Muriel Barbery: THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG
Most
of the goings-on in this novel take place in a posh building where well-to-do
people live. We’ll learn about the intricacies of these people’s daily lives
through the narrative of Renee and musings of Paloma. Renee, a widow, is the
concierge of the building; she’s in her 50s. She’s an autodidact. She’s “short,
plump, and ugly.” Paloma, a bored 12-year old who has the intellect of a college
student, lives in the building with her family. She decides to kill herself on
her 13th birthday.
The
novel is made interesting by the interesting characters Renee and Paloma have
interaction with, until a tragedy alters their respective fates. There is one
character who, Renee suspects, may be a relative of the late great Japanese
director Yasujiro Ozu. Literature, cinema, and philosophy are made references
to some allegories.
The
novel, also, is a parade of memorable quotes. Some of those I highlighted are
as follows:
“Madame
Michel has the elegance of the hedgehog: on the outside, she’s covered in
quills, a real fortress, but my gut feeling is that on the inside, she has the
same simple refinement as the hedgehog: a deceptively indolent little creature,
fiercely solitary—and terribly elegant.”
“Those
who can, do; those who can’t, teach; those who can’t teach teach the teachers;
and those who can’t teach the teachers go into politics.”
“What
is an aristocrat? A woman who is never sullied by vulgarity, although she may
be surrounded by it.”
“We never look beyond our assumptions and,
what’s worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves.
We don’t recognize each other because other people have become our permanent
mirrors.”Rating: 4.5/5.0
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