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aurorasreadingchair 's review for:
Pere Goriot
by Honoré de Balzac
I tried to read Père Goriot many years ago as a young adult and didn’t get past the first quarter of the book. I suspect it was a translation I didn’t connect to. This one was translated by Ellen Marriage. Other than the lack of “chapters” and some language structure issues, I’ve enjoyed this novel.
The initial (very detailed) descriptions of just about everything were a bit much for me, but eventually I got into the rhythm of the narrative, and came to appreciate them.
The story revolves around the lives of tenants in a shabby boarding house in a shabby part of Paris in 1819.
You have the proprietress, Mme Vauquer, who is petty and small minded, M. Vautrin, mysterious, M. Rastignac, young and a social climber, and Pére Goriot, a widower who is derided and ill-treated. However, these characters are multi-faceted and their “depth” is not always appreciated at first glance. Balzac’s character development and realism is superb. I’ve read that his writing influenced other writers and I can see why.
I suspect that for our modern reading sensibilities the reading may be tedious for some but so worth it. Balzac “gets” human nature. He understood human vanity and greed, and difficult or unrequited family relationships .
Père Goriot had insight as to the abuse of his paternal devotion, which was both sad and infuriating:
“The education on which he had embarked had already borne fruit. He already loved selfishly. An innate sense had enabled him to recognise the nature of her heart. He intuitively that she was quite capable of treading on her father’s body in order to go the ball; he was not forceful enough to make her listen to reason, not brave enough to displease her, not principled enough to leaver her.”
As a daughter (I know, I know...I should look for what the book gives me and not put “me” in it, but we all do at some level right?!), I struggled with Goriot’s unstinting devotion and his daughters’ selfishness. There were times I wanted to shake him and tell him “accept what is” - overindulging adult children and creating dependency and entitlement is a relatable theme no matter what century I guess!lol
And that is what makes this book a classic...the themes withstand the passing of time.
This is my only foray into Balzac’s “La Comedie Humaine.” I’m not sure yet if I want to branch out, but for now I’m satisfied.
The initial (very detailed) descriptions of just about everything were a bit much for me, but eventually I got into the rhythm of the narrative, and came to appreciate them.
The story revolves around the lives of tenants in a shabby boarding house in a shabby part of Paris in 1819.
You have the proprietress, Mme Vauquer, who is petty and small minded, M. Vautrin, mysterious, M. Rastignac, young and a social climber, and Pére Goriot, a widower who is derided and ill-treated. However, these characters are multi-faceted and their “depth” is not always appreciated at first glance. Balzac’s character development and realism is superb. I’ve read that his writing influenced other writers and I can see why.
I suspect that for our modern reading sensibilities the reading may be tedious for some but so worth it. Balzac “gets” human nature. He understood human vanity and greed, and difficult or unrequited family relationships .
Père Goriot had insight as to the abuse of his paternal devotion, which was both sad and infuriating:
“The education on which he had embarked had already borne fruit. He already loved selfishly. An innate sense had enabled him to recognise the nature of her heart. He intuitively that she was quite capable of treading on her father’s body in order to go the ball; he was not forceful enough to make her listen to reason, not brave enough to displease her, not principled enough to leaver her.”
As a daughter (I know, I know...I should look for what the book gives me and not put “me” in it, but we all do at some level right?!), I struggled with Goriot’s unstinting devotion and his daughters’ selfishness. There were times I wanted to shake him and tell him “accept what is” - overindulging adult children and creating dependency and entitlement is a relatable theme no matter what century I guess!lol
And that is what makes this book a classic...the themes withstand the passing of time.
This is my only foray into Balzac’s “La Comedie Humaine.” I’m not sure yet if I want to branch out, but for now I’m satisfied.