L'élégance du hérisson

Muriel Barbery — 2015

«Je m'appelle Renée, j'ai cinquante-quatre ans et je suis la concierge du 7 rue de Grenelle, un immeuble bourgeois. Je suis veuve, petite, laide, grassouillette, j'ai des oignons aux pieds et, à en croire certains matins auto-incommodants, une haleine de mammouth. Mais surtout, je suis si conforme à l'image que l'on se fait des concierges qu'il ne viendrait à l'idée de personne que je suis plus lettrée que tous ces riches suffisants. Je m'appelle Paloma, j'ai douze ans, j'habite au 7 rue de Grenelle dans un appartement de riches. Mais depuis très longtemps, je sais que la destination finale, c'est le bocal à poissons, la vacuité et l'ineptie de l'existence adulte. Comment est-ce que je le sais ? Il se trouve que je suis très intelligente. Exceptionnellement intelligente, même. C'est pour ça que j'ai pris ma décision : à la fin de cette année scolaire, le jour de mes treize ans, je me suiciderai.»

Reviews

linda@lkt

Sep 5, 2022

While I thoroughly enjoyed Paloma's narrative, I disliked the the tone of Renee, whose writing often sounded didactical and as if she were on a moral and intellectual pedestal. At times, the writer can even seem pretentious, especially in the chapter about phenomenology. There were some parts that I enjoyed (I.e. the author's humor), but overall I found this book disappointing.

Nona G@nonabgo

Oct 26, 2021

I don't read philosophical books. My philosophy teachers in high school and university were really bad and made me hate philosophy with a passion, although I am aware it's a stupid reason. But it stuck with me and I tend to avoid novels that steer in that direction. Which is why I am quite late to the table with this one (I'm also not one to read books that are "in fashion", I prefer to let them age, to see if they turn to wine or vinegar...). But 2020, with its craziness, seemed like the good moment for "The elegance of the hedgehog". Maybe because I spent so much of this year in a grey state of mind where nothing made sense and all sorts of bad happened, beyond the obvious pandemic. The book starts slow and it took me a while to get through the first chapters and invested in the characters. Not in the action, because there's barely any - much of the novel is just introspection. I asked myself various times why should I get interested in two random people who don't really do anything beyond living their lives as they would normally do, without anything interesting happening to them. But eventually I got caught into their interior lives - Renee's more than Paloma's - and my interest peaked. While Paloma just gave me some cute quotes to use on Instagram, Renee actually got me invested. It's quite puzzling, since she is just a regular human with a boring job who, by this day's standards, barely has a life - but she is so much more than just a porter with a fat cat who watches TV every day. She has a rich live enveloped in books, music and movies - and quite an exquisite taste at that. Yes, there were quite a few moments when I rolled my eyes at the pedantic tone she used in describing her neighbors, but aren't we all, in truth, just as judgemental? I can definitely relate to her. I can actually relate a little bit to Paloma as well, I was that teenager who buried herself in books and never talked to anyone, harboring suicidal thoughts (not pyromaniacal though), but since I long surpassed that period, she made me roll my eyes most of the time. I will not name this novel a masterpiece, although it gave me food for thought and I can understand why a lot of psychologists recommend it as part of therapy, but it was a good idea to tackle it during these trying times. My only annoyance is the ending - which I will not spoil here -, which made me cringe at how European it is. As for the rest, it actually gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling, despite pushing e a little bit into taking a look at myself in the mirror.