The Elegance of the Hedgehog
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4.8 • 8 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The Elegance of the Hedgehog is a novel by the French novelist and philosophy teacher Muriel Barbery. The book follows events in the life of a concierge, Renée Michel, whose deliberately concealed intelligence is uncovered by an unstable but intellectually precocious girl named Paloma Josse. Paloma is the daughter of an upper-class family living in the upscale Parisian apartment building where Renée works.
Featuring a number of erudite characters, The Elegance of the Hedgehog is full of allusions to literary works, music, films, and paintings. It incorporates themes relating to philosophy, class consciousness, and personal conflict. The events and ideas of the novel are presented through the thoughts and reactions, interleaved throughout the novel, of two narrators, Renée and Paloma. The changes of narrator are marked by switches of typeface. In the case of Paloma, the narration takes the form of her written journal entries and other philosophical reflections; Renée's story is also told in the first person but more novelistically and in the present tense.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This heartwarming novel centres on an unlikely friendship. Widow Renée Michel, a concierge at an upper-crust Parisian apartment building, loves philosophy and opera, but she hides her educated brilliance, preferring to go unnoticed. But when a gifted and troubled teenager named Paloma moves in with her family, she sees through Renée’s facade, leading to a bond that will change both of their lives. French author Muriel Barbery alternates between Renée’s POV and Paloma’s journal entries, giving us engaging, entertaining insights into how her two main characters see themselves—and the other people in the building. The Elegance of the Hedgehog serves up literary smarts and heartfelt charm in equal parts.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This dark but redemptive novel, an international bestseller, marks the debut in English of Normandy philosophy professor Barbery. Ren e Michel, 54 and widowed, is the stolid concierge in an elegant Paris h tel particulier. Though "short, ugly, and plump," Ren e has, as she says, "always been poor," but she has a secret: she's a ferocious autodidact who's better versed in literature and the arts than any of the building's snobby residents. Meanwhile, "supersmart" 12-year-old Paloma Josse, who switches off narration with Ren e, lives in the building with her wealthy, liberal family. Having grasped life's futility early on, Paloma plans to commit suicide on her 13th birthday. The arrival of a new tenant, Kakuro Ozu, who befriends both the young pessimist and the concierge alike, sets up their possible transformations. By turns very funny (particularly in Paloma's sections) and heartbreaking, Barbery never allows either of her dour narrators to get too cerebral or too sentimental. Her simple plot and sudden denouement add up to a great deal more than the sum of their parts.
