Old Man Goriot was a retired businessman who lived in the boarding house of Madame Vauquer. He doted on his two married daughters, Anastasie de Restaud and Delphine de Nucingen. He had invested his entire fortune to enable them to marry wealthy men and become members of the Parisian upper class. In return, they scorned him, only approaching him for money and not allowing him to visit them. Also in the boarding house is a poor young student named Eugene de Rastignac. He aspires to the upper class and happens to be a distant cousin of Madame de Beauseant, the belle of the city. She agrees to help him win the love of Delphine (whom he has a crush on) by letting him introduce Delphine to her. Follow?

All the married people in this book also have lovers on the side, so Eugene feels free to pursue Delphine. This scheme goes according to plan and Delphine even buys Eugene a fancy apartment near her house and lets him escort her everywhere.

Meanwhile, another boarder in the house, M. Vautrin, makes a deal with Eugene. If Eugene will marry Victorine Taillefer (who is in love with him), Vautrin will see to it that Victorine inherits her father’s fortune by killing her nasty brother. In return, Eugene will give Vautrin a portion of the money. Eugene flirts with the idea (and with Victorine) but decides not to go through with it because he has won Delphine’s love. He tries to warn Victorine’s brother, but Vautrin drugs him. The brother is killed by Vautrin’s friend in a duel, Victorine inherits the money but Eugene has already dropped her. Then cops show up and arrest Vautrin, who turns out to be a big time crook.

Both of Goriot’s daughters show up and ask him for money to cover their extravagances with their lovers, but he has nothing left to give them. They argue with each other which causes Goriot to get upset and have a stroke. While he is dying, his daughters ignore him, attend a ball and get wrapped up in their own affairs. Eugene attends Goriot and tries to get his daughters to visit him, but they don’t come. Goriot dies with their names on his lips. Eugene goes alone to the funeral and vows to take his revenge on Paris.

Interesting and well-written in the style of Dickens or Thackeray, but without the happy ending. Everyone has ulterior motives and sloppy morals except for Victorine who is a minor character. Eugene is likeable and should have married Victorine in the beginning without the shenanigans.