Reading Order
Père GoriotBalzac Père Goriot Reading Order
Balzac's Père Goriot (1835) is the central novel of the Comédie Humaine — the work that introduces Rastignac, the young provincial who arrives in Paris to make his fortune, and that dramatizes most clearly Balzac's vision of Paris as a battlefield where money and social position are won by whatever means necessary. The novel's central figure is Father Goriot, a retired pasta manufacturer who has sacrificed everything for his two daughters, who now ignore him as he dies in a boarding house. Balzac's genius was to see that money had replaced blood as the organizing principle of modern society, and to show this with the analytical precision of a scientist and the emotional force of a poet.
Where to start
Père Goriot
Complete Père Goriot Book List
- 1Buy
Père Goriot
Honoré de Balzac·1835·The entry point to the Comédie Humaine and Balzac's most concentrated portrait of Parisian society — Rastignac's education and Goriot's sacrifice - 2Buy
Lost Illusions
Honoré de Balzac·1843·The most ambitious of the Comédie Humaine novels — Lucien de Rubempré's attempt to make his literary fortune in Paris; the direct sequel to Père Goriot in following the fate of a young provincial in the capital - 3Buy
Cousin Bette
Honoré de Balzac·1846·Balzac's late masterpiece and one of the greatest novels of obsession in French literature — the story of an older woman's revenge against her glamorous cousin; for readers who want the darkest Balzac - 4Buy
Eugénie Grandet
Honoré de Balzac·1833·Written just before Père Goriot and organized around the same obsession with money — the story of a provincial miser's daughter trapped by her father's avarice; a good companion to Père Goriot's Paris novel from the provincial side
Père Goriot — Frequently Asked Questions
What order should I read Balzac in?
Start with Père Goriot — it is both self-contained and the best introduction to Balzac's world, his method, and his recurring characters (especially Rastignac and Vautrin, who appear across the Comédie Humaine). Then follow with Lost Illusions and Cousin Bette.
Do I need to read the Comédie Humaine in order?
The novels of the Comédie Humaine are loosely connected through recurring characters (Rastignac, Vautrin, Bianchon, Nucingen) but are designed to be read independently. Père Goriot is the natural entry point because it introduces more of the recurring characters than any other single novel.
What is Père Goriot about?
Père Goriot tells the parallel stories of Rastignac, a young law student from the provinces who has come to Paris to make his fortune, and Father Goriot, a retired pasta manufacturer whose obsessive love for his daughters has reduced him to poverty. The novel is both a portrait of Parisian society and a meditation on the destructiveness of parental love.
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