Synopsis
"Pere Goriot" can rightly be regarded as one of the greatest of Balzac's novels, " writes Henry Reed of this masterful study of a father whose sacrifices for his daughters have become a maniacal compulsion. This novel marks Balzac's "real entree" into La Comedie Humaine, his series of almost one hundred novels and short stories, which was to depict "human feelings, social crises, the whole pell-mell of civilization." In Pere Goriot the great novelist probes the "bourgeois tragedy" of money, power, and despair from two different directions. Through parental love Goriot is willingly reduced to poverty so that he may satisfy the demands of his well-married but debt-ridden daughters. On the other hand, Rastignac, the impoverished young man of integrity who is attracted to one of Goriot's daughters, becomes infected with ambition and succumbs to the fever for money and social success. Victor Hugo called Balzac" a man of genius, " and Stefan Zweig wrote that "Pere Goriot" shows the "supreme architectonic skill with which Balzac...worked out in his mind to the last detail his vast structural design of the multifarious forms of human society.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
The son of a civil servant, Honoré de Balzac was born in 1799 in Tours, France. After attending boarding school in Vendôme, he gravitated to Paris where he worked as a legal clerk and a hack writer, using various pseudonyms, often in collaboration with other writers. Balzac turned exclusively to fiction at the age of thirty and went on to write a large number of novels and short stories set amid turbulent nineteenth-century France. He entitled his collective works The Human Comedy. Along with Victor Hugo and Dumas père and fils, Balzac was one of the pillars of French romantic literature. He died in 1850, shortly after his marriage to the Polish countess Evelina Hanska, his lover of eighteen years.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Search results for Pere Goriot
Stock Image
Pere Goriot
Seller: World of Books (was SecondSale), Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00054548209
Stock Image
Pere Goriot
Published by
Signet Classics (edition ), 1962
ISBN 10: 0451521900
ISBN 13: 9780451521903
Used
Mass Market Paperback
Seller: BooksRun, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Mass Market Paperback. Condition: Fair. The item might be beaten up but readable. May contain markings or highlighting, as well as stains, bent corners, or any other major defect, but the text is not obscured in any way. Seller Inventory # 0451521900-7-1
Stock Image
Pere Goriot
Published by
Signet Classics August 1962, 1962
ISBN 10: 0451521900
ISBN 13: 9780451521903
Used
Paper Back
Seller: Eagle Eye Books, Decatur, GA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Paper Back. Condition: Used. Seller Inventory # 762081
Stock Image
Pere Goriot
Published by
Signet Classics, 1962
ISBN 10: 0451521900
ISBN 13: 9780451521903
Used
Mass Market Paperback
Seller: Half Price Books Inc., Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Mass Market Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_392134564
Stock Image
Pere Goriot
Seller: HPB-Ruby, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
mass_market. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_445625658
Stock Image
Pere Goriot
Published by
Signet Classics, 1962
ISBN 10: 0451521900
ISBN 13: 9780451521903
Used
Mass Market Paperback
Seller: HPB-Emerald, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Mass Market Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_458972430
Stock Image
Pere Goriot
Seller: HPB-Movies, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
mass_market. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_386711586
Stock Image
Pere Goriot
Published by
Signet Classic, The New American Library, 1962
ISBN 10: 0451521900
ISBN 13: 9780451521903
Used
Paperback
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0451521900I5N00
Stock Image
Pere Goriot
Published by
Signet Classics, 1962
ISBN 10: 0451521900
ISBN 13: 9780451521903
Used
Mass Market Paperback
Seller: Robinson Street Books, IOBA, Binghamton, NY, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Mass Market Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Prompt Shipment, shipped in Boxes, Tracking PROVIDEDVery good paperback, light creasing and wear. Used book. Seller Inventory # graypb1317177