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The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Muriel Barbery

Discussion: November/December 2008

Discussion leader: Barb

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November/December 2008

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
By Jenn · 44 posts · 74 views

last updated Jun 20, 2010 10:53AM

The Lace Reader, by Brunonia Barry
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last updated Jun 12, 2010 10:32PM

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What Members Thought

Oct 05, 2009 Kathrina rated it it was ok

Shelves: french, keeping-up-with-the-joneses

Pretentious, wordy, insincere. Paloma, stick to haiku and shut up; you're not enlightening me. Sum up: life sucks, but tea is nice, and some little things.
And then, you die.

OK, a few days had to go by and now I'm ready to come back and give a more thoughtful review. My stars still stay the same, but I first reacted with emotion, and now I've had time to analyze just what I was reacting to.

First, I'm really offended in the concept that art is meant only for "high-class" people. Or, only for real Pretentious, wordy, insincere. Paloma, stick to haiku and shut up; you're not enlightening me. Sum up: life sucks, but tea is nice, and some little things.
And then, you die.

OK, a few days had to go by and now I'm ready to come back and give a more thoughtful review. My stars still stay the same, but I first reacted with emotion, and now I've had time to analyze just what I was reacting to.

First, I'm really offended in the concept that art is meant only for "high-class" people. Or, only for really smart people. Madame Michel classes herself as a lowly peasant, and is ashamed to flaunt the fact that she is intelligent, and also that she enjoys "high art". I think it's a fundamental flaw to equate an appreciation for high art with class. Perhaps high art (this term is straight from the book, meaning an appreciation for literature, painting, classical music) is associated with the higher classes, one, because they are subjects taught in higher education, and two, because only the higher classes have the leisure to pursue them. But here's Madame Michele, who's never attended college, who has a natural tendency to pursue and understand them. That's a bit remarkable, but it also requires that she has the leisure to pursue them. Her "lower class" status doesn't quite convince me, when she has the time and resources to attend museum presentations and read 600 page novels. Pretentious Paloma is characterized as naturally appreciative of high art because of her natural intelligence, and I don't buy it at all. There are no influences in her life pushing her that way,and I can't follow how her disdain for the masses, when there are no individuals showing her a different viewpoint.
Secondly, Madame Michel is convinced not to flaunt her appreciation of art (to me, not the same thing as intelligence) because of the experience of her sister. Her sister gets into a relationship with someone of a higher class, gets pregnant, is abandoned, then dies along with the baby. How does Michel equate choosing a lover and getting dumped (a consequence that happens over and over regardless of class differences) with choosing to read Tolstoy? I just can't believe that art belongs to a particular class -- Tolstoy writes about peasants, after all -- and admitting to friends that you like to read will, in the end, kill you. It's foolish and ridiculous and offensive. I'm wondering how all these people who love this book, who I must assume also love to read, are swallowing this surmise. ...more

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Nov 01, 2010 Michelle rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, around-the-world-in-books, 1001

I was very disappointed with this book - especially the ending. I had a hard time getting into it. The two main characters do an awful lot of opinionizing for the first half of the book. Had I not been listening to the audiobook, I don't think I would have finished it. As I had just finished listening to Eat Pray Love, I was definately in the mood for a story not another book of soap box opinions. As with EPL, I really enjoyed the portions of the book that dealt with the characters interacting w ...more

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Aug 02, 2011 Cyndie rated it it was ok

I like the premise: A middle aged woman hides who she is to maintain cultural security. This safe but lonely existence is about to change with the arrival of a new tenant and the growing maturity of a precocious 12 year old searching for the meaning of life.
I like the narrative device: Two character's voices (Renee the Concierge and Paloma a 12 year old tenant in her building) create the narrative chapter by chapter. Each character has a unique typeface so the shift in perspective is easily disc ...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Kerry rated it liked it

I was liking this book A LOT about half way through until almost the end...the fact that it took so long to get going, and that the end seems somewhat abrupt and contrived to me, make it a 3 star read on my list. I enjoyed the characters and the writing style...got to look up a lot of new words too. It's funny because I've had several people just love this book and just hate that book, and I had both of those views while reading it. ...more

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