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Old Man Goriot
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Check link for latest rating. ( 65,533 ratings, 3,501 reviews)
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See moreMonsieur Goriot is one of a disparate group of lodgers at Mademe Vauquer's dingy Parisian boarding house. At first his wealth inspires respect, but as his circumstances are mysteriously reduced he becomes shunned by those around him, and soon his only remaining visitors are his two beautifully dressed daughters.
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Description
Monsieur Goriot is one of a disparate group of lodgers at Madame Vauquer's dingy Parisian boarding house. At first, his wealth inspires respect, but as his circumstances are mysteriously reduced, he becomes shunned by those around him. Soon, his only remaining visitors are his two beautifully dressed daughters.
Goriot's fate is intertwined with two other fellow boarders—the young social climber, Eugene Rastignac, who sees a way to gain the acceptance and wealth he craves, and the enigmatic figure of Vautrin, who is hiding darker secrets than anyone.
Weaving a compelling and panoramic story of love, money, self-sacrifice, corruption, greed, and ambition, Old Man Goriot is Balzac's acknowledged masterpiece. A key novel in his Comédie Humaine series, it is a vividly realized portrait of bourgeois Parisian society in the years following the French Revolution.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Old Man Goriot by Honoré de Balzac is often praised for its incisive portrayal of Parisian society and its exploration of themes like ambition and sacrifice. Reviews frequently commend Balzac's deep character development, particularly of student Eugène and the titular Goriot. The novel is lauded for its intricate depiction of boarding house life and its poignant observation of the human condition, making it a compelling study of 19th-century social dynamics.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780140449723
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 06 January 2011
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Penguin Classics
Contributors:
- Introduction by Graham Robb
- Translated by Olivia McCannon
- Notes by Olivia McCannon
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 18.0mm
Width: 130.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 248g
Pages: 336
About the Author
HONORE DE BALZAC was born in 1799 in Tours, France. Balzac turned exclusively to fiction at the age of thirty and went on to write a large number of novels and short stories set amid turbulent nineteenth-century France. He entitled his collective works The Human Comedy. Along with Victor Hugo and Dumas pere and fils, Balzac was one of the pillars of French romantic literature. He died in 1850, shortly after his marriage to the Polish countess Evelina Hanska, his lover of eighteen years. OLIVIA MCCANNON is a literary translator and writer based in London and Paris. Her writing has appeared on BBC Radios 3 and 4, and her first collection of poetry is forthcoming from Carcanet (Oxford Poets). GRAHAM ROBB's books include Balzac (1994) and Strangers: Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century (2003). The Discovery of France (2007), based in part on fourteen thousand miles' cycling in France, won both the Duff Cooper Prize and the 2008 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize.
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