February 26, 2003

"Father Goriot" by Honore de Balzac: The insidiousness of Parisian society serves as backdrop for this tragic tale of paternal love.

Madame Vauquer's boarding house is at the epicenter, with the Madame's seven tenants all taking their turn on stage. There's the youthful Eugene de Rastignac, a would-be college student who has turned his back to education in favor of trying to steal the heart of a wealthy society woman; Mademoiselle Taillefer, a young girl desperate to rekindle a relationship with an abusive, albeit rich, father; Madame Couture, the acting guardian of the poor, neglected waif; Monsieur Poiret, a rather spineless dolt of a man; Mademoiselle Michonneau; a seemingly nondescript woman that takes enormous risks; and Vautrin, an affable, boisterous soul always ready with a joke or song, although his smile hides a criminal past. And then there's old Goriot.

Jean-Joachim Goriot came to Madame Vauquer's boarding house shortly after his wife died. He rented the best rooms and was considered a fine man for all his wonderful clothes and belongings; a true gentleman. Yet when Goriot began to spend less and less money, started wearing the most modest of wardrobes, and taking cheaper lodgings each year until he was entrenched in the smallest of quarters, he was no longer given respect by Madame Vauquer and his fellow boarders. He was now considered a cheap old fool. When he would be visited by two strikingly beautiful young women, far too lovely to have anything but the most improper relations with Goriot, it only added fuel to the fire. The old man tried to explain that they were his daughters. This only brought more ridicule, along with the sarcastic nickname of "Father Goriot."

But Goriot was immune to the criticism. He had only one concern in life: the happiness of his daughters, Anastasie and Delphine. Yes, the two visions of Parisian beauty were indeed Goriot's children, despite their appearing every bit as refined as he was poor. While each daughter had married into wealth and lived in luxury, Goriot was left to his meager existence at Madame Vauquer's. A humble merchant who made his money in the wheat industry, Goriot no longer belonged in the world of his daughters. His two son-in-laws saw to that. Goriot did not care. He only wanted happiness for his girls. Unfortunately, neither one married wisely, choosing wealth over character. And even though their husbands were rich, Anastasie and Delphine still came to their father for money; a sacrifice he was all too eager to make.

It is Eugene who stumbles upon the truth after being introduced to both Anastasie and Delphine in his quest to enter society. The revelation, so often joked about during dinner at Madame Vauquer's, comes as quite the shock; especially since Eugene falls madly in love with Delphine at first sight. The attraction is mutual. But Eugene will need money to win Delphine's heart. The mysterious Vautrin has a solution... or plot, depending on how one looks at things. The scheme involves Mademoiselle Traillefer. And, yes, it does involve murder, as any good devious plot should. Remember, Mlle. Taillefer has a mean rich father, not to mention an equally cruel older brother. Now, if something were to happen to that brother, the fair Mademoiselle would suddenly jump up on the ol' inheritance ladder. Then if Eugene was to woo the impressionable young lass and make her his wife, he would have access to just the fortune needed to be with his true love, Delphine. So right there you've got your murder, greed, lust, and envy. If you just added Dopey, Sleepy, and Doc you'd have all Seven Deadly Dwarves.

"Father Goriot" is a very full book. It has tremendous depth. Mr. Balzac, if that is his real name, did a marvelous job orchestrating a piece of fiction that works on multiple levels at once. The characters are all well drawn, particularly the beloved Goriot and the roguish Vautrin. They're the stars.

It really is a masterpiece of craftsmanship; a brilliant story. And that's just the problem. It's a story. No more. No less. It has the feel of a Dickens novel, meant more for entertainment than enlightenment. It just lacks that little extra weight required to have us pour the bottle four times. Also, the resolution of Vautrin's plot inspires a somewhat hollow reaction from Eugene and Mr. Balzac's prose can be a touch too meandering at times for our taste. Still, "Father Goriot" is well worth a read if you're looking for something light that loses nothing in the way of intelligence or skill from the author.

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"Tropic of Cancer" by Henry Miller: Long infamous for its frank portrayal of sex, even the slightest mention of "Tropic of Cancer" always seems to carry with it an air of scandal. It even inspired an episode of "Seinfeld." Naturally, 70 Proof had to take its measure. And I gotta tell ya, not that good.

Basically, "Tropic of Cancer" is the story of a penniless writer (told in the first person by Miller himself) floating around Paris mooching off friends, always looking for food, a place to stay, or at least some meaningless sex. Come to think of it, if you change the setting to Pittsburgh, take away the friends, sex, and desire for food, you'd have the story of my life.

That's really the extent of the plot. Miller does get entangled in a few interesting predicaments thanks to his friends, the best of which involves a Russian "princess" named Macha who easily steals the show. Between these misadventures Miller attempts to expound on life and existence, even hitting the mark on a few occasions. In fact, the first two pages of this book are on par with any in literature. The text, as a whole though, is remarkably uneven. Each moment of inspiration is countered by one of wandering indulgence. It would seem Mr. Miller is writing for no other reason than to hear his own voice.

As for the sexual content of the book, don't believe the hype. There's really nothing here any worse than your typical installment of "The Real World." Take away the gratuitous use of one particularly crude term for a portion of the female anatomy and the sum total of sex adds up to little more than a slow week for Christina Aguilera.

The most disturbing aspect of "Tropic of Cancer" is, without question, its hateful attitude towards women. The fairer sex is never depicted as anything more than, well, fair sex. Even the aforementioned Macha, for all her charm, is spiteful, manipulative, and shockingly similar to my ex-wife. The novel would have been better served with a little more focus and a lot less misogyny.

If you're looking for a book about poor slackers bounding through life, forsake Mr. Miller's ramblings and turn instead to J. P. Donleavy's "The Ginger Man", Hermann Hesse's "Knulp", or Samuel Beckett's "Murphy."

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