I must be an autodidact like Renee. While reading this novel, I enjoyed looking up any word or concept I didn't understand. I learned so much about philosophy and language by reading Renee's thoughts. Like Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, Hedgehog is an internal dialog (or monolog) and it must be wordy. How else could Renee or Paloma express their interior reality and the importance of small moments?