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OLD GORIOT
  

OLD GORIOT (Hardcover)

by BALZAC (Author) "For the last forty years the elderly Madame Vauquer, nee de Conflans, has kept a family boarding-house in the Rue Neuve-Sainte-Genevieve between the Latin Quarter..." (more)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 303 pages
  • Publisher: PENGUIN BOOKS (1968)
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B0007HKDCG
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,321,801 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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First Sentence
For the last forty years the elderly Madame Vauquer, nee de Conflans, has kept a family boarding-house in the Rue Neuve-Sainte-Genevieve between the Latin Quarter and the Faubourg Saint-Marcel. Read the first page
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3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An elegantly written parable on greed, 6 April 2006
By A. Gordon "annettego" (London) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This is the first novel by Balzac that I've read and I can only wonder why it took me so long to read his work. The story deals with greed and fillial ingratitude and the social education of an ambitious student ready to be seduced by the glamour and extravagance of Parisian high society. The student finds out that someone somewhere is paying the price for all the elegance and luxury that he craves.

Balzac is an extremely clever writer with a very acute understanding of human nature and a genius for swiftly drawing characters that are fully realised and complex. I don't think he is a heavy or a difficult read, he's precise and he doesn't preach. Description of places and people is concise but richly evocative, at the same time the story shoots along dynamically, you want to know what will happen in the end. An extremely rewarding read and a near perfect example of the art of the novel.

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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Read it in French if you can, but make sure you read it, 13 May 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Old Goriot (Classics) (Paperback)
A fantastic exposition of the Human character this is a 'must read' for anyone with a love of 19th century literature.

Very long and detailed descriptions of character and setting make it a typical period piece. in fact much of the descriptive is lost in its translation from French, but that is no reason not to enjoy the book.

The story revolves around 'Eugene' a student and his involvement with two worlds, the world of his rather shabby boarding house and the world of Paris Society in the early nineteenth century.

Balzac explores how these worlds are fatally intermingled, but yet disparate, in the fortunes of Eugene.

Unlike the modern suspense writers one is never quite sure what will happen at the end, the mastery of plot is superb and the end is both tragic and fulfilling.

Read it in French if you can, but make sure you read it

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9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Pere Goriot, a pleasant surprise, 9 Dec 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Old Goriot (Classics) (Paperback)
I have just read this book for a class and it was an interesting story of Eugene and his conflict with himself and society. I was surprised at how palatable it was considering it is a period novel. The themes are universal and the book leaves you questioning the world around you. I strongly recommend that people read this book and to not be intimidated by it.
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