2 h 34 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the man who holds your debts also holds your family's future?
On a winter night in a grand Paris salon, lawyer Derville tells a story that bears on a possible marriage. The Vicomtesse de Grandlieu weighs Ernest de Restaud's hopes of marrying her daughter Camille. To explain the shadow over his family, Derville returns to his youth and an elderly neighbour named Gobseck.
Gobseck lives plainly, lends at heavy interest and trusts gold above everything else. His borrowers reveal what pride and need can make people do. Among them is Comtesse Anastasie de Restaud, who hides debts and pawns jewels for her lover, Maxime de Trailles. Her husband remains in the dark as money troubles threaten their household.
What you’ll discover
- A man ruled by gold Meet a moneylender who thinks himself free while gold governs his life.
- Behind the salon doors Enter a grand Paris room where a family's reputation shapes a young man's hopes.
- Jewels, debts and desire Follow a countess whose hidden borrowing binds love to the demands of money.
- The lawyer's watchful eye See Gobseck through Derville, whose own prospects depend on the lender's help.
- The price of power Explore the claim that gold commands love, rank, safety and pleasure.
Who will love it
For readers who love sharp character studies, stories about money and class, and families caught between pride, love and debt.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A lawyer tells his tale by firelight
- A strange neighbour called Gobseck
- Money as the one real power
- A friendship and a loan that changes a life
- The countess, her lover and the jewels
- What the story means and how it is told
Who’s who
- GobseckAn elderly Paris moneylender who lives plainly, trusts only gold and studies his borrowers with cool interest.
- DervilleA poor law student who becomes a respected lawyer, friend to Gobseck and tells the whole story.
- Comtesse Anastasie de RestaudA proud, beautiful noblewoman who hides her debts and pawns jewels to help her lover.
- Comte de RestaudThe countess's husband, a nobleman kept in the dark about his household's money troubles.
- Maxime de TraillesA fashionable gambler and spender whose needs drain the countess's purse.
- Vicomtesse de GrandlieuThe noble hostess who hears Derville's tale while weighing a possible marriage for her daughter.
- Ernest de RestaudA young man of good family whose hopes of marriage prompt Derville to tell his story.
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Gobseck
by Honoré de Balzac · 1830
In Paris, an old moneylender holds a noble family's secrets, and one pawned jewel can shake a great house.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A lawyer tells his tale by firelight
The story opens in the Paris home of the Vicomtesse de Grandlieu. Her daughter Camille sits with her in the salon, and a guest lingers late after the others have gone. He is Derville, a respected lawyer, who knows the secrets of many families. The young people of the house are talking about a visitor named Ernest de Restaud, who has caught Camille's eye.
The vicomtesse objects to this young man because of his mother's reputation. Derville speaks up for him. He says Ernest has a good character and fair prospects. To show why, he turns to the family past, which is not what it looks like.
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What is Gobseck about?
It is a short novel about an old Paris moneylender and the lawyer who befriends him. Through a noble family's secret debts, it shows how money drives pride, love and family life in early nineteenth century France.
Who is Gobseck?
Gobseck is a Paris moneylender who lends at high interest and believes gold is the only real power. He lives plainly, watches his borrowers closely and becomes friend and client to the young lawyer Derville.
Is Gobseck part of The Human Comedy?
Yes. Balzac placed it among his Scenes of Private Life in The Human Comedy. Characters such as Derville and Maxime de Trailles also appear in other works in the cycle.
The author
Honoré de Balzac
1799–1850 · French novelist
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright born in Tours in 1799. He lived and worked in Paris, where he died in 1850. He wrote The Magic Skin in 1831, Eugénie Grandet in 1833, and Father Goriot in 1835. Many of his works belong to La Comédie humaine.
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