false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1240508801m/2967752.jpg 2967752 30 <B>The enthralling international bestseller.</B><BR><BR> 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, philosophy, music, and Japanese culture. With humor and intelligence she scrutinizes the lives of the building’s tenants, who for their part are barely aware of her existence. <BR><BR> Then there’s Paloma, a twelve-year-old genius. She is the daughter of a tedious parliamentarian, a talented and startlingly lucid child who has decided to end her life on the sixteenth of June, her thirteenth birthday. Until then she will continue behaving as everyone expects her to behave: a mediocre pre-teen high on adolescent subculture, a good but not an outstanding student, an obedient if obstinate daughter. <BR><BR> Paloma and Renée hide both their true talents and their finest qualities from a world they suspect cannot or will not appreciate them. They discover their kindred souls when a wealthy Japanese man named Ozu arrives in the building. Only he is able to gain Paloma’s trust and to see through Renée’s timeworn disguise to the secret that haunts her. This is a moving, funny, triumphant novel that exalts the quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us. <BR><BR> 1531887 book 2006 L'´Elégance Du Hérisson total:5590|5:1632|4:2083|3:1173|2:466|1:236| 5590 21179 11399 2018 2 71 false false Thu Mar 19 09:10:52 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 21 15:32:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 9 false false Thu Dec 11 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 00:53:30 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 12 01:03:30 -0800 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 ...more...]]> 1 15 false false Wed Oct 22 17:34:25 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 22 18:37:58 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 16 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 04 00:51:15 -0800 2007 Sun Mar 23 10:12:01 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 8 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon May 26 08:01:09 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 05 02:50:33 -0700 2008 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...more...]]> 4 15 false false Thu Mar 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 27 22:49:21 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 19 22:55:41 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 14 false false Fri Feb 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Dec 19 13:38:14 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 07 18:07:40 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1 10 false false Tue Jun 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 16:43:20 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 17:40:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 7 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 21:35:27 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 22:29:57 -0800 2009
After all the fuss I've read about this book, I expected something nearly...more...]]> 5 12 false false Thu Sep 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 22 14:21:51 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 25 14:53:40 -0700 2008 1 The Elegance of the Hedgehog is about two very intelligent individuals, one a fifty-four-year-old concierge, the other a twelve-year-old girl, who hide their intellectual gifts in an effort to conform to what society expects from them. Both go relatively unnoticed by the rest of the inhabitants of ...more...]]> 5 8 false false Thu Mar 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 05 23:25:57 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 27 06:30:10 -0700 2009 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 fair...more...]]> 4 3 false false Mon May 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 30 08:12:14 -0700 2008 Mon May 18 22:28:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 5 false false Tue Sep 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 18:42:26 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 23 09:32:53 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 5 false false Sun Feb 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Dec 27 12:15:26 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 15 16:29:40 -0800 2009
A portrayal of damages souls who heal each other and triumph. And it contains one of the best recommendations of how best to live life: 'Look for moments o...more...]]> 5 3 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Dec 31 09:21:23 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 02 18:23:53 -0800 2009
(The above, thanks to Babel Fish, says something like: I can't speak French! But there is no image for the English edition of t...more...]]> 4 7 false false Tue Dec 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Oct 14 20:18:37 -0700 2008 Wed Dec 24 08:38:41 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Thu Sep 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 06:24:04 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 03:06:05 -0700 2009 The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery



I loved this social satire and the "critique" of modern French manners and society through the three main characters.

Take one disenchanted 12-year-old child, smart but cynical for her age, add an equally cynical but li...more...]]> 5 4 false false Fri Dec 19 19:41:34 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 19:41:34 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 5 false false Sat May 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Nov 29 12:16:33 -0800 2008 Fri May 15 22:22:37 -0700 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 ...more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue May 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 30 12:35:23 -0700 2008 Tue May 20 19:33:21 -0700 2008
What a lov...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2967752