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Elegance Of The Hedgehog (Paperback)

by Muriel Barbery (Author)

4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Europa Editions (Sep 16 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1933372605
ISBN-13: 978-1933372600
Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 13.2 x 2.3 cm
Shipping Weight: 409 g

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #186 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category:
#17 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

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Product Description

Book Description

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. 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.

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.

About the Author

Muriel Barbery was born in 1969 in Casablanca. She studied philosophy at the Ecole Normale Supérieure and worked for many years as a philosophy teacher in France. Her New York Times bestselling novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Europa Editions 2008) has been published in over twenty languages. Barbery now lives in Japan and is working on a third novel.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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4.2 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartrending yet marvellous, Oct 27 2008

By	I LOVE BOOKS (Italy) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

"The Elegance of the Hedgehog" transcends excellence. It is one of those rare books with a special inner quality that makes you ponder over life in a way only very few others can. After turning the last page, I was left staring into space, feeling bereft. I wished there was more to read, yet its ending befitted the whole tale. I now understand why it received so many wonderful reviews in France recently and why it became such a literary success. It fully deserves it.

Just a brief summary, as described by both main characters -Ren�e and Paloma - introducing themselves in the beginning of the book, which is written in a diary form by each.
Paris, present day. Ren�e is the widowed concierge of an elegant building in an exclusive area. Its inhabitants all belong to the upper class. She is, by her own admission, dowdy, unattractive, often grumpy and wants everybody to believe that she is the stereotype of all concierges, blending into the background, almost featureless. But Ren�e has a well-kept secret: she is an extremely cultured autodidact. She loves art, philosophy, literature, music. Aestheticism and beauty in all of its forms fascinate her. Ren�e keeps concealing this aspect of her life to the outside world, hiding behind the concierge's screen -literal and metaphorical-.
Paloma is a twelve-year-old who lives in the building with her rich family. She is distractedly well-loved by her parents and does not get along with her older sister. Paloma is an extremely bright, clear-headed, lucid child. She is so lucid it is uncomfortable -yet to the reader she also conveys tenderness, and her wittiness is remarkable- . She pretends to be the average adolescent, yet despises what she considers the subculture of her peers and does not see any sense in continuing living. Her view of life is very disillusioned, disenchanted, sardonic. She decides to commit suicide on her 13th birthday.

Ren�e and Paloma could not be more different, yet their way of looking at life is often very similar. Their paths never cross, if not by sight, until the day a new tenant moves into the building and...
I cannot add anything else, the tale would definitely be spoiled.

In my opinion, this book is not your typical beach-read, it deserves to be savoured slowly and quietly if possible. Yet it is a page-turner and I myself have devoured it. Often heartbreaking, yet unbelievably funny in parts. Real humour pops up unexpectedly, which renders the reading even more pleasant and lightens some heart-knotting situations. The narrative flows beautifully and is linguistically refined.

Ladies and Gentlemen, get your tissues ready if you must, but do read this book. It shall touch you profoundly yet you will not regret having read it.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, moving, Jul 11 2009

By	N. Parker (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I picked this book up in the Eurostar station in London. I didn't expect much, although the store owner advised that it was quite a brilliant read. I loved it. The author can elicit emotion and covers some thought-provoking subject matter. Definitely worth the read and a great book club selection. I am buying 3 more copies to send my girlfriends around the world, with whom I have an emotional connection.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mrs. Q: Book Addict : Visit my blog for newest reviews., Oct 28 2009

By	Bookaddict "Book Lover, avid reader: http://w... (Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

In short, this book is a must read. When I first started the book, I thought it was a very odd book. Once I started reading it, I thought it was hilarious. My favourite entry would be Journal of the Movement of the World No. 2.

I really enjoyed the character Mmd. Michel and Paloma. It was very interesting to see their views on the world. They both seem to believe that everyone and everything has a role to play in life, and there is no way around it. Mmd. Michel believes she is the concierge of the building and nothing more. She doesnt even think of herself as a neighbour. She hides her intelligence because as a concierge she must fit into her stereotype and the overall hierarchy. Paloma is afraid to become an adult and plans to commit suicide before her 13th birthday. It seems that Paloma believes adults are tarnished. Her mother has been in therapy for ten years, and she clearly has issues with her father and sister. Paloma begins to drink tea rather than coffee because coffee is a nasty persons drink. Paloma views tea as elegant and enchanting.

When Mr. Ozu comes to live in their building, Mmd. Michel is no longer able to hide. He has a suspicion that she is not merely a concierge, he believes her cat is named after Tolstoy and he begins to observe her. Eventually, Mmd. Michel gives in to her convictions. She comes out of her shell, and befriends Mr. Ozu. I believe her change brings out hope in Paloma, and ultimately saves her.

This book is a must read, its entertaining and really makes you think.

[...]

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4.0 out of 5 stars The Elegance of the Hedgehog
"The Elegance of the Hedgehog" takes place in an elegant apartment building in Paris that contains an intelligent concierge who takes great care to hide her intellect from the... Read more

Published 11 days ago by Pauline