The Elegance of the Hedgehog

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marymary
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The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Post by marymary »

The Elegance of the Hedgehog is a novel by the French novelist and philosophy teacher Muriel Barbery. It is my book club book for July and is not one I would have picked myself.

It’s very French, in that it revolves around events in the life of a concierge, Renée Michel, who is a self taught lover of culture who chooses to appear unintelligent and uninvolved in the lives of the rich people who live in the same building.

Alternate chapters are written by an equally hidden intellectual child who intends to commit suicide on her 13th birthday if she can’t find something worth living for.

The book explores the life of the inner voice we all have which is at odds with the world around us. Revealing who we really are and what we really think is both dangerous and exhilarating.

Events in the building make both female characters slip the constraints society has bound them with.

The book says something about how we treat others and wasting the time we have.

The thing I liked most about it was that I had to look up some words to be sure what they meant. The ending is very French.
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Little John
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Re: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Post by Little John »

French words or English? Its good, though, to read something from a different culture - not British or American or Canadian or Irish or Australian or.......well, you see where I'm coming from....
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marymary
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Re: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

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English sadly. Some words are used so infrequently that I am only vaguely aware of their meaning.
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Re: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

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I sometimes learn words then never hear the again for ages and have to look them up again
Yes this is the real "Little John" (or it could be "colin")
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