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The Elegance of the Hedgehog

By Muriel Barbery, Alison Anderson (Translator)

(151)

| Paperback | 9781933372600

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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, unContinue

Critics

Book Review: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Gallic Books, $32.99 Shrink The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. Photo / Supplied First published four years ago and since described as "the publishing phenomenon of the decade", this odd cur ... (read full critics)

nzherald published on Fri, 1 Oct 2010

Confessions of a clever concierge

Le Figaro has described this book as 'the publishing phenomenon of the decade'. Elsewhere, there were comparisons to Proust. It sold more than a million copies in France last year and has won numerous awards. Does it match up to the hype? Almost. It ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Fri, 24 Sep 2010

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9 Reviews

3 people find this helpful

Quite a disappointment for me. The structure of the novel is quite unique as it is composed of the narratives of two protagonists - Renee and Paloma. Renee is a widowed concierge of a luxurious apartment building in Paris in her fifties, while Paloma is a 12-year old precocious child who lives in ... (continue)

Quite a disappointment for me. The structure of the novel is quite unique as it is composed of the narratives of two protagonists - Renee and Paloma. Renee is a widowed concierge of a luxurious apartment building in Paris in her fifties, while Paloma is a 12-year old precocious child who lives in the building.
The title of the book is exactly the way Paloma describes Renee. Renee reads a lot, loves art and movies, knows everything, but is content with her concierge life. She has the elegance of the hedgehog.
Nonetheless, I cannot understand what's so special about a person working in a blue-collar, low-pay profession and yet having knowledge and good tastes. But that's the premise on which the whole story is based and I cannot help asking: What is all the fuss about?

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Tracy W said on Mar 13, 2010 | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

I loved Kakuro's tenderness -this is the only reason why I give it 3 stars-.

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momiji1020 said on Aug 21, 2010 | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

A very beautiful story telling about the friendship from Renee, Paloma and Ozu. A book about the serene beauty of Ozu's movie and the wisdom of philosophical contemplation about life.

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Renewang said on Jun 20, 2009 | Add your feedback

Slow Start

A bit too intellectual for my liking. I started to warm towards the book towards the end, but that was a bit strange as well!

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lankylad said on Feb 21, 2012 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

An always within never

Personal statements of Renee and Paloma interact to construct the whole book. I like the part of Renee. However, I think the author should spare more efforts describing the friendship between these two heroines. It was no doubt that they were soul mates. But when their relationship was only shor ... (continue)

Personal statements of Renee and Paloma interact to construct the whole book. I like the part of Renee. However, I think the author should spare more efforts describing the friendship between these two heroines. It was no doubt that they were soul mates. But when their relationship was only short-term, the highlight of the story would not be reasonably revealed. Paloma, of course, was set to be a nice and smart girl. But I don't understand why it was her to listen to Renee's confession.
This would only be an ordinary book to me without the last 30 pages, which deserve a star. I especially like the part of Renee and Kakuro in the front door. How lovely Kakuro was, when he told Renee "It is because they have never seen you. I would recognize you anywhere."

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Alveole Wu said on Oct 24, 2011 | Add your feedback

It is not bad. It is a story told in two voices: a 54 years old working-class woman blessed with good taste for literature, and a 12 years old upper-class girl whose remarkable intelligence has driven her to the ultimate knowledge of the fact that life has no meaning, therefore, she plans to end her ... (continue)

It is not bad. It is a story told in two voices: a 54 years old working-class woman blessed with good taste for literature, and a 12 years old upper-class girl whose remarkable intelligence has driven her to the ultimate knowledge of the fact that life has no meaning, therefore, she plans to end hers on the day of her 13th birthday. However, she thinks that it would be good to leave a footprint behind in order to not totally waste her life. She starts a diary that will hold profound thoughts about the world. This diary is the best part of the book. The older woman also keeps a diary, but it is quite boring and heavy, full of literature and philosophical references. I like the girl's voice better. In the middle of the book a new character makes his entrance: a Japanese film director who falls for the 54-yo widow and develops a close friendship with the girl. Thanks to the bliss of love, things start to turn around for these two women. Unfortunately, the novel works in a tragic and absolute unnecessary that spoils all the effort made before to read it.

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ariadna73 said on Jun 26, 2010 | 1 feedback