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beautyistruth 's review for:
Père Goriot
by Honoré de Balzac
Some King Lear comparisons have to be inevitable: about a rather stupid, annoying but devoted father to two spoilt and rapacious daughters who bleed him dry.
Eugene de Rastignac, a young and handsome student's choices are followed, too. He is often found in a position of having to make choices between his ambitions and his sense of honour; his existence seems to be an uneasy combination of the two.
The want for money is a big theme, and the hotbed of social ambition that Paris was. Balzac's rich and almost bejewelled realistic descriptions can be wonderful, especially his descriptions of the boarding house, the impecunious Maison Vauquer at the beginning. I found the ending good in a cathartic way: full of complex pathos, emotion, and some of the somewhat horrifying reality of people. 3.5/5.
Eugene de Rastignac, a young and handsome student's choices are followed, too. He is often found in a position of having to make choices between his ambitions and his sense of honour; his existence seems to be an uneasy combination of the two.
The want for money is a big theme, and the hotbed of social ambition that Paris was. Balzac's rich and almost bejewelled realistic descriptions can be wonderful, especially his descriptions of the boarding house, the impecunious Maison Vauquer at the beginning. I found the ending good in a cathartic way: full of complex pathos, emotion, and some of the somewhat horrifying reality of people. 3.5/5.