The first chapter was written in two days in November 1835, and Stendhal also claims that The Life of Henry Brulard is an imitation of Oliver Goldsmith's novel The Vicar of Wakefield.

But Stendhal asserts that his real life can be found in a list of the names of women he loved: Virginie, Angela, Adele, Melanie, Mina, Alexandrine, Angelina, Metilde, Clementine, Giulia, Madame Azur, Amalia.

[5] Stendhal's descriptions of scenes from his youth often provoke present-moment commentaries, blurring together the feelings of a young boy and the reflections of a middle-aged man.

Stendhal describes the first time in his life that he mounted a horse, which went berserk and ran towards the willows on the shore of Lake Geneva.

This became a favorite motif of Stendhal's; the heroes of The Red and the Black, Lucien Leuwen, and The Charterhouse of Parma all fall off their horses.

The Life of Henry Brulard ends with the beginning Stendhal's love for Italy and his mistress Angela Pietragrua, countess Simonetta.