The Elegance of the Hedgehog
There are gifts that go on giving. Often they are intangible, as was the case last year when my friend and neighbor, Marie, began raving about the book she was reading, L’Elégance du Hérisson (The Elegance of the Hedgehog) by Muriel Barbery. I read it and, in turn, began to praise it to friends in the States, lamenting that it would probably take a couple of years (if ever) before it was translated into English and released there. Well, the good news is that it is now available.
The story has two narrators. Renée is the concierge of a small, exclusive building in the 7th arrondissement. Paloma, 12-1/2 years old and highly precocious, is the younger daughter of two of the co-owners. Each one has a secret.
Renée shuffles around in her slippers, performing her duties and avoiding, whenever possible, much interaction with the co-owners. (Barbery’s descriptions of the building’s inhabitants are right on target.) Then she retires to the back of her apartment, where she sips Japanese tea and nibbles on delicate pastries, reading Tolstoy and Marx while listening to Mozart and Purcell. Her secret life is one of exquisite refinement, and she learned long ago not to draw attention to herself in order to be left alone.
Paloma is acutely observant, and she records her observations in her journal. She regards her family and those around her with the cynicism proper to a pre-adolescent and the detachment of one who is not yet quite part of the action. Faced with what she regards as the futility of existence, she plans to kill herself on her 13th birthday.
Alternate chapters are narrated by Renée and Paloma. The story takes off when the two begin to form a friendship, and with the introduction of the new neighbor, a Japanese gentleman name Kakuro Ozu. Ozu is clearly perceptive and soon realizes that neither is what she seems.
This is a book to read and reread. The story moves quickly, and one will read it quickly to see what unfolds, but there are many layers.
L’Elégance du Hérisson enjoyed a huge success last year in France. At the beginning of the book is this comment:
Hedgehog or Prozac? At first, the question may seem absurd. But it becomes less so when one learns that a Parisian psychotherapist is prescribing Muriel Barberry’s best-selling novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog to her patients. “Yes, I am prescribing it, and I do mean prescribing. This book can do a lot of good . . . [it's] a real toolbox ththat one can look into to resolve one’s problems.” . . . And, indeed, all women, at least once, even Carla Bruni, have lived through the kind of psychological self-denigration that Renée inflicts on herself in the opening scene of the book. The ultimate celebration of every person’s invisible part (Renée smells of cabbage soup but reads Husserl) constitutes one of the book’s operative factors. — L’Express (France)
Follow the doctor’s orders. Buy the book. You will laugh and cry and learn, and you will not regret it.
Bonne lecture (Good reading)!
Jan del Monte, blogging from the rue du Cherche-Midi, Paris, France
© 2008 Jan del Monte
∞
It is much less expensive to buy this book in the States ($15) than go to a single therapeutic 50-minute “hour” here, the going rate being $175 in Washington, D.C., an area inundated with therapists. And not only is reading the book a more enjoyable experience, it is also more informative and thought-provoking than most therapeutic hours. The book is wonderfully written with, as stated above, many layers, a tome to be read and reread many times. Plus, the English version is a joy to own, with excellent printing and typefaces and beautiful rag-like paper, much like good hardbound volumes of years past. It would make the perfect gift, either the French or new English translation, for anyone who loves beautifully written books.
Wonderful comment, anniemousette, and a great suggestion. With Christmas and Chanukah approaching, this would make a wonderful gift, not forgetting oneself, of course. The recipients will thank you.
thanks,
jan.
I’ll order it
All I could find was the paperback, so I called Powell’s book in Or. They are ordering the hardbound for me $30 inc. postage.
Thanks, Jan
[...] it. Anne Hawk found it simply charming. Jan del Monte, blogging from Paris, says it’s a book to read and reread. Jing-reed calls it erudite, humorous, and tragic by turns. Harkinna loved it. Monica Carter [...]
The Hieroglyphic Streets said this on January 2, 2009 at 6:36 am |