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A review by willowbiblio
Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
"This life of outward splendour, gnawed inwardly by all the worms of anguish, was what he had chosen to adopt, rolling in it, making his bed, like the absent-minded men in La Bruyere, in the mire of the ditch."
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This was such a strong critique of the pursuit of class/societal acceptance and Parisian society. Goriot's daughters no longer cared about family and used up their father until there was nothing left. Rastignac felt able to judge and condemn the daughters, when he too was stampeding over and using anyone in pursuit of his class goals. Balzac showed how family and real connections were less important than the appearance of wealth and success.
He provided a strong contrast to Rastignac in the form of his friend, the student doctor. He was content to live a good enough life, and tried to help save Goriot at the end. We also got a constant contrast of the near-poverty of Rastignac and Pere Goriot's circumstances against the lavish life the daughters and other upperclass people lived in.
The family structure breakdown extended to marriages- which were treated as mere formalities and business unions. I thought the whole added intrigue around the convict was interesting and reminded me a bit of Les Miserables.
At times this was a tad slow and fairly predictable, and the descriptive paragraphs got quite lengthy, but that is also just a feature of this era of writing.
---------------
This was such a strong critique of the pursuit of class/societal acceptance and Parisian society. Goriot's daughters no longer cared about family and used up their father until there was nothing left. Rastignac felt able to judge and condemn the daughters, when he too was stampeding over and using anyone in pursuit of his class goals. Balzac showed how family and real connections were less important than the appearance of wealth and success.
He provided a strong contrast to Rastignac in the form of his friend, the student doctor. He was content to live a good enough life, and tried to help save Goriot at the end. We also got a constant contrast of the near-poverty of Rastignac and Pere Goriot's circumstances against the lavish life the daughters and other upperclass people lived in.
The family structure breakdown extended to marriages- which were treated as mere formalities and business unions. I thought the whole added intrigue around the convict was interesting and reminded me a bit of Les Miserables.
At times this was a tad slow and fairly predictable, and the descriptive paragraphs got quite lengthy, but that is also just a feature of this era of writing.