本书是法国著名作家斯当达的代表作，是欧洲批判现实主义文学的奠基之作。小说围绕主人公于连个人奋斗与最终失败的经历这一主线，广泛展现了“19世纪最初30年间压在法国人民头上的历届政府所带来的社会风气”，反映了19世纪早期法国的政治和社会生活中的一些本质问题。在艺术上。小说以深刻细腻的笔调，广泛运用独白和自由联想等多种艺术手法，充分展示了主人公的心灵空间，挖掘出了主人公深层意识的活动，从而开创了后世“意识流小说”和“心理小说”的先河，斯当达因此被后人称为“现代小说之父”。

司汤达（1783-1842），原名马里-亨利贝尔（原名Marie-Henri Beyle），19世纪法国杰出的批判现实主义作家。Stendhal是他的笔名，他以准确的人物心理分析和凝练的笔法而闻名，被誉为最重要和最早的现实主义的实践者之一，也被誉为“现代小说之父”。司汤达在文学上的起步很晚，三十几岁才开始发表小说，但却给后人留下了巨大的精神遗产：数部长篇，数十个短篇或故事，数百万字的文论、随笔和散文，游记。代表著作《阿尔芒斯》《红与黑》《巴马修道院》等。

Part One
CHAPTER 1 A Small Town
CHAPTER 2 A Mayor
CHAPTER 3 The Bread of the Poor
CHAPTER 4 Father and Son
CHAPTER 5 Driving a Bargain
CHAPTER 6 Dullness
CHAPTER 7 Elective Affinities
CHAPTER 8 Minor Events
CHAPTER 9 An Evening in the Country
CHAPTER 10 A Large Heart and a Small Fortune
CHAPTER 11 Night Thoughts
CHAPTER 12 A Journey
CHAPTER 13 Open-work Stockings
CHAPTER 14 The English Scissors
CHAPTER 15 Cock-crow
CHAPTER 16 The Day After
CHAPTER 17 The Principal Deputy
CHAPTER 18 A King at Verrieres
CHAPTER 19 To Think Is To Be Full of Sorrow
CHAPTER 20 The Anonymous Letters
CHAPTER 21 Conversation with a Lord and Master
CHAPTER 22 Manners and Customs in 1830
CHAPTER 23 The Sorrows of an Official
CHAPTER 24 A Capital
CHAPTER 25 The Seminary
CHAPTER 26 The World, or What the Rich Lack
CHAPTER 27 First Experience of Life
CHAPTER 28 A Procession
CHAPTER 29 The First Step
CHAPTER 30 Ambition
Part Two
CHAPTER 1 Country Pleasures
CHAPTER 2 First Appearance in Society
CHAPTER 3 First Steps
CHAPTER 4 The Hotel de La Mole
CHAPTER 5 Sensibility and a Pious Lady
CHAPTER 6 Pronunciation
CHAPTER 7 An Attack of Gout
CHAPTER 8 What Is the Decoration that Confers Distinction?
CHAPTER 9 The Ball
CHAPTER 10 Queen Marguerite
CHAPTER 11 The Tyranny of a Girl
CHAPTER 12 Another Danton
CHAPTER 13 A Plot?
CHAPTER 14 A Girl’s Thoughts
CHAPTER 15 Is it a Plot
CHAPTER 16 One o‘Clock in the Morning
CHAPTER 17 An Old Sword
CHAPTER 18 Painful Moments
CHAPTER 19 The Opera-Bouffe
CHAPTER 20 The Japanese Vase
CHAPTER 21 The Secret Note
CHAPTER 22 The Discussion
CHAPTER 23 The Clergy, their Forests, Liberty
CHAPTER 24 Strasbourg
CHAPTER 25 The Office of Virtue
CHAPTER 26 Moral Love
CHAPTER 27 The Best Positions in the Church
CHAPTER 28 Manon Lescaut
CHAPTER 29 Boredom
CHAPTER 30 A Box at the Bouffes
CHAPTER 31 Making Her Afraid
CHAPTER 32 The Tiger
CHAPTER 33 The Torment of the Weak
CHAPTER 34 A Man of Spirit
CHAPTER 35 A Storm
CHAPTER 36 Painful Details
CHAPTER 37 A Dungeon
CHAPTER 38 A Man of Power
CHAPTER 39 Intrigue
CHAPTER 40 Tranquillity
CHAPTER 41 The Trial
CHAPTER 42 In the Prison
CHAPTER 43 Last Adieux
CHAPTER 44 The Shadow of the Guillotine
CHAPTER 45 Exit Julien