Muriel Barbery

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

cedar winslow

What does Art do for us? It gives shape to our emotions, makes them visible and, in so doing, places a seal of eternity upon them

If you have but one friend, make sure you choose her well.

By beguiling our eyes, television releases our mind from the great work of making meaning. 

We have given up trying to meet others, we just meet ourselves. We don't recognize each other because other people have become our permanent mirrors. 

Gradually, his movements are freed from the shackles of his will, and he goes into a light trance which gives his gestures the perfection of conscious, automatic motion, without thought or calculation, and the scythe seems to move of its own accord.

We live each day as if it were merely a rehearsal for the next.

How distressing to stumble on a dominant social habitus, just when one was convinced of one's own uniqueness in the matter! Distressing, and perhaps even a bit annoying. 

No one seems to have thought of the fact that if life is absurd, being a brilliant success has no greater value than being a failure. It's just more comfortable.

so full of life and love and beauty and heart and soul, i was so moved so many times, challenged, comforted, and reminded of what makes life worth living

Ayesha ahmed

One of the best literature novel I have ever read. Breathtakingly moving.

Katherine Yang

Beautifully expressed but somewhat tiring, at least up until near the end.

Melody Izard

I’m not quite sure what is elegant about a hedgehog, but I haven’t ever seen one in person so they might be strikingly elegant and their photos just don’t convey that. But despite that, I enjoyed the French translated book The Elegance of the Hedgehog.
 
The story is told from two points of view: The concierge of a posh French apartment house and one of the young residents of this same hôtel particulier. Neither of them is particularly happy. Both are very intelligent and feel the need to hide this from the world. Both, not only hide their cleverness but hide themselves as well and have very few, if any, real friends.

Paloma is 12, is taking Japanese as her second foreign language and is teaching herself everything she can about Japan. She loves Haikus and, on June sixteenth, she is planning on burning down the apartment and then killing herself.

Renée is 54. She is a widow and is the concierge at number 7 rue de Grenelle. She describes herself as short, ugly and plump and believes that she is just about invisible to the residents who live in the eight luxury apartments, except when they need a package mailed, or plants watered, or unwelcomed guests turned away.

The story is of their pain, their contact, and their growth. It’s lovely.

Morgana

** spoiler alert **
           La prima volta che ho preso in mano questo libro, ho letto venti pagine e l'ho abbandonato, l'ho ripreso con l'idea di finirlo ed ora posso dire che sono contenta di averlo fatto. Non è fenomenale come dicono, però è un bel libro. Il problema è che mi sono piaciuti i capitoli dal punto di vista di madame Michel ma quelli di Paloma sono noiosetti, e spesso si perdono veramente in un discorso sul nulla assoluto. Il finale mi ha lasciata veramente di stucco, sinceramente avrei preferito che Paloma si suicidasse dando fuoco all'appartamento visto che odiava tanto la vita, piuttosto che toglierla ad una persona buona, piena di speranze e con una possibile storia d'amore in corso, solo perché è stata così buona da cercare di aiutare un ubriaco, insomma, il finale proprio non mi è andato giù.

Dorian Avers

3.5 The contents of this book took me by surprise. Based on the cover and the title of the novel I thought that this would be a somewhat childish book, an easy read. I was caught off guard when I began reading and found the book was quite dense. I started out thinking that it was too verbose, and a bit pretentious, something that I wouldn't necessarily enjoy. Within a few pages I was hooked, but my interest took a bit of a hit towards the middle and didn't quite catch again. 
 This novel is told from two perspectives. Renee who is a 54-year old concierge at a prestigious hotel/apartment complex for the ridiculously wealthy. She spends her time trying to convince everyone around her that she is your average concierge. She pretends to be dull, unintelligent, and short-tempered. Meanwhile she reads any book she can get her hands on and watches old films. She's extremely intelligent, but believes that she should not act like she is above her station in life. The other perspective is a brilliant preteen named Paloma. Paloma's attitude and behavior parallels Renee's. Paloma is a resident at the hotel where Renee is the concierge. She spends her days trying to be just a bit above average intelligence. She studies her classmates and imitates their behavior to make sure that she is not a standout. She is quiet and reserved with others, especially her family. She has an obnoxiously intelligent older sister and two scholarly parents, none of whom seem to think much about their youngest child. Paloma keeps everything to herself including the fact that she plans to kill herself on her thirteenth birthday, unless she finds something worth living for. She keeps two separate journals, one that is for Profound Thoughts and another that is for the Movements of the World.
 If you're looking for a novel with a strong driving plot, this is not the book for you. This book focuses on the seemingly mundane life of these two characters and not much more. It is written with a great deal of focus on observations and descriptions. Although some passages may be overdone it is a almost poetically written book. Somewhat stream-of-consciousness. I wish that there was more from the perspective of Paloma, but other than that and a few overdone rants, I really enjoyed this book. It was a simple plot and there was believable character development and an ending that will catch you off guard. This is a book that I might come back and read when I'm a bit more cultured or have watched some of the films or read some of the books that are referenced. Then I can feel a bit more eclectic while doing so.

The lives of fifty-four-year-old concierge Rene Michel and extremely bright, suicidal twelve-year-old Paloma Josse are transformed by the arrival of a new tenant, Kakuro Ozu.

Magdalene Lim

I started liking the book from mid-section all the way to the end. 

If I weren't so lacking in general knowledge, world politics in particular, I might have enjoyed the level of intellectualism displayed here. Renée is a rather unconventional character and I'm not sure if people like her actually exist. One of my favourite bits is when Renée expresses her extreme incredulity at an extra comma in a note handed to her.

Judy Hudgins

Just not in the mood for the story at the moment. Will probably come back to it at a later date.

Amy Arthun Lorton 

I couldn't even get past chapter 6. It just did not capture my interest at all. In my book club, I think only 2 people finished it- that has never happened before. They said the story didn't get going until it was halfway done- I wasn't willing to put in the time.

Janet Doré

Sometimes a book finds you. Something in the universe (a higher power?) knows it's time that you read it...and it manages to land in your lap. I was working in the library and a woman slid this book across the counter toward me. She looked pained and asked "Are you familiar with this book?" (I wasn't.) "I was supposed to read it for my book group. I really tried, but I just couldn't get into it." Well, there it was...a challenge. As she walked away, I started judging the cover. I saw that the book was French (I visit my "adopted" French sister there often and have been in a 8 year struggle to learn the language.), I saw that it received several French book awards (based on my past experience, this either means I'll love it or I'll hate it.), I read the synopsis and was immediately intrigued. I checked it out and made plans to start it the next day. When I got home, I checked out the reviews on Goodreads...not a whole lot of middle ground. It was clear I either going to love it or hate it. 

From the very beginning, this book grabbed me. I believe I even gasped a little as I read a passage while getting my French pedicure in my little upscale suburb. By the end of the book, it was confirmed...I was Paloma (although I am MUCH older and not nearly as intelligent!). I finished the book last night with tears streaming down my face. If I was arrogant, I would swear that the author wrote this book just for me...to confirm everything that I had been intensively thinking, feeling, and deciding for the last month. I felt proud that I had made the decisions to live my life in the way the two characters conclude on BEFORE I read the book. 

Will the average reader like this book? Probably not. It's very intellectual, very judgmental (for a reason that will become clear by the end) and dominated by philosophizing rather than storytelling. But, I would give it a try...you might just be one of the other people the author wrote it for.

iangola

Renée is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building, home to members of the great and the good. Over the years she has maintained her carefully constructed persona as someone reliable but totally uncultivated, in keeping, she feels, with society's expectations of what a concierge should be. But beneath this façade lies the real Renée: passionate about culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her employers with their outwardly successful but emotionally void lives. Down in her lodge, apart from weekly visits by her one friend Manuela, Renée lives resigned to her lonely lot with only her cat for company. Meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Paloma Josse is determined to avoid the pampered and vacuous future laid out for her, and decides to end her life on her thirteenth birthday. But unknown to them both, the sudden death of one of their privileged neighbours will dramatically alter their lives forever.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

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