 Le Père Goriot is widely considered Balzac 's essential novel . Its influence on French literature has been considerable , as shown by novelist Félicien Marceau 's remark : " We are all children of Le Père Goriot . " Brooks refers to its " perfection of form , its economy of means and ends " . Martin Kanes , meanwhile , in his book Le <unk> Goriot : Anatomy of a Troubled World , calls it " the keystone of the Comédie humaine " . It is the central text of Anthony Pugh 's voluminous study Balzac 's Recurring Characters , and entire chapters have been written about the detail of the Maison Vauquer . Because it has become such an important novel for the study of French literature , Le Père Goriot has been translated many times into many languages . Thus , says Balzac biographer Graham Robb , " Goriot is one of the novels of La Comédie humaine that can safely be read in English for what it is . " 
