Title: Old GoriotAuthor: Honore de Balzac
Genre: Classic
Pages: 328
The novel starts with an extended description of the Maison Vauquer, a boarding house in Paris' rue Neuve-Sainte-Geneviève covered with vines, owned by the widow Madame Vauquer. The residents include the law student Eugène de Rastignac, a mysterious agitator named Vautrin, and an elderly retired vermicelli-maker named Jean-Joachim Goriot. The old man is ridiculed frequently by the other boarders, who soon learn that he has bankrupted himself to support his two well-married daughtersRastignac, who moved to Paris from the south of France, becomes attracted to the upper class. He has difficulty fitting in, but is tutored by his cousin, Madame de Beauséant, in the ways of high society. Rastignac endears himself to one of Goriot's daughters, Delphine, after extracting money from his own already-poor family. Vautrin, meanwhile, tries to convince Rastignac to pursue an unmarried woman named Victorine, whose family fortune is blocked only by her brother. He offers to clear the way for Rastignac by having the brother killed in a duel.
The story has a lot of descriptive language and with that I have learned new words that describe the setting that the characters are in. As mentioned before the book started of with a great description of the boarding house, and the author really helps you imagine and picture it. Balzac takes a lot of time to describe settings, which I find really interesting. There is a quote that I thought was really interesting "Reading brings us unknown friends", and I think that it is really true. My mother finished the book, and I am close to finishing, and it is a really good book so far.
This blog post shows everything that needs to be there but you could of organized it better.
ReplyDeleteI really like this blog and your book sounds very intnesting i think i might read it.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds very complex and descriptive. Having a lot of description in a book gives me a new understanding of the book. I think that the quote you chose "Reading brings us unknown friends", should be our motto for English.
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of the book, it's very French...I like the French names too! The book sounds nice too...
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