We don’t recognize each other because other people have become our permanent mirrors…when people walk by the concierge, all they see is a void, because she is not from their world.Īs for me, I implore fate to give me the chance to see beyond myself and truly meet someone. We never look beyond our assumptions and, what’s worse, we have given up trying to meet others we just meet ourselves. Addressing the problem of intersubjectivity in general, Paloma provides a useful way to frame this predicament: Renée and Paloma are perhaps best understood as kindred spirits who’ve completely failed to recognize one another. Without a doubt, The Elegance of the Hedgehog is one of the most quotable books I’ve ever read (kudos to translator Alison Anderson). Despite the moodiness and relative lack of plot development, there are countless moments of insight, beauty, and comedy awaiting those willing to traverse this dense psychological terrain. But Barbery also knows how to poke fun at her own pretensions, and does so with refreshing regularity. This is characteristic of the book’s general tone, which is internal and angsty in the extreme. Here’s an example of a passage that, depending on the reader, will induce either delighted chuckles or serious eye-rolling:Įlsewhere the world may be blustering or sleeping, wars are fought, people live and die, some nations disintegrate, while others are born, soon to be swallowed up in turn––and in all this sound and fury, amidst eruptions and undertows, while the world goes its merry way, bursts into flames, tears itself apart and is reborn: human life continues to throb.
Certain readers will find this premise delightful, while for others it will prove insufferable (a lukewarm reaction is least likely). Despite their superficial differences, both protagonists are obsessed with philosophy and art, and experience intense alienation from a world they feel will never accept them.īarbery provides first-person narration for both characters, and we quickly learn that these women are existential worry-warts who’d rather muse about death and insoluble philosophical problems than leave the house and do something useful.
The story follows two women living in close proximity: Renée, the middle-aged concierge of a French apartment building, and Paloma, the precocious and suicidal daughter of two well-off tenants.
I truly enjoyed Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog, but wouldn’t recommend it to just anyone. Very few philosophical novels hold universal appeal, and this one doesn’t break the mold.
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