Le Père Goriot is an 1835 novel by French novelist and playwright
Honoré de Balzac, included in the Scènes de la vie privée section of
his novel sequence La Comédie humaine. Set in Paris in 1819, it follows
the intertwined lives of three characters: the elderly doting Goriot; a
mysterious criminal-in-hiding named Vautrin; and a naive law student
named Eugène de Rastignac. Originally published in serial form during
the winter of 1834–35, Le Père Goriot is widely considered as Balzac's
most important novel. It marks the first serious use by the author of
characters who had appeared in other books, a technique that
distinguishes Balzac's fiction and makes La Comédie humaine unique
among bodies of work. The novel is also noted as an example of his
realist style, using minute details to create character and subtext.
The novel takes place during the Bourbon Restoration, which brought
about profound changes in French society; the struggle of individuals
to secure upper-class status is ubiquitous in the book. The novel was
released to mixed reviews. Some critics praised the author for his
complex characters and attention to detail; others condemned him for
his many depictions of corruption and greed. A favorite of Balzac's,
the book quickly won widespread popularity and has often been adapted
for film and the stage.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A8re_Goriot>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1820:
Primarily due to its vulnerability to foreign invasions, the exclave of
Massachusetts known as Maine was given its own U.S. statehood.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Maine%23The_American_Revolution%2C_the_War_of_1812%2C_and_Maine_in_the_middle>
1877:
Cricketers representing England and Australia began the first match in
Test cricket at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Test_cricket_from_1877_to_1883%23The_first_Test>
1906:
Charles Rolls and Henry Royce founded the British automobile
manufacturing company Rolls-Royce.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Limited>
1943:
World War II: German forces recaptured Kharkov after four days of
house-to-house fighting against Soviet troops, ending the month-long
Third Battle of Kharkov .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Battle_of_Kharkov>
1972:
The Godfather, a gangster film based on the novel of the same name by
Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, was released.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather>
1985:
The company Symbolics became the first ever entity, individual or party
to register a .com top-level domain name:
symbolics.com.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.com>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
misanthropic (adj):
Hating or disliking mankind
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/misanthropic>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop
thinking and go in.
--Andrew Jackson
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson>