal - is one of the most original and complex
French writers of the first half of the 19th century, chiefly known for his
works of fiction. Perhaps his finest novel is the 1830 work The Red and the Black from which the
above quote comes.
Before
settling on the pen name Stendhal, he published under many names including
“Louis Alexandre Bombet” and “Anastasius Serpière.” The only book that Beyle published under his
own name was The History of Painting
in 1817. Over his lifetime, in
addition to many books – both fiction and non – Stenhal authored hundreds of
stories, essays and published letters. 
“A good piece of fiction, in my view, does not
offer solutions,” Stendahl said. “Good stories deal with our moral struggles,
our uncertainties, our dreams, our blunders, our contradictions, our endless
quest for understanding. Good stories do
not resolve the mysteries of the human spirit but rather describe and expand up
on those mysteries.”
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