Review - The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Publisher: Europa Editions 2008
Hardcover 325 pages



Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog is everything a great novel should be. It is whimsical and sad, enlightening bordering on sardonic and most of all... it is a fabulous story. But before I delve into the mechanics of said fab-u-lous story I would like to take a moment to discuss what a great story means to me. For me, a great story makes you want more. Not just more information about the characters of the novel, no, a great story brings about a desire to learn more about the world within which we live. With this particular novel I was simultaneously jotting down vocabulary lists, philosophies to discover and movies to watch. And of course, a great book should also bring you to tears. Either from sadness or from the titillating rapture that comes from exquisitely written prose.

And that brings me back to this delightful book. The Elegance of the Hedgehog introduces us to a vivid cast of characters who reside at 7 rue de Grenelle, a posh apartment building in modern Paris. The novel is told from the prospective of the eccentric concierge, Renée, who while upholding to the cliched vulgar outer appearance inherent of her class, is truly a sophisticated and cultured autodidact. The other character on which the story revolves around is twelve year old Paloma, a resident of the building who disguises her genius behind the outward appearance of a pop culture obsessed adolescent.Renée and Paloma are both hiding their true intellect and finest qualities from a world they suspect cannot or will not appreciate nor understand them. The two kindred souls finally meet when a wealthy Japanese man (Ozu) moves into the building and sees through both of their disguises. The story can at times be laborious to read and has a quite a lot to teach one about philosophy, which is understandable considering the author is a philosophy teacher herself. Yet far from being soporific, the trysts into deontology makes for a surprisingly engrossing detour. Overall this novel is a triumph and tribute to the more unassuming of us who may feel the need to blog anonymously or take quiet refuge within the disguise of familiarity and the ordinary.