The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
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Book Reviews of The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Book Review: I highly recommend this beautiful, intelligent book!
Summary: 5 Stars
Muriel Barbery has exquisitely created a compelling novel overflowing with emotion. Set in an elegant Parisian apartment building, it tells the story of two residents who have adopted illusory ways of living. Renee Michel, a 54 year old widow and building's concierge, keeps her intelligence and culture hidden in order to conform to the French social stratum. Cynical Paloma Josse, a 12 year old genius, has decided to end her own life on her 13th birthday. Told through the two characters' voices, their observations on life and profound thoughts are woven into the storyline. When a new resident moves in, the three form a poignant friendship. Ms. Barbery does a brilliant job developing these marvelous characters and I quickly became enthralled by these individuals and their intellectual insights. Many passages contained laugh-out-loud moments. An unexpected, yet satisfactory ending completes the story. I absolutely loved this thought-provoking book for many reasons. The character's habits and reflections provide a fascinating impression of the French class-based way of life. At the end, I was left pondering the difference between my own inner self and the public self I share with the world. Understanding this, I can feel free to be myself and not be concerned with other people's expectations. It is also gratifying to look beyond each other's public masks to find the hidden innermost beauty. You simply must read this engrossing novel!!Book Review: A Gem
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Elegance of the Hedgehog" is compelling from start to finish if you enjoy a smart, thoughtful book with a fresh premise and vivid, memorable characters. I kept thinking of other books that drew me into such tightly-defined settings and introduced me to such distinct individuals. Books like "Shipping News" (Annie Proulx) or "Possession" (A.S. Byatt) came to mind though "Hedgehog" bears little resemblance to either. Readers have to bring something to the table with "Hedgehog." While heavy with observations about art, beauty and philosophy, "Hedgehog" is also extremely light on its feet with self-deprecation and witty insights about the modern world. References to "Blade Runner" and "Eminem" seem as appropriate as tongue-lashings about grammar and speech or deep thoughts about William of Ockham.
One of the book's most stunning accomplishments is to have so much of the world and all its varying sensibilities play out on such a small stage--an apartment building in Paris (for the most part) and only certain rooms at that. "Hedgehog" starts a bit slow and picks up steam as "Monsieur Ozu" arrives, but the arc of the plot and the relative sense of "action" is not the point. "Hedgehog" is about seeing beauty, prejudice, the meaning of art, the meaning of life, destiny, aesthetics, tea, flowers, cats, routines, haikus, imagination, television, stratified city life, inner thoughts. It's about hiding in plain sight. "Hedgehog" is a gem.
Book Review: An Elegant Read
Summary: 5 Stars
This lovely little book has almost all of the scenes taking place a Parisian apartment building. but the scenes are so cleverly written that you never feel as though you are confined.
The main characters are a fascinating contrast. The dumpy looking concierge, Renee who is smart, but poor and hides behind a dour facade. Then there is Paloma, a smart and precocious twelve year old. The building's other inhabitants are primarily the wealthy of Paris. You catch glimpses of their personalities as Renee and Paloma alternately narrate the book.
Renee and Paloma are drawn together by the wealthy Monsieur Ozo, a Japanese man who moves into an apartment in the building. The book is not action oriented, but more a deep study of Paloma, Monsieur Ozo and Renee. Three very different people on the surface, but very much alike underneath the facade they present to the world. Kind of like hedgehogs--prickly on the surface, warm underneath.
As you journey through the book, these three individuals become very real as their mutual love of art has them transcending their differences in race, age, and gender as well as class.
This book is subtle and one will find the characters sticking with them long after they have finished the book. Like a good wine, the book becomes richer with age.
Book Review: A TRUE Heartbreaking Work of Genius
Summary: 5 Stars
It is rare that I am so enticed by the back cover of a book that I pick it up in the store, but when I read the synopsis of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, I did just that. This book is now in my top five favorite books of all time.
The characters are enchanting, yet real. While I found twelve-year-old Paloma to be a bit overwritten at times, her fellow protagonist, Madame Michel, is so engaging and at once heartbreaking and loveable, that the precociousness of Paloma can be forgiven.
And the book is heartbreaking, but not because of the tragedies, but because of the joy. Life, in all its guises, leaps off the pages and finds places in the reader's heart that may have long been hidden. It is that kind of book.
I'm reticent to say "everyone should read this book" because I think it resonated with me according to my life experiences and my personality (I am Paloma and Madame Michel both). I'd give it a try, however. And I'd stick with it...if the intellectual meanderings of Paloma and Renée get tiresome, read quickly until Ozu enters the scene. Then, if you liked Time Travelers Wife, I think you'll find the rest of the book to be utterly compelling.
Book Review: A feast of language
Summary: 5 Stars
I generally find French literature insufferably pretentious... and this was pretentious, but not at all insufferable. The two narrators - the privileged, precocious, and suicidal 12-year-old Paloma, and the unschooled but self-educated widow Renée, the concierge in Paloma's upscale apartment building - have nothing in common in life but are kindred spirits in the life of the mind. Both are loners, their too-keen, too-caustic observations of society setting them apart from friends and loved ones in lonely, embittered isolation, until a new resident at number 7, rue de Grenelle, sees each as others can't. This new acquaintance is the catalyst that brings Paloma and Renée together and, in so doing, re-awakens a profound faith in humanity that each had found so lacking.
The novel reads like poetry, with brief chapters trimmed of all excess, so that every word and image glows with clarity and import. For those who appreciate the subtlety and beauty of language, The Elegance of the Hedgehog is a feast for the senses, full of glittering, delicious turns of phrase for the reader to savor like crystallized ginger, sharp and spicy and sweet all at once.