One of Balzac's books in La Comedie Humaine, a sprawling collection of interlinked novels meant to portray France at all levels of society. Pere Goriot is lauded as Balzac's finest novel, and central to the Comedie series. In the story, Eugene de Rastignac is a young law student, living at an impoverished but respectable boarding house. The novel details his introduction to the elite of Parisian society, his awakening ambition, and the start of his career. Intertwined with his story is the tragic history of Father Goriot, a man excluded from the same society Eugene seeks, even though Goriot sacrificed everything to introduce his daughters to the coveted world. Goriot and Rastignac are both boarders at the Maison Vaquer. Rastignac is young and charming, and well liked. Goriot, on the other hand, is despised and mocked, through no fault of his own. The boarders have chosen him as the weak member of the house, encouraged by the landlady's disdain after Goriot turned her down, and the old man does nothing to defend himself. He is a mystery, and Eugene will be the one to uncover it. A distant cousin, Madame de Beauseant, happens to be one of the queens of Parisian society, and she invites Eugene de Rastignac to a dance at her house. Once there, Rastignac is smitten with the beautiful Comtesse de Restaud, and even pays her a visit at her home soon after. While waiting for her, he sees Goriot sharing a quiet moment with the lovely lady in a back corner of the house. At first, Eugene's visit is going well, although he is miffed to discover the Comtesse already has a lover, but when he mentions Goriot's name he is summarily pushed from the house. Baffled, he turns to his influential cousin for advice and support. She informs him that Mr. Goriot is the father of the Comtesse de Restaud, and further promises Eugene her assistance in breaking into the enchanting world he is just beginning to taste. Through her help, Eugene learns about the back story of the Comtesse and Pere Goriot. Goriot was a wealthy tradesman, a vermicelli maker, and very in love with his wife and two daughters. When the former died, he transferred all his affections to his offspring, and loves them with an idolatrous zeal. He split the majority of his fortune in half to present them with sizable dowries that would tempt rich and powerful men, and allowed them to marry whoever they chose. His dreams of living with their new families were soon dashed. The girls followed their husband's examples, and were embarrassed to acknowledge their father in public. So he moved in to the Maison Vaquer, living off the smaller but respectable amount of money he kept for himself. However, even though his girls wanted him to keep his distance, it didn't stop them from coming to him for more money, usually in connection with their lovers. Eventually, they drained the small resources he had.Eugene equips himself with this knowledge, and begins his campaign. His cousin suggested he should woo Madame Delphine de Nucingen, Goriot's other daughter, sister to the Comtesse de Restaud. Not only would it serve as revenge, since the two sisters are bitterly competitive with each other, it could be his stepping stone into society. Eugene follows her suggestion, despite a tempting offer from the Machiavellian Vautrin, and his fortunes begin to rise to his expectations. Sadly, even Eugene's empathy and connection to their father is not enough to move the daughters' out of their selfish preoccupations, and Goriot literally exhausts himself to death to please them. Only Eugene goes to his funeral. I found this French novel extremely readable, especially as I was expecting a challenging time reading an old French classic. The introduction lingers on a minute description of the Maison Vaquer, before finally bringing its descriptive powers to the lodgers of the house and kicking off the plot. The beginning had me worried, as it was tedious, but once the story settled down with its characters, I was lost in the novel and read it far more quickly than I anticipated. The characters are fascinating, the novel deftly contrasts the glittering world of the rich and powerful with the drab world of hard work and poverty, and illuminates their surprising links and similarities. Balzac reveals the corruption that runs under the surface in both spheres of society, and also demonstrates how much more appalling it is for those upper classes that maintain an illusion of virtue and honor. Descriptive passages are devoted to the scenes of sumptuous life and the opening details of the impoverished Maison Vaquer, or physical descriptions, also related to societal status. The rest of the novel is comprised of dialogue and internal thoughts or feelings. The story flowed smoothly, and was engaging.After reading this novel, I am certainly open to reading more in his Comedie Humaine series of books. The characters were complicated and compelling. Goriot's decline was truly sad, yet Eugene's rise offsets some of the bitterness. I was upset that Rastignac lost his lingering youthful idealism at the close of the novel, and yet his ambition became a battle, almost an act of vengeance for Goriot, which made it more palatable. The whole book is a series of contrasts, of balances, which is aesthetically pleasing. I know that Balzac is known for his use of recurring characters, and de Rastignac along with several others in this novel are among his most used. I will look for other books to feature these intriguing people when I choose my next Balzac book, because I am interested to see what happens to them. They are all complicated and flawed people, and that makes for good reading.