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The Elegance of the Hedgehog |  | Author: Muriel Barbery
Creator: Alison Anderson
Publisher: Europa Editions
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $6.49
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Seller: Project World Book Drive
Rating:  283 reviews
Sales Rank: 74
Media: Paperback
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 1933372605
Dewey Decimal Number: 843.92
EAN: 9781933372600
ASIN: 1933372605
Publication Date: September 2, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | ISBN13: 9781933372600 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Product Description
The enthralling international bestseller.
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 buildings tenants, who for their part are barely aware of her existence.
Then theres 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.
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 Palomas trust and to see through Renées 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.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 283
 Everything A Great Story Should Be March 12, 2010
Elisabeth S. Wang (Atlanta, GA)
Smart is the best word I can come up with to describe Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog - however, funny and insightful aren't too far behind. And, I'm realizing I don't have an intro for this review that does this book justice, so here it is.
Set in present day Paris, The Elegance of the Hedgehog is about two females - one pre-teen and another middle-aged - who are both trying very hard to appear on the outside what on the inside they are not.
Paloma, a precocious 12 year-old, lives in an upscale Parisian apartment building with her socialist-diplomat father, psychoanalysis-addicted mother, and dim-witted bohemian sister. She has figured out that life as an adult is not worth living, that all teenagers want is to get to adulthood, and therefore, she plans to commit suicide on her 13th birthday. In addition, she feels being an intellectual is overrated, so she tries very hard not to appear as smart as she is so as to not elevate expectations.
Renee, the middle-aged concierge for the apartment building is also keenly aware of expectations. For example, as a concierge, her tenets do not expect her to read Tolstoy or appreciate Dutch Renaissance art, and so she also does her best to appear to be as common as her neighbors think she is.
Alternating between these two narrators, this novel is - in part - a satire of the wealthy bourgeoisie who toss around unintelligible phrases at dinner and murder the King's English (oops, this is Paris) in notes to one another. In addition, it is a coming-of-age story - that is much more complex than a girl deciding not to kill herself. Paloma and Renee's lives intersect when a wealthy Japanese man moves in and very quickly recognizes what the two have been hiding.
The reviews of this book have been astounding. In fact, I read where one person said they didn't want to read it because they hadn't heard anyone say anything bad about it. So what could make a book so great? On the surface, the story deals with friendship, class and status, and while the themes are universal, I don't think they are enough to earn such widespread favor.
As I was reading, I was trying to figure out what is so appealing about this book, and I think I know at least in part: I think that most people (women at least) believe that they are smarter than the world sees them to be. And so, somewhere in Paloma's and Renee's attempt to hide themselves, readers relate to the constant inner-dialogue commentary that reveals an untapped potential.
One disclaimer, it will have you reaching for your dictionary over and over and over. I can't remember when I read a book that contained so many words I didn't know. My mom and I were talking about this last night and wondering if this was due to its being a translation from French - perhaps the translator was being very particular to make sure every connotation was correct.
And, I'll echo other reviews I've read - the first 100 pages are not as enticing as the book is made out to be, but stick with it. It is well worth the read.
P.S. In reading over my review, I'm struck by the irony of my relating to the wit of the characters while continually being reminded through the language that my vocabulary isn't as polished as I thought. Hmmm...wonder if this is intentional?
 Run screaming from this book! March 8, 2010
rhmanatee (Daytona Beach, FL United States)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
And when you scream, use poor grammar and put your commas in the wrong places. This book was the worst I have read in recent memory. The characters are so pretentious and boring it was nearly unbearable. I finished the book, but it was a painful chore. Some reviews here claim the book redeems itself in the last part, but it certainly does not. Something I was hoping for happens, but even this longed-for event is tedious and dull. Using a lot of archaic words does not make you superior; it makes you a draggy, irritating, pretentious, bore! Language is for the communication of thoughts, information, and ideas, but all this author and her awful characters use it for it to stroke their poor misshapen egos. I know other reviewers have already covered this territory -- just adding my voice to the chorus.
 Save for a smattering of humor here and there... March 7, 2010
Roxy (Twin Falls, ID)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
...this is not all that it's being touted to be. Rene is just not likable. Period. She is so sour and dowdy and aptly, hedgehog--ish that I could barely stand her! As far as the 12 year old she links up with, I see no real distinguishable lines between the two characters. Both of them have the same "voice", which is a sign of a mediocre, half-baked writer.
I am all for humor. I was really expecting this read to deliver-but there were only a few instances where I actually laughed--I only wish the author here could keep it all going. She could not. So why all the favorable reviews?
I just don't get this one. It's also a predicable story. All in all, this was just not captivating enough for me to invest my precious reading time.
Give me something like the charming THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER or the hilarious (and totally under-looked), SIM0N LAZARUS any day over this dullard read.
If you enjoy sentences 85 words long March 5, 2010
C. Grant (St. Charles, IL United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There is true beauty in this novel but the author really makes you work for it. I'd read a chapter (usually 2-5 pages) and have to think about what was just said. Not because the prose was difficult but because each sentence contained TOO many topics, too many tangents. For much of the book, not much is happening except the thoughts of the two main characters. I felt that they were living their thoughts, not their lives. I've come to believe that is the point of this novel. Living inside your head.
For me, beauty, true beauty, needs very few words. The author seemed to want to impress us with being oh so intelligent and that became annoying. I'm glad I finished the book but if it wasn't our book club selection for the month, I probably would have put it down. It is a book I will remember and proud that I got through it.
What a wonderful book! March 2, 2010
Chris Jones (VA USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I simply loved this book. It was beautifully written and really pulled me into the world of the the two main characters. The story is told by swapping between the lives of a young girl and the concierge at a appartment block. Both of them are different from the people that surround them and both of them to choose to hide within themselves, away from the world so the world could not hurt them. The book slowly draws them out as they choose to come out of hiding.
This book however was not just about a story, it was really the language that made it so wonderful. The magnificient turn of phrase, the musings and wonderings about the world. Simply lovely. A book that will stand the test of time for a long, long time.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 283
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