I'll second Angus's mention of Goriot but rave over Cousin Bette, the gripping story of the Revenge of the Old Maid Cousin.

And yeah, definitely a Balzacverse. Think Trollope (especially the Barsetshire or the Palliser novels) multiplied a few dozen times.

I read Pere Goriot in college (ha! Didn't know the title been translated in other editions! I read it in English, but the title stayed French). I don't remember a lot about it, except the general impression that Balzac was the same kind of finely-tuned, shrewd observer of social custom as Henry James, only observing people who weren't as rich, and using much shorter sentences.

I've read one or two Emile Zola novels, and he's much more of a muckraker than Balzac. Also, 30 years later? A little later. Zola was the one who wrote the open letter "J'Accuse!" in the newspapers over the Dreyfus Affair at the turn of the century. (And I played Clue with much older kin for years using that phrase, completely unaware of why we had to bellow it out in French at the revelatory moment.)

I've been 100 pages into Perdido Street Station for about 2 years. (I will pick it up again some day.) It's a book where everyone seems very sensuous and gustatory, and the city itself is portrayed as a wild, marvelous, inspiring hellhole -- the way people write about New York in the 1920s, I think, except this (fictional) city involves sapient bugs and critters with wings and alchemy and illegal offset printing presses. One word of caution: I found it so very British that it was sometimes a little tough to follow. Not incomprehensible, but hard work trying to decipher the colloquialisms and place the references.

Well some of Balzac's characters are rich; he writes about everyone from down-at-heel landladies to duchesses, so from that point of view he's like the French Dickens, but I think the Henry James comparison is apt too, because he's much more sceptical about people's motivations than Dickens is; he doesn't really do good guys and bad guys.

Zola is the absolute bomb. I'd recommend him to anyone who says they find 19th-century fiction too polite.

Perdido St Station is one of those books that builds an incredible world and then can't think what to do in it.

...yes, I'm only responding to the trashy fantasy discussio because I've never read the clever French books. I saw Les Mis once, if it helps. It was pish...

Other significant works of steampunk are K.W. Jeter's Infernal Devices, most of Tim Powers' early work (esp. The Anubis Gates), some of James Blaylock's early work, and possibly Michael Swanwick's The Iron Dragon's Daughter, depending on how flexible you are in your definitions.

I loved The Anubis Gates and pretty much every other Tim Powers book. Does that mean I like steampunk?

Reportedly, Mieville's plotting improves in The Scar and The Iron Council.

I come with pre-formed knowledge of books I've never read. This used to trouble me.

I like The Difference Engine, Plei, but I was annoyed they didn't try for more authentic period language. I also suspect it would have meant more if I'd ever been able to slog through Disraeli's fiction, since the protagonist of one section is Sybil. If recommendation will win out over the convenience of actually owning the book, I'd recommend The Anubis Gates instead, as it's a rip-snorting adventure, which is usually not even My Type of Thing -- but it's done with such enthusiasm and vigor I got swept away anyway.

Oh, I got it: The film version of steampunk is probably Wild, Wild West. Only most of the books in the category don't suck.

Or you could just like Tim Powers.

I'm trying to think of a good Blaylock example that's still in print. Huh.

Powers and Blaylock are friends and have both critiqued each other and written together, so you may find Blaylock worth checking out even in non-steampunk mode, Wolfram. His latest stuff has been moody California ghost stories -- he tends to have a great sense of place and a great sense of whimsy.

Micole, have you read Moorcock's steampunk stuff? The bastable books - set in a Victorian 1973 - are ace.

I liked Secret Garden better than Little Princess -- more magical elements, and the creepiness of the moors was just cool, and I could relate a lot more to Mary than to Sara.

Me too. Mary is pleasingly obnoxious, in a way that feels very real. She is surly and grumpy and not especially happy to be in this weird cold place. Where Sara is just all .. good at heart and cheerful, as far as I remember.

And I loved the Dahl books, especially Matilda. They are sick and twisted, but I really appreciated that as a child. (Still do.)

What do y'all think of Lemony Snicket? I read A Bad Beginning, and found his style irritatingly arch, but I know he's well-regarded.

There was a period where I felt like the series wasn't going anywhere, but now (by book 10!), stuff is finally happening. They're quick reads, and they're clever. I beat up kids at the library so I can check them out first.