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The Elegance of the Hedgehog

by Muriel Barbery, Alison Anderson (Translator)

3.63 · rating details · 31,459 ratings · 7,592 reviews

We are in the center of Paris, in an elegant apartment building inhabited by bourgeois families. Renée, the concierge, is witness to the lavish but vacuous lives of her numerous employers. Outwardly she conforms to every stereotype of the concierge: fat, cantankerous, addicted to television. Yet, unbeknownst to her employers, Renée is a cultured autodidact who adores art, ...more

Paperback, First English Edition, 325 pages

Published August 26th 2008 by Europa Editions (first published October 28th 2003)

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Jun 11, 2011

David rated it

Shelves: read-in-2008, unexpectedly-terrific

Initial review: 12/11/2008 -

I may revisit the 5-star rating in a week or two, but after reading this book through all last night in a single sitting, it seems ungenerous to give it anything less.

Muriel Barbery walks the high-wire throughout - there were any number of places where things could have degenerated into mere sentimentality. Not to mention the assorted philosophical digressions. But the alternating narrators - Renee the dumpy concierge and Paloma the precocious...moreInitial review: 12/11/2008 -

I may revisit the 5-star rating in a week or two, but after reading this book through all last night in a single sitting, it seems ungenerous to give it anything less.

Muriel Barbery walks the high-wire throughout - there were any number of places where things could have degenerated into mere sentimentality. Not to mention the assorted philosophical digressions. But the alternating narrators - Renee the dumpy concierge and Paloma the precocious 12-year old - are so charming that I just went with the flow. I granted Mme Barbery my willing suspension of disbelief, trusting that I was in good hands.

And Muriel, God bless her, delivered the goods. An enormously satisfying ending to a highly unusual book.

Now that the book has been translated into English, it seems highly likely that Oprah will pick it. It would be a shame to hold that against it.

Update 12/12/2008:

Well, the five stars didn't even last 24 hours. Although I was swept up enough by the book to read it in one sitting - which should be acknowledged as a major point in the book's favor, by the way - some of its weaknesses become evident upon reflection. Unlike some of the other reviewers, the fairly hefty dollop of implausibility attached to the two protagonists didn't bother me all that much - the author is constructing a kind of fable, after all. But it has to be said that the way Barbery plonks in whole pages of ponderous ruminations on art, philosophy, Japan-worship, just like that is (a) a completely intrusive artifice and (b) a huge structural weakness. Aren't authors suppose to show and not tell?

Then, too, my inner cynic has to cavil just a little bit at the unlikely perfection of the emotional harmonic convergence towards the book's ending. Mr Ozu seems more than a little too good to be true. And, for that matter, once you get away from the hypnotically, charmingly persuasive voices of the two narrators, the thought might cross your mind that maybe the other residents of the building aren't quite the shallow monsters they are made out to be throughout the book. Maybe the much maligned older sister, Colombe, deserves a break as well.

The moral of this story is that I should impose a 24-hour waiting period before assigning ratings. I still give "hedgehog" a strong recommendation, though.(less)

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Mar 23, 2008

Isabelle rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: french

This is another moment when I wonder what is wrong with me... Everyone in France recommends this book! The premise is original enough that I was hoping the book would be a real find: within the same super high end Parisian apartment building live 2 misfits: the 54 year old concierge who reads Kant and Tolstoi in secret and a 12 year old girl with abnormally high IQ and suicidal tendencies. The first half of the book is an excuse for the author's long academic digressions on Kant, phenomenology, ...more

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Aug 23, 2010

Isaiah rated it

I recently had a brief relationship with a young lady who had studied philosophy at a university in southern California. The relationship was destined to be a brief one, as she left for the Philippines to join the Peace Corps just a week or so ago. On one of our last evenings together, she thanked me for something that I found curious.

She said, "Isaiah, have you ever met someone at a party or something who finds out you studied philosophy -- and then they just try to talk to yo...more

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Jan 17, 2010

Eva rated it

Recommends it for: NO ONE!

That so many people love this book makes me fear for the future of literature. It is one of the most pretentious, banal "novels" I've ever read. In fact, "novel" is too good a word for its bloggishly self-indulgent, smugly insipid meanderings. Actually most blogs are much more interesting than this book. The two main characters (the concierge Renee and the young girl, Paloma) are hypocritical snobs who accuse others of snobbery. This intolerance is forgiveable in a child ...moreThat so many people love this book makes me fear for the future of literature. It is one of the most pretentious, banal "novels" I've ever read. In fact, "novel" is too good a word for its bloggishly self-indulgent, smugly insipid meanderings. Actually most blogs are much more interesting than this book. The two main characters (the concierge Renee and the young girl, Paloma) are hypocritical snobs who accuse others of snobbery. This intolerance is forgiveable in a child perhaps, but not in a 53 year old concierge. Renee whines about her lot constantly (and not in an amusing way -- she's incredibly tendentious and judgemental). She vaunts her superior intelligence, is very self-involved, and yet fancies herself compassionate.

The world view of the book is conservative. Renee worships the accepted canons of Western art, music, and thinking. She herself epitomizes the upper-middle class women she regards with such scorn. She is one of the most obnoxious characters I've come across in a book. The author expects the reader to sympathize with Renee, but she is boring and self-pitying, among other faults.

Both Renee and Paloma (the girl) think themselves unconventional, yet they are extremely ordinary in their views. They are humorless (this is NOT a funny book) and mean; they mock everyone they know and regard themselves as superior beings. All of their thinking is cliched, and their stale opinions are expressed with narcissistic melodrama and hyperbole, in elevated tones and stilted diction. Actually, the concierge and the 12 year old girl sound pretty much alike. The characterization is that thin. The book is full of stereotypes. Asia and Asians are characterized as "mysterious" and "inscrutable!" It makes France (or French culture) look bad .

The book has no tension but it does have some contrived action as well as a ludicrous red herring. The prose is riddled with sentimentality and cuteness, and the awkward "plot" serves as a skeleton for a host of trite, sophomoric ideas. A few basic philosophical problems are rehashed in reductive ways, and the narrators imagine that they invented these ancient conundrums.

Oh, and the writing is terrible: affected and clumsy. Forget le mot juste! Words are misused throughout. In the last twenty pages, the concierge weeps quite often and I guess the reader is supposed to sob along, but it's bathetic, anything but moving. The only emotions I felt were disgust and anger.

With so many wonderful books to read, why are so many people reading (and liking) this drivel? (less)

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Sep 28, 2010

Katya rated it

after giving this book a chance, i have decided that the only chance it deserves is to be methodically shredded page by page and subsequently dissolved, in its entirety, in a pool of ammonia.

the rampant fetishism of japanese culture aside (which is seriously so disturbing and surprising to come across in a bestseller that was written within the past 5 years), the plot is entirely centered on the interior monologues of two characters, two characters who are so unctuously trite and pla...more

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Mar 27, 2009

Chrissie rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: france, kirkus, fiction, humorous, philo-psychol, favorites

AFTER READING THE BOOK:
I just finished the book and I suppose it is better to let it sink in before I do a review, but since I do not think the following statements will be altered by further thought, I will state them now. First of all I rhink many who read this book will say OMG, it's a fairy tale! That couldn't happen. Well I don't agree. I am not going to give anything away, so don't worry. What happens, could happen, although I agree perhaps not that often. One has to believe and one ...moreAFTER READING THE BOOK:
I just finished the book and I suppose it is better to let it sink in before I do a review, but since I do not think the following statements will be altered by further thought, I will state them now. First of all I rhink many who read this book will say OMG, it's a fairy tale! That couldn't happen. Well I don't agree. I am not going to give anything away, so don't worry. What happens, could happen, although I agree perhaps not that often. One has to believe and one has to have a few camelias. I found the book, ie its principal characters, very annoying at first, then they soften and the book gets funnier and funnier and then it gets serious. You need humor in life and you need it in books too. Real humor that sprinkles in between the shit that life throws at you, me and everyone. This book confronts the reader with important philosophical ideas. This book is about art. It is about beauty, and more specifically, what is the point of beauty? Why do we need beauty? Why do we need the beauty that art, music, litterature and nature offer us? This book is about our pets, about our daily routines. This book eggs us on to consider many, many philosophical ideas. Why do people give up? Why do we think life is absurd? Why do people play social games with each other? Why do we hide from each other? And do any of us clearly see what is happening around us?

Now, if you consider the above questions philosphical garbage, well then skip the book. Although you will in so doing loose an opportunity to laugh at ourselves and our world. Don't forget, the book is funny. Some may say I am way too naive. That's fine. Say that, but I will stand for my views.

Concerning the questions I had before I read the book - I don't think the disparate views on this book have anything to do with the translation or cultural differences. I think it is simply that people are different. We value different things. We are interested in different issues. It's that simple.

BEFORE READING THE BOOK:
I really am curious about this book. The reviews are so different, thumbs up and thumbs down. Is it that there is a cultural difference between Europe and the States, or is it the translation? Who knows! The English translation is entitled The Elegance of the Hedgehog. Kirkus has already reviewed it, and they liked it. I will be reading it in French because no book is as good in translation as in its original. I am SO happy I have found a book here on GoodReads in French, maybe now I will get in contact with more French readers and current French litterature. Oh, and I really was surprised about some comment that this book was no "Amelie Poulain"! Who would ever think that one country will only produce one type of book.......... I have to remember to add to my list some books by Eric-Emanuel Schmitt, a French/Belgian author.(less)

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Aug 05, 2008

Donato rated it

· review of another edition

[Italian translation of course!]
I give this one 3 1/2 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed the book -- the philosophical observations, the interweaving of the thoughts of the concierge with those of the precocious young Paloma, the idea that Art is important -- but, but... in the end, it just felt too, I don't know, constructed, thought out. Like I can see the author taking all the things she does in her own life ( drinking tea, watching Ozu, getting all spiritual and zen over art) and transferrin...more

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Mar 21, 2009

Khaya rated it

Recommends it for: snobs

Shelves: maybe-it-s-me

My name is Renee, and I’m the first protagonist of this book – the hedgehog, as it were. I’m a 54-year-old concierge who works in a building populated by rich and powerful people who barely notice my existence. I’m also a closet intellectual and I frequently try to prove that to you by digressing into asides about philosophy, culture, and other topics. I alternate between sniping at the apartment owners for their snobbish indifference to my lowly concierge self (an image I strive to maintain ...moreMy name is Renee, and I’m the first protagonist of this book – the hedgehog, as it were. I’m a 54-year-old concierge who works in a building populated by rich and powerful people who barely notice my existence. I’m also a closet intellectual and I frequently try to prove that to you by digressing into asides about philosophy, culture, and other topics. I alternate between sniping at the apartment owners for their snobbish indifference to my lowly concierge self (an image I strive to maintain at every opportunity while blaming the rich apartment owners for buying into it), and terror that they may find out that I read loftier books than they do (I’m as much of a snob as they are, if not worse, but I guess we won’t go there – let’s keep things simple, even though this book is ostensibly higher literature). Given the owners’ apathy toward me, it’s not clear what I fear might actually happen if they learned that I was an intellectual. Probably nothing. But hey, this conflict keeps the book going and maybe makes some kind of a statement about French class differences. I guess you’d have to be French to understand. But you don’t have to be French to feel smug and superior about reading this pretentious novel. In fact, it probably helps if you’re not French because then you’re reading something foreign.

My name is Paloma, and I’m the other protagonist of this book. I’m a brilliant, precocious, underestimated and misunderstood 12-year-old who plans to burn down my apartment and commit suicide on my 13th birthday. I’m not sure exactly why I’m so unhappy. I mean, I can make all kinds of bitter and cynical observations about my parents and sister, but really, I’m not lacking for anything. I can tell you in lofty language about how life truly has no meaning, but for someone so bright, my thinking tends to be pretty two-dimensional as does my personality and my life in general. Although disliking your family is pretty normal in adolescence, it’s not clear why, in all 12 years of existence, I’ve never discovered a friend, teacher, neighbor, or relative who might complicate my unilaterally dark feelings about humanity by actually having some positive qualities. But maybe this is part of what helps me sound like a 50-year-old philosopher even though I’m supposed to be a 12-year-old girl, so I guess that’s something. In fact, I spend so much time sounding intellectual that, except for my melodramatic suicidality, there’s little hint of the fact that, emotionally, I’m really just an early adolescent. A bit more attention to my emotional side might have made my character more interesting, but c’est la vie. I get a little more three-dimensional at the end, but you have to hang in there and I'm not sure it's worth it.

My name is ___, and I’m a reviewer for a snooty periodical. I just finished Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and my editor is expecting a review from me this week. To be honest, all the pedantic asides left me cold. They took me out of the story and weren’t all that interesting. I kind of skimmed over them, but that’s not something I could ever reveal to my readers. I have to act like I read them, understood them, and appreciated them as only a brilliant reader could. I have to act like they enhanced the novel, rather than detracting from it. Similarly, if I poke holes in the characterization or plot, it might sound as if I didn’t understand or failed to appreciate the depth of this book. When a book comes out that tries to sound like it’s above my head, my job is to rave about it. This way, the snooty readers of my snooty periodical can feel even snootier as they read, even as they also feel alienated by this pretentious book.

***
I (Khaya, not one of the characters) wrote the above when I was about halfway through and feeling very negative. Now that I've finished the book, my opinion mostly stands. I will say, though, that the book had some better moments and was quite readable. It's really a 2-going-on-3-star book, as opposed to a solid 2 or a 2-rounded-up-from-1 book. Definitely didn't live up to its hype, though.(less)

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Mar 14, 2010

Tracy rated it

Itunes had this one on sale, so I'm listening.

Update: I've been listening to it on and off for an hour or so. I think I hate it. Will keep trying...

Update #2: I'm still trying, but so far I loathe this audiobook. I forgot that I hate Barbara Rosenblatt's narration in general, but she is particularly bad here. I think I'll be giving this one up. I hate that I spent money for this though (even though it wasn't much).

Update #3: Got the physical book out of the li...more

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Dec 24, 2008

Lisa rated it

· review of another edition

if you are an artist, a thinker, someone who longs for more, an aestheticist, a dreamer, a seeker.... then read this book. it made me laugh and cry in a way that only a well crafted, well loved, well written book can.

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Feb 17, 2011

Antof9 rated it

Shelves: 2010-read, about-books, bookcrossed-read, made-me-think, france, braniacal

So here's a first: I didn't like the ending but I still liked the book! I don't know that that has ever happened before. Perhaps because it was so abrupt; I'm not sure. I SMSd my sister-in-law after I finished it and said, "shocking ending to Hedgehog Elegance!" Her reply: "Yes, very French." Which -- duh -- explained it all.

This was such an interesting book for me! In the beginning, I really liked it. Then during the middle third, I was sort of "meh"...more

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Dec 26, 2009

oriana rated it

Shelves: read-2009

The Elegance of the Hedgehog is an absolutely breathtaking book. Just stunning. Light and airy, yet penetrating, with bits of soft brilliance on every page. My goodness, what an astonishing book.

There are two narrators. The first is Renée Michel, a middle-aged concierge at an extremely opulent luxury apartment building in Paris. She has spent her twenty-five years there cultivating a careful persona of low-class idiocy – leaving the TV on at all times, maintaining an unkempt appearan...more

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Apr 18, 2010

K.D. rated it

Recommended to K.D. by: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2010 edition)

Shelves: 1001-non-core

Paris, France at present time. Three main characters: Renee Michel, a 54-year old concierge at number 7, rue de Grenelle, a luxury apartment for rich people; Paloma Josse, a 12-year old super smart girl who is smart enough that, because she does not want to join the rat race when she grows up, she will commit suicide on her 13th birthday right after burning their apartment; and Ozu Kakuro a rich Japanese widower who the two met later in the story. He changed their lives that led to Paloma droppi...more

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May 08, 2010

Elizabeth (Alaska) rated it

Shelves: 1001-books

I must admit this wasn't a 5-star read until the last 50 pages, which may actually make this a 6-star read. This book is beautiful for its underlying truth: we are all worthy of love, love that will surely be given, if we will but believe we are worthy.

My friend Rose, repeated the quote that referenced Renee Michel as being prickly like a hedgehog, but so elegant on the inside. For me, the section that spoke volumes was the Profound Thought by Paloma in defense of grammar:

...more

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Jul 12, 2009

Jennifer (aka EM) rated it

Shelves: lonely-hearts-club, for-the-desert-island

"this is the fear, this is the dread
these are the contents of my head..."

I've always loved that line from Annie Lennox's Why. This book is about the contents of two characters' heads: Paloma, the 12-yr old suicidal prodigy, and Renée, the 50-something cat-lady concierge. Be careful with these characters, and by that I mean: take care of them, for they are fragile, sad souls in need of understanding and in need, moreover, of someone--anyone--to see through their fa...more

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Oct 22, 2008

Amy rated it

Even if I were to overlook the self-obsessed, banal philosophical discourses that dominate this novel, I would still hate 'Elegance of the Hedgehog,' mainly because its characters are contrived and unbelievable. The main character, a concierge for a luxurious Parisian apartment complex, is a self-taught expert in philosophy, art, and film, yet she pretends to be stupid. Her behavior is apparently explained by her conviction that people from different social classes should not interact or become ...more

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Nov 26, 2008

Molly rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Molly by: Book club

This is a wonderful book. It took awhile for it to grow on me but once I got into it I couldn't put it down. It's a book about questioning the stereotypes we assign to others and about questioning the roles we put ourselves in. I would highly recommend this book.

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Jun 26, 2011

Giovanni Faga rated it

· review of another edition

Successo internazionale e trasposizione cinematografica dovrebbero fare di questo libro un 5 stelle, o almeno 4. Per me, è un buon libro. E i buoni libri vanno ad appiccicarsi intorno alle 3 stelline. L'ho letto con l'ansia di chi stava partecipando a una psicosi collettiva, nell'attesa di una rivelazione autoriale che avrei ricordato per sempre.
Non è accaduto. E' scritto delicatezza e i personaggi sono ben curati, vogliamo subito bene a Paloma e Renée e ci troviamo d'accordo con la loro v...more

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Mar 19, 2009

Ryan Mishap rated it

Shelves: favorite-novels

I haven't read such a wonderful novel since The History of Love a few years ago. This novel is stellar in nearly every way.

Renee Michel is the fifty four year old concierge of an upscale hotel. An autodidact, extremely intelligent, she has lived her life conforming, outwardly, to the stereotype of her profession and station. In her disdain for the rich and privileged, she is trapped by her fear of being noticed as someone other than she appears to be.

In Mad...more I haven't read such a wonderful novel since The History of Love a few years ago. This novel is stellar in nearly every way.

Renee Michel is the fifty four year old concierge of an upscale hotel. An autodidact, extremely intelligent, she has lived her life conforming, outwardly, to the stereotype of her profession and station. In her disdain for the rich and privileged, she is trapped by her fear of being noticed as someone other than she appears to be.

In Madame Michel's hotel, there lives a fiercly intelligent girl of twelve, Paloma. Having surveyed the world and the people in it, she has decided to end her life on her thirteenth birthday because there is nothing worth living for. She will burn down the hotel before she commits suicide. As she waits for her birthday she keeps two seperate journals: one for Prfound Thoughts and the other for the appreciation of movement.

We know these two will converge, but not how, and their alternating narration is beautiful, funny, sad, tragic, and much, much more. Really, just read this novel.

Some quotes:

Renee Michel: To be poor, ugly and, moreover, intelligent, condemns one, in our society, to a dark and disillusioned life, a condition one ought to accept at an early age. To beauty, all is forgiven, even vulgarity. Intelligence no longer seems an adeguate compensation for things--some sort of balancing scales offered by nature to those less favored among her children--no, it is a superfluous plaything that exists only to enhance the value of the jewel. As for ugliness, it is guilty from the start....

Paloma: Because truly nasty people hate everyone, to be sure, but most of all themselves. Can't you tell when a p[erson hates himself? He becomes a living cadaver, it numbs all his negative emotions but also all the good ones so that he won't feel nauseated by who he is.

Paloma, on a neighbor: ...he's so conservative that he won't say hello to divorced people.

Renee: Poverty is a reaper: it harvests everythinginside us that mighthave made us capable of social intercourse with others, and leaves us empty, purged of feeling, so that we may endure the darkness of the present day.(less)

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Jan 02, 2009

Hannah Messler rated it

· review of another edition

(Je suis plein de la merde--aucune manière je parle français ! Mais there' ; s aucune image pour la version anglaise ainsi que j'ai pensé à me hé, diable.)

(The above, thanks to Babel Fish, says something like: I can't speak French! But there is no image for the English edition of this book.) (But now there IS an image for the English edition, but anyway whatever, JEEZ.)

O my my my! What a gratifying little book! The author's giant brilliant French philosophy professor ...more

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Mar 19, 2009

Lisa Vegan rated it

Recommends it for: those who enjoy getting to know interesting fictional characters

Shelves: fiction, reviewed

Some asides before the review: Ugh. One of my pet peeves is when books don’t start on page 1 and I think that this book starts farther ahead of page 1 than any book I’ve ever read. Enough said about that. Also, in this edition there are some mistakes: fourth and sixth floor residents get mixed up two times, the age difference/direction of the sisters was given incorrectly in one instance, I think. I tried, mostly successfully, not to be too OCD like Colombe, Paloma’s sister, as I am normally bot...moreSome asides before the review: Ugh. One of my pet peeves is when books don’t start on page 1 and I think that this book starts farther ahead of page 1 than any book I’ve ever read. Enough said about that. Also, in this edition there are some mistakes: fourth and sixth floor residents get mixed up two times, the age difference/direction of the sisters was given incorrectly in one instance, I think. I tried, mostly successfully, not to be too OCD like Colombe, Paloma’s sister, as I am normally bothered by these kinds of errors, but it was so easy to immerse myself in the lives of the characters in this case.

This book has very short chapters that make it easy to read just one more, then just one more, and yet one more, and so on. I wish I’d had the time to read the whole thing without putting the book down.

I thought it was pretentious, self-conscious, too smarty pants clever and possibly somewhat contrived. I felt blindsided at one important juncture. Some things occasionally rang slightly false. Maybe the whole story wrapped up too neatly. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it anyway, but I can’t give it 5 stars for the reasons just stated.

This is a book about our ability or inability to change. It’s also about being different. It’s also about the unexpected. It’s also about intimacy and connection with others vs. hiding one’s true self from others. It’s fascinating to read, and often amusing, sometimes sad. I think there are some flashes of brilliance.

This book really reminded me of the joy of reading, the simple pleasure of getting to know fictional characters. I loved these characters and enjoyed spending time with them. Paloma (I’ve always enjoyed twelve year old girl characters in literature, ever since I was younger than 12 and was introduced to Madeleine L’Engle’s characters Meg and Vicki!) and Renée are so perspicacious and Paloma is so funny, one of the most amusing suicidal characters I’ve had the pleasure to read about, even though I questioned the authenticity of her plans, at least throughout much of the book. They are two highly intelligent misfits who are so much more appealing than most of those conventional people surrounding them. Kakuro Ozu is such a wonderful character as well; he was so easy to fall in love with and appreciate. Manuela, the other various building residents, and some other characters are of some interest as well. It took a while to really understand why Renée and Paloma have chosen to present facades. The reader gets to see more of their real selves throughout the book and they’re delightful.

Paloma and Renée are each interested in different facets of Japanese culture and that culture, and also philosophy, Russian literature, fine art, and music all play parts in this book, as do class and caste and French sensibilities, and human nature. I loved so many parts, and particularly loved the scene with Paloma and her mother’s therapist, and I found most of Paloma’s and Renée’s musings were wondrous and often hilarious.

I think whether readers like this book or not will have to do with how much tolerance they have for philosophizing (I have a lot) and how much they like/identify with the two narrating characters, the 12 year old wealthy girl considering suicide: Paloma, and the 54 year old residential building concierge: Renée. (I enjoyed their voices.)

P.S. Edits:

I am really wanting sliding doors, tea & pastries with friends.

One of the review blurbs in the front of the book says a Parisian psychotherapist is prescribing this book for her patients. Hmm. I think it would depend on the person whether this book is experienced as life affirming or devastating or something else; I wouldn't prescribe it to everyone. I don't recommend it for everyone, but I'd recommend that readers who find it intriguing definitely read it.(less)

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Feb 07, 2009

Elevenser rated it

What a wonderful book. While reading, when I wasn't bobbing my head in agreement with the philosophical insights, I found myself consulting a dictionary to learn a new word or idea, or pausing to absorb and consider what I'd just read. I'll go through it again soon because I'm sure there's so much I've missed. The pages I'd like to reconsider are already marked and my next reading will probably be carried out with a highlighter. This is on my list of "best books read". Thought-pro...more

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Apr 14, 2011

Bruce rated it

Recommends it for: no one

Shelves: fiction

I was very disappointed, to say the least, in this well-reviewed and very popular novel from France. Yes, it's about Beauty, and Art, and the Meaning of Life (all worthy subjects, certainly: the best sort) but I can do without the upper case, in-your-face insistence on these "big" topics. I prefer stories with more subtlety and less self-consciousness. The details of the every day lives of the concierge and her rich employers are mildly amusing, but mostly I found the book boring, whic...more

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Sep 05, 2010

Caris rated it

Shelves: 2010

I've only read one other piece of philosophy that attempted to parade itself as fiction. The Story of B. by Daniel Quinn, I felt, was a huge failure. By planting it in the fiction section, those who might have found use of it were denied. Of course, perhaps that's for the best. The book wasn't written well and left me feeling frustrated. It is no wonder that Ishmael, the “novel” preceding it, encouraged one crazy asshole to take a number of hostages at the Discover Channel headquarters, where he...more

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Dec 18, 2009

Annalisa rated it

Recommended to Annalisa by: Lori

Shelves: book-club, literary

Everyone knows someone that is so negative and condescending and bitter that it makes you feel insecure and angry too. Now imagine being in the head of two of these people whose only distinction is age (which I didn't find plausible) wandering around their thoughts where much philosophizing and not much plot progression is going on. Yes it was beautiful in a literary sense and some of those wanderings were very thought provoking (I wish I had marked it for good quotes), but I didn't want to beli...moreEveryone knows someone that is so negative and condescending and bitter that it makes you feel insecure and angry too. Now imagine being in the head of two of these people whose only distinction is age (which I didn't find plausible) wandering around their thoughts where much philosophizing and not much plot progression is going on. Yes it was beautiful in a literary sense and some of those wanderings were very thought provoking (I wish I had marked it for good quotes), but I didn't want to believe this book was anything more than Barbery's alter ego dumping her own prejudices and theories into a pointless novel. Plus, if you're going to mock the misplacement of a comma for pages on end, don't use commas to stretch out run-ons throughout your novel. That's just me letting that bitter mockery get to me and turning it back on the author. I can't say that the book was delightful and fun to read, or at least not most of the time.

But sometimes an ending can save a book (no real spoilers here). It's not so much that the characters were pitiful and not so much hateful of others as much as hateful of themselves and I therefore couldn't hate them, although that helped (even if I couldn't quite see their bitterness as beautiful like the author wanted me to). And it's not so much that it had that depressing French ending that was beautiful and hopeful, although that helped too. It's that I realized that the main lesson in the book is about seeing beyond yourself. So many people go through life so wrapped up in themselves that they don't actually see anyone else. I like to watch people in the grocery store, at the bank, places where people are distracted and see the difference between those that see people and those that don't. People that see others are happy and helpful. People who don't are unhappy and mean. It's a concept I'm rather obsessed with and to see this invisible vs visible, blind vs observant concept so thoroughly portrayed made me almost gasp when I realized that that was the point of these insufferable characters.

So I guess the book wasn't mean and superior after all. It was sad and beautiful and had a great lesson. So start seeing people.(less)

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Feb 14, 2009

Stephanie rated it

One French word explains this book: "une deception". "Deception" means disappointment, but in this case, the word also applies to its "faux amis" (false friends) translation: deception.

After all the fuss I've read about this book, I expected something nearly transcendent. But instead "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" is predictable, overly politically correct and quite pretentious. Ironically, the main characters all disdain the snobbism of the ri...moreOne French word explains this book: "une deception". "Deception" means disappointment, but in this case, the word also applies to its "faux amis" (false friends) translation: deception.

After all the fuss I've read about this book, I expected something nearly transcendent. But instead "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" is predictable, overly politically correct and quite pretentious. Ironically, the main characters all disdain the snobbism of the rich, yet at the same practice snobbism themselves. Somehow knowledge of philosophy, arty Japanese movies and obscure outdated phrenology texts is better than the dinner parties, shopping sprees and shrink sessions that the Parisian elite enjoy.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog follows the missives of two women from two very different backgrounds: A frumpy high school drop out Parisian concierge who also happens to be more well read than the entire Academie Francaise (and can quote the rapper Eminen to boot!). She's the Hedgehog of the book with one goal in mind: to keep her intelligence hidden from her one friend (a Portuguese housekeeper with a heart of gold, wouldn't you know) and from the rich tenants in the Parisian building where she lives and works. Paloma is the other main character and enjoys the life of privilege. She lives with her family in a rather large apartment in the building, one of the many benefits of being the daughter of a former high-up French governmental official. Paloma is twelve and has angst - she plans on committing suicide and setting the building on fire. The Hedgehog (Renee)and Paloma go about their business, with loftly thoughts and deep insights. Mainly, they just think they are better than anyone in the building.

What really comes across is a pretentious spewing of everything that the author knows about: tea ceremony, philosophy, Freudian analysis, baking, Japanese movies and culture, classical music (with a twinge of rap for good measure), Japanese toilets, Art (with a big capital "A"), pastries, cats and on and on. Ugh. If I wanted all of this, I would have become a reclusive concierge in Paris myself.

Renee's and Paloma's worlds are turned upside down by the arrival of an older, rich (and perfect and egalitarian) Japanese gentleman who sees them for whom they really are and brings them out of their shells. The rest is as predictable as a Harlequin Romance, complete with the acceptance of traumatic childhood remembrances that free the soul to love again. But remember, this being a French book, the ending cannot be all that "joyeause". Yet, even the tragic last few chapters are cloyingly sentimental. Enough! Let me eat my expensive madeleines in peace. They are worth it. This book isn't.

(less)

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Mar 05, 2009

Maureen rated it

Shelves: 09

a very good friend of mine recommended this book to me over the holidays. she'd read it in french, and was thrilled when she found it had been translated to english so the rest of us could enjoy it. i wrote her to tell her how very much i enjoyed this book. i've got tears in my eyes, as i sit here typing this because i was so moved by it. the characters seem very real to me, and i felt as others have, that the more i read, the more i wanted to, as the two narrators renee, the concierge, and palo...morea very good friend of mine recommended this book to me over the holidays. she'd read it in french, and was thrilled when she found it had been translated to english so the rest of us could enjoy it. i wrote her to tell her how very much i enjoyed this book. i've got tears in my eyes, as i sit here typing this because i was so moved by it. the characters seem very real to me, and i felt as others have, that the more i read, the more i wanted to, as the two narrators renee, the concierge, and paloma the little rich girl that lives in the building renee services spun out a story that i understood very well. the life of renee resonated very much with me, though the reason that i'm only giving this book four stars is that while i loved her character, sometimes i felt the philosophical discussions that were part of her narrative to be a little boring. paloma on the other hand irked me a little at first but eventually i couldn't resist her, since she is part of me too. it seems like this is a book that either one loves or one hates, and i am one of the lovers. and of course, there is manuela, the portuguese cleaning lady -- i suspect parts of my personality reside with her too. :)
there are lots of overt intertextualities here, which might make the book a bit of a challenge for people unfamiliar with japanese culture, tolstoy, and french culture feel a little out of their element but i think the author does a good enough job to provide with enough context to get through.

one of many passages i liked:

"Kakuro was talking about the Russian campaign, and all the swaying, rustling birch trees, and I felt so light, so light...

After I'd had a chance to think about it for a while I began to understand why I felt this sudden joy when Kakuro was talking about the birch trees. I get the same feeling when anyone talks about trees, any trees: the linden tree in the farmyard, the oak tree behind the old bar, the stately elms that have all disappeared now, the pine trees along wind-swept coasts, etc. There's so much humanity in a love of trees, so much nostalgia for our first sense of wonder, so much power in just feeling our own insignificance when we are surrounded by nature... yes that's it: just thinking about trees and their indifferent majesty and our love for them teaches us how ridiculous we are-- vile parasites squirming on the surface of the earth-- and at the same time how deserving of life we can be, when we can honour this beauty that owes us nothing."(less)

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May 20, 2008

Annabel rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: humans

Shelves: 2008

I was bawling by the time I was finished. It's not often that I find myself so wholly invested in an author's characters--a testament to the vision and acuity of Barbery, who has a splendid wit and a profound love of the world (dare I call it humanism?) that do not ring false.

What a lovely, lovely read.

[Note: There is more than a fair amount of fetishizing of Japanese culture (how typical), but Barbery more than makes up for it with her commitment to her characters.]
...more

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Oct 27, 2008

Writerlibrarian rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: october_pile, read2008

This is the kind of novel that you either love or find completely irritating. I loved it. I loved the whole class portrait of the rich French upper class. Renée is a "concierge" for this upper class building with 6 or 8 appartments. She hides her culture, her intelligence, her thirst for knowledge behind her door, her television. She gives the tennants what they want, what they need to see in order for their lives to go on. Paloma is the 12 years old girl that is too intelligent, too ...more

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May 28, 2011

Nano rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: stinkers

Personally, I believe that literary death happens when you cannot empathise with any of the actions, motives, and drives of the main characters in a book. And this book had two of them. I have no time for snobbish pretensions, whether its rich people looking down on the poor, or pennyless intellectuals belittling their less gifted rich neighbours. The characters were appalling, whiny and belching out monotonous monologues on why their lives sucked. The plot was extremely thin and one-dimensional...more

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About Muriel Barbery

Muriel Barbery is a French novelist and professor of philosophy. Barbery entered the École Normale Supérieure de Fontenay-Saint-Cloud in 1990 and obtained her agrégation in philosophy in 1993. She then taught philosophy at the Université de Bourgogne, in a lycée, and at the Saint-Lô IUFM.
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