Pere Goriot Author:Honroe de Balzac It is very difficult to judge Balzac by a single book, but if there are monuments to an author, it is Pere Goriot which can serve as such an edifice. Like other books in the "Comedie Humaine," Balzac used one of the main figures as the title, Goriot is not, however, the central figure, for it is Rastignac who has that honor, while it is Vautri... more »n who threatens to dominate the scene.
One of Balzac's chief characteristics is that he revels in description, and so we have a considerable portion of the first part of the book taken up with the description of the boardinghouse. The reader may be eager to get on with the story, but he cannot help but admit that the characters portrayed are a varied lot, and there is a certain amount of suspense created before the action begins. It is in these descriptive paragraphs that we see Balzac at his best.« less