Download or read book Pere Goriot written by Honoré de Balzac and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2004 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This outstanding French realist novel contrasts the social progress of an impoverished but ambitious aristocrat with that of a father whose obsessive love leads to personal and financial ruin. "The modern King Lear." ? Leslie Stephen.