petrauusimaa 's review for:

Old Goriot by Honoré de Balzac

2.0

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Old Goriot is a tragic tale of a father who abandons his stable lifestyle to give all of his money to his daughters; still, the daughters don't seem to care even when the father is in his deathbed and it seems that only thing they care about is money and glory. Still, even though it seems to be a story of Old Goriot, it mainly follows a poor student, Eugene de Rastignac, who is aching for more glamorous lifestyle. Both Eugene and Old Goriot live in the same boarding house and their lives are intertwined. I find it incredibly hard to write down my thoughts on it. I wouldn't have picked this up if it wasn't assigned reading for my literature class, and I hadn't finished it if I shouldn't be able to have conversation on this. I know that Balzac is well known for his detailed characters and this is known as one of the best books he has written but it didn't leave any impression on me. I dislike how all of her female characters are one-sided; they were either angels or doomed women who only care about money and fancy dresses. I didn't feel attached to any of the characters and couldn't care what happened in the end. All in all, I am sad that my first Balzac ended being so disappointing since I was really hoping that I enjoyed it.