Customer Reviews

L'elegance Du Herisson (French Edition)

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To understand why Muriel Barbery has chosen a concierge to be the heroine of her novel I think it is important to understand what concierges have meant in France since 1789. Because it was from the days of the glorious revolution and the anguish of the days of Le Terreur when concierges where an important part of the new society of citizens who beheaded a king. They where agents of the governemnt when ID's did not exist so in a way there is still a certain mistery around them, and even today a certain respect about their hidden authority. In the country where René created the je suis donc je pense a concierge was the deus ex machina who said il habite ici donc il est.
Our shy concierge Renée (curiosly she shares the same name that our philosopher) hidden in her small apartment is not an agent in disguise, but she is an erudite in disguise. Considered just a part of the building by the burgoise tenants she scapes, and rejoices in her books by Tolstoy, the films by Ozu and having tea with her friend Manuela.
Another brilliant mind shares the building with her: Paloma Josse, The product of a very French, very burgoise, very rive gauche family. Like Renée, Paloma considers the world outside threatening and in a way dangerous.
these two forces of the mind tell their stories like a beautifully tapestry made with their impressions of the lives the others live, seeing depth in ordinary matters but hiding all the time.
Our two heroines little and coveted world suddenly is going to be swept away by a tsunami: monsieur Ozu. Who like the real ones simply move the ground under their feet and force them to face the world. With Renée, offering her glimpses of being not a concierge only but a woman too. And for Paloma to walk away from her little shelter to see that life is worth living.
I personally have been moved by the wonderfully writte novel by Muriel Barbery. The way the words sometimes are melting like a great chocolat, slowly and thick. And sometimes like an old lace where every little thread has a clear purpose. It is one of the things I like most in French writers, their craftmanship with their language. She reminds me of Andre Maurois for her carefully choice in the structures, and Balzac for the way she deals with her characters, a little of Flaubert making beautiful what is ordinary. So I must recommend this book. A beautiful and compelling one.

I thoroughly enjoyed the English translation "Elegance of the Hedgehog" and wanted to get a copy of the original. Glad I began with the English version as the ethereal prose might have stymied my comprehension in the French edition had I read it first. Seller sent book immediately, so all in all, a seamless transaction. Thanks so much.

I think this is one of the best books I ever read. Just finishing, I started again to read it now with a pencil to underline a lot of important things the author says.
I will read again for sure in some other time

This is a wonderful book. Beautiful style. A portrait of an apartment building from the
point of view of the concierge and also of a teenage girl. The "herisson" is the concierge
who considers herself more elegant and more of a philosopher than her tenants even though
she has no formal education. When she has tea and "tuiles" (a special cookie) with her
friend one is reminded of Proust. Although the book has been translated into English, I
doubt that a translation can capture all the subtlties of language evoking the various
personalities. The Rue de Grenelle is a very high class neighborhood and the building
seems to be condos as there is talk of someone selling when usually apartments are handed
down generation to generation. The portraits of tenants are unusual, for example, a diplomat's
daughter who wants to be a veterinarian. Philosophical topics, human relations, in this
400 page book which is part essay, part vignette. I have been savoring it, and will be sorry
to finish it. I have often said that there are no decent contemporary French writers, but
this book makes me rethink that statement. The deceptively simple prose "Je m'appelle Renee, j'ai cinquante-quatre ans et je suis la concierge du 7 rue de Grenelle" gives way to philosophic
tales in one building much like Voltaire's "Candide" tells a tale while moving from place to
place. This book should be a classic. Review submitted by PhD in French.

I started out really enjoying this book, but became more and more disheartened as the story continued. This is a highly repetitive tale where every page serves only to explain how perfect the concierge is. She loves tea! She reads! She's socially awkward! Repeated again and again and again. The remainder of the characters are thinly sketched caricatures. Then towards the end of the novel a component of Asian mysticism is introduced, where a Japanese gentleman is held to be perfect and beyond reproach, solely because he is Asian. Perhaps this speaks to a basic racism that is uniquely French, but I found it very hard to swallow. Finished the novel but would not recommend.

This is an excellent book. I happened upon it almost by accident and am glad that I did. I know that it has been published in English (and on the NY Times bestseller list) and I have looked at that version which is good but it doesn't have the nuances that this original French version does. For anyone who has lived in Paris, this book will brings smiles to your face as it captures the daily life of the Parisienne perfectly.

I was prompted to read this book in the original French after watching the movie version ("L'Herisson") on the flight home from Paris. My wife had read the English translation but I was only vaguely aware of her having done so. The movie was excellent but I suspected the book might be even better and more complete; I was certainly not disappointed.
During our time in Paris, Rue de Grenelle was just around the corner from where we stayed. It must have been the downmarket end as the apartments weren't all that flash but it gave me a visual context and made the story very real. The characters are all brilliantly rendered - I think Renée, Paloma and M. Ouzo, and even Manuela, are all people one would love to know personally, although Rénee is appropriately painted as private, reserved and lacking in self-esteem, which of course is the essence of the story. I loved much of the dialogue, especially the scene where Paloma has been brought by her mother to see the psychiatrist that she herself has been consulting for many years - much to Paloma's perceptive scorn.
The narrative is written in the first person by two separate people (Renée and Paloma), taking turns to tell their story. I found this remarkable in the way it reflected the personalities and perceptions of these two characters - Paloma's "pensées profonds" are often delightful. There is necessarily a great deal of philosophising by both but this is almost never even vaguely boring because it conveys so much about what is going on in these people's lives. Altogether one of the most memorable and rewarding books I have ever read.

This is such an exquisite little book that I had to order it in the original language.
It is delightful and very rich in thought and philosophy, in poetry and beauty, in literary joy, it is a jewel of a book, in any language!

A wonderful book, so true and perfectly written. We are in Paris, in this house, and we share everybody's life, as if we were living there.

This book was recommended by a co-worker and insisted that I read it in the original language (French). I loved it so much that I am now re-reading and enjoying it in English.