Rastignac is appalled at first by the greed and corruption he finds in Paris, but he soon sets his sights on conquering high society. He joins forces with the array of schemers who surround him, while the suffering, self-sacrificing Goriot yearns in vain for his daughters' love. The sprawling, vibrant, and turbulent Paris of the post-Napoleonic era is itself a major character in the novel, an emblem of the social upheaval that Balzac portrays so brilliantly. Old Goriot was the first of Balzac's novels to employ his famous technique of recurring characters, and it has come to be seen as the keystone in his grand project, The Human Comedy.

Translated by Ellen Marriage

(Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed)