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 buildingÂ's tenants, who for their part are barely aware of her existence. Then thereÂ'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 PalomaÂ's trust and to see through RenéeÂ'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.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
On Friendship and Complicity:
This is a story about unlikely friends, with nothing in common save their souls. It starts slowly with alternating narratives from its two protagonists and is a bit heavy on philosophy, but these characters will steal your heart. If you read one book this year, let this be it.
Great Novel:
This novel is my all out favourite for 2009. The depth and humanity of the two female protagonists, and the delicacy of the philosophical exploration and growth they experience made me want to read it again, and again. In addition I really like the way Barbery has a really low tolerance for b/s in the Parisian society she examines which would transfer to basically any city worldwide.
some over the top content and ending prevent *****:
"What is the purpose of intelligence but to serve others?" says main character Renee at one point, an interesting credo she does not herself follow. The autodidact concierge keeps her talents hidden on purpose, due to her class origins and an event we eventually discover. She goes through life accomplishing little, while making her smug and superior comments about the elites. Some of those observations are insightful and often entertaining, and others miss their mark, although one can easily understand the... more info
A book for all seasons:
Elegance of a Hedgehog is an imaginative romp, a thoughtful read and a telling insight into the human condition.
