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bookishwendy 's review for:
Old Goriot
by Honoré de Balzac
My first dip into the vast ocean that is Balzac's Comedie Humaine, and not my last. The story is set in 1819, on the heels of the Reign of Terror and the Bonaparte years, and the people of Paris just want to forget war, politics, and just spend money on the fun stuff, dammit. Eugene, penniless son of a broke country noble, comes to Paris to study law, find a rich girl, and have a good time while simultaneously replenishing the family coffers (eventually). Like a good little dandy he splurges on his tailor and takes a room in the poorest Latin Quarter boarding house he can find. There he meets a number of colorful characters: an heiress written out of the family fortune, the mysterious adventurer with the died hair (Vautrin), and the titular retired merchant who holds his ungrateful daughters a bit too dear.
This set up leads Eugene--and the reader by proxy--into the lowest Parisian alley and the most glamorous ballroom. Social themes are explored, drama twists and turns, the speeches can be long, the melodrama can be cut with a knife, the opening descriptions slow and atmospheric, but it's a pretty riveting read nonetheless. And the ending...have a tissue on hand.
It has come to my attention that the inimitable Vautrin appears in at least two other of Balzac's books ([b:Lost Illusions|25932|Lost Illusions (La Comédie Humaine)|Honoré de Balzac|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348557220s/25932.jpg|2373321] and [b:A Harlot High and Low|25934|A Harlot High and Low|Honoré de Balzac|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924189s/25934.jpg|26647]) so those will be the next of his that I seek out!
This set up leads Eugene--and the reader by proxy--into the lowest Parisian alley and the most glamorous ballroom. Social themes are explored, drama twists and turns, the speeches can be long, the melodrama can be cut with a knife, the opening descriptions slow and atmospheric, but it's a pretty riveting read nonetheless. And the ending...have a tissue on hand.
It has come to my attention that the inimitable Vautrin appears in at least two other of Balzac's books ([b:Lost Illusions|25932|Lost Illusions (La Comédie Humaine)|Honoré de Balzac|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348557220s/25932.jpg|2373321] and [b:A Harlot High and Low|25934|A Harlot High and Low|Honoré de Balzac|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924189s/25934.jpg|26647]) so those will be the next of his that I seek out!