Erin's Book #8: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

I just sat here for several minutes, staring at the cover of this book, wondering what to say about it. Elegance is not an easy book. Not easy to read and not particularly easy to write about.

It follows Renee, a fifty something widowed concierge in an extremely upscale Parisian apartment building and 12-year-old Paloma, a brilliant but miserable wealthy tenant. Worlds apart in terms of class, the two have one thing in common - both are hiding themselves. Renee, secretly extremely intelligent and cultured, plays the part of the dumb, unenlightened concierge to a tee. Paloma is exceptionally intelligent and looks down at everyone who is not as smart as her, but thinks they know everything (which, sadly, is everyone she knows). So Paloma has decided to end her life on her 13th birthday. Until then, she spends her time writing in her journals, tracking either her profound thoughts (some of which are genuinely profound) or observing the movement of people, bodies, or things, and "to finding whatever is beautiful enough to give life meaning."

If you were to write down every single plot point that happens in this book, it wouldn't fill up a single 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. The first 2/3 or so of this book are about ideas. It's essentially a philosophy book at times and I read it to myself (in my head) in a snooty French accent, which seemed required. Eventually though, with the arrival of the first new tenant in decades, things begin to happen. Lessons are learned. Worldviews are changed.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I didn't struggle through it quite as much as Blythe did, perhaps because I'd read her review and knew that something as bound to happen soon, though there were certainly times where I felt I wasn't smart enough to be reading it. I won't say why, but this book really upset me, which I think is largely why I have mixed feelings. I had Barbery's Gourmet Rhapsody on my list, but I'm not quite sure if I want to read it yet. There are some really beautiful ideas expressed here and I'll be curious to see what stays with me in a few weeks. It's not a book to quickly forget.