“The Life of Henry Brulard” (post 2) by Stendhal (post 3): Chapters 2-4 of autobiography do not mention Henry Brulard, and continue to vary year of birth.

Chapter 2 starts with reference to the first-person narrator’s year of birth as 1783, but ends with reference to his “Childhood and early education, from 1786 to 1800” (1, p. 16). This could mean that his education started at age three, but since it distinguishes between childhood and early education, it seems to give the year of birth as 1786, which was previously attributed to Henry Brulard (in a third-person footnote of Chapter 1), who has not been mentioned again.

Chapter 3 tells of the narrator’s mother’s death in 1790 when he was seven, consistent with his birth in 1783.

The narrator makes reference to his becoming a wit in later years, which makes me wonder if that which perplexes me is an intentional joke.

He also raises the possibility of lying: “In any case, even supposing I were lying about my budding understanding [at age seven, about the nature of death] I am certainly not lying about all the rest. If I feel tempted to lie, it will be later on, when it’s a question of very serious faults” (1, pp. 26-27).

The first-person narrator is apparently Stendhal, since he mentions that “I wrote Le Rouge et le Noir” (1, p. 9). However, as noted above, Stendhal’s year of birth seems to be given first as 1783, then as 1786, but then as 1783 again in relation to his mother’s death.

Is the above confusion due to translation, typographical error, wit, lying, or the fact that I have read, or misread, only the first twenty-nine pages? 

1. Stendhal. The Life of Henry Brulard [1835-36]. Translated by Jean Stewart and B. C. J. G. Knight. New York, Noonday Press, 1958.