Introduction: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery deals with class and how some of the more affluent members of society treat others in a lower class as if they are invisible. A sales associate at my favorite bookstore recommended this book because she enjoyed it so much.
Have you read?
The Invisible Man by HG Wells vs. The Whip by Karen Kondazian
What is The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery About?
The two main characters in the book are Renee Michel and Paloma Josse. Renee has been the concierge at an upscale apartment for the wealthy for 27 years – 7, rue de Grenelle. The owners of the apartment in the building have been there for many years, and they are snobs. The interesting thing is that people have perceptions about the traits of a concierge – fat, ugly, lazy, watches a lot of television, owns cats and so on. Because the residents treat Renee like she is invisible, she becomes invisible by downplaying her intelligence and pretending to fit into their stereotypes.
Paloma is on the cusp of becoming a teenager in a few months. She is wise beyond her years, and although Paloma is 12 1/2 years old, her intelligence is that of a senior in college. Paloma also hides her intelligence and is also very despondent with her life, and plans to commit suicide on her 13th birthday on June 16th – she is disillusioned by the selfishness and duplicity of her family and others. Paloma's father is a French, socialist member of Parliament, her mother a socialite and her sister Colombe, who attends college is a snob. Paloma not only hides her intelligence, but she also hides in her apartment, trying to escape from her family.
Paloma and Renee are trying very hard to become invisible in their own ways.
Change finally comes to 7, rue de Grenelle when Pierre Arthens, a food critic, dies from heart failure. Anna Arthens sells the apartment, which isn't the norm in the building. Kakuro Ozu, a wealthy Japanese buys the apartment and completely renovates it, transforming it into something beautiful. The other residents are curious and are dying to see what Ozu has done to his place.
One day Kakuru Ozu and Paloma Josse are trapped in the elevator and the two have a very enlightening conversation. Ozu is curious about Renee, who he perceives is not what she seems. After much thought, Paloma agrees with him.
One morning, at 7:00 am, Colombe knocks on Renee's door because she is expecting an important package and wants it to be delivered immediately. The concierge starts working at 8:00 am in the morning, but Colombe does not understand boundaries, and because she views Renee as a lesser person, it never occurs to her to extend courtesies to the concierge. Renee tells her off and slams the door in her face.
Seething, Colombe returns to her apartment, and complains to whoever will listen. She asks Paloma to return to Renee at 8:00 am and deliver the message about the package. Paloma is very different from her sister, and treats others with respect. She and Renee have a great conversation and the tween asks Renee if she can visit and hang out in the apartment. Renee tells her that she has to get her mother's permission first.
Kakuro goes out of his way to form a friendship with Renee and she gets an invitation (much coveted by others) to his apartment where he cooks Japanese food for her. Before the “date” her friend Manuela, who is a maid in the building, gets her a dress to wear and encourages her to visit a hair salon and get a haircut. Renee's transformation begins. While she is in Kakuro’s apartment, she has to use the bathroom.
When she flushes the toilet, classical music plays, which moves her to tears. They have a good time together, and she is the most blissfully relaxed she has ever been in her life, in the presence of a man. She is even more relaxed with Kakuro than she was with her husband Lucien, who died from cancer. Renee can be herself and doesn't have to act as if she is stupid.
Renee visit's Kakuro again to watch The Munekata Sisters on a giant screen. Later when she is leaving, she notices a photo of a beautiful woman and learns that it was Kakuro's wife who died from cancer. Her insecurities start rearing their ugly heads, and class starts to form a dividing line once again. Why would someone as wealthy as Kakuro want to form a friendship with someone like her? Those are the thoughts that Renee is entertaining.
One day while Paloma is visiting Renee in her apartment, Kakuro comes to invite her to be his dinner partner to celebrate his birthday. She turns him down with banal reasons, and he is very saddened by her refusal to go to the dinner with him. After he leaves, Paloma questions her, and she breaks down and discloses a story about her sister Lisette, who was very beautiful and poor, and abandoned by the son of a wealthy man. Lisette died immediately after giving birth, and the child died three hours later.
In Renee's mind, wealthy people will eventually abandon someone who is much poorer. She cannot conceive how one can successful cross class lines. After she fully opens up herself for the first time, she is able to see clearly and the healing begins. The relationship between Paloma and Renee transform both of them, and along the way, the tween realizes that she doesn't want to die, and recognizes that she needs help.
Renee lets Kakuro know that she will accept his invitation. He buys her some beautiful gifts for her to wear. When they are leaving together for dinner, two other residents, Jacinthe Rosen and Anne-Helene Meurisse are in the lobby, and they do not recognize Renee all dressed up because she has always been invisible to them, therefore they have never really seen her.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
by Muriel Barbery is one of those books that you either love or hate, there is no in between, and I hated it. It's very well-written, a New York Times Bestseller, and the type of book that Oprah would choose for her book club, but it isn't my cup of tea. I tend to shy away from reviewing books that I do not like because I respect authors, and as someone who has written a book. I know that it isn't very easy to do, but in this case, I know that although I did not enjoy reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and believe that I wasted hours of my time reading it, I truly believe that many of my readers will enjoy it.
I think my dislike has more to do with personal preference, so I own it and am very upfront about it. I also hated the way the story ends because Renee dies, and it may be that she dies so that Paloma may live.
Like I said before, the book was recommended by a sales associates in Indigo bookstore. I am in the bookstore at least a couple times a week, so many of the workers know me, and some of them even know my name. I was telling the sales associate who recommended The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery about my liberal arts education project.
She was very excited, and I am convinced that she believes that I don't have any formal education beyond high school – she knows that I am very well-read, but she thinks that my learning is self-learning. I didn't correct her and let her know that I have two university degrees. Renee Michel, is an autodidact, and the sales associate assumed that I would be able to relate to her.
For the first half of The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, I was both bored and depressed by the book depending on which character, Renee or Paloma, was speaking. I personally believe that the book should be a lot shorter, and I started to get into the book at the midpoint. From the book, you can tell that Muriel Barbery is quite intelligent and very well-read, and that is reflected in the character Renee who appreciates art – reads, watch films and listens to music – and feels deeply when immersed in art.
Final Thoughts: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
There is a lot of mention of classic books that I have read and those I plan to read, but for some reason I couldn't connect with the story. And I am not sure why I have had such a strong negative reaction to the book.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
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