"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 Pére 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."