le père goriot (, "old goriot" or "father goriot") is an 1835 novel by french novelist and playwright honoré de balzac (1799–1850). it is in the "scènes de la vie privée" section of his novel sequence "la comédie humaine". it is set in paris in 1819. it follows the lives of three characters: the elderly goriot, a mysterious criminal named vautrin and a naive law student named eugène de rastignac.