The Red and the Black

Stendhal's 1830 novel invented modern psychological fiction in many respects — Julien Sorel's cold calculations, ambitions, self-deceptions, and ultimate destruction are rendered with an interiority that still feels startlingly modern nearly two centuries later. The satirical dissection of Restoration-era social and religious hypocrisy is as precise as anything in Flaubert, and Julien remains one of literature's most compelling anti-heroes precisely because he is not made sympathetic. One of the great novels, full stop — though the translation you choose will make or break the experience.