MERE ELEGANCE

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

The elegance of the hedgehog is a completely different book from the ones I've read before. I'm not saying is absolutely wonderful but it was quite good for me. I loved all of the chapters, the main characters, Renee and Paloma are adorable in a way. I felt identified with them somehow and reading their thoughts about life amused me.

This book is about the life of a woman and a girl:

Reneé , a 50 year old cultured widow that is a portress and is hungry of knowledge. Lives in reclusion and alone with her cat. Why in reclusion? Because she is hiding her cultured self, don't want to be mixed up with the people in the building 'cause they simply can't understand her, some situations of her past made her that way. She's scary of them. Only rich families live there.

Paloma, a little girl living with a family in the building where Renee is portress. She is only 12 years old and it's decided to kill herself after her 13th birthday. Why to kill herself? Just doesn't find a valid reason to keep alive. She's a genius that hides her knowledge , hates her sister and just can't understand her family's way of living.

The main plot of this story is how both characters explain life, they both share thoughts about it. Both love Japanese culture, both love to read and they hide their true self . But something changes their life, something unexpected; a floor of the building was sold to someone, something that happened ... never before. The one who moved there was a Japanese man, polite, cultured , rich, well mannered and impeccable in everybody's eyes. He was the one who changed Renee and Paloma's life. Their point of view totally changed. And the day where the protagonists met, found a twin soul...

I really enjoyed the lecture. Some of the chapters were rather hard to understand , I had to read them twice. It's been a while since I put that much interest and attention to my lecture. There were tons of epic quotes and the way Reneé described Art made me love it more. I'm in love with this book really. I don't care if the critics are not that good.