Honore de Balzac: FATHER GORIOT

Also called Old Goriot in other translation, this book by Honore de Balzac tells the story of parenting goes awry in a Parisian society during that period when social classes were a big deal. Old Goriot, after selling his business, now lives in a boarding house. He gave all his money to his two daughters who hypocritically maintain their social status after marrying their respective husbands who both belong to that social class. Goriot's love to her daughters is selfless but his daughters don't care enough about him and are only after his money. Goriot is like a kept man; his daughters don't want people to know he's their father. He has befriended a young man (a student) who lives in the same boarding house where Goriot has been living for so some years. The young man is his (Goriot's) only source of information about the goings-on in his daughters' situation. 

I will write not about Balzac's style since I can't decide on how different is his from other authors' whose books I've read. But for some reason I felt like I was reading Dickens except that in this book the setting is entirely Paris. Also, there several elements of the books which are shocking.

Rating: 4.5/5.0