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The lives of fifty-four-year-old concierge Rene Michel and extremely bright, suicidal twelve-year-old Paloma Josse are transformed by the arrival of a new tenant, Kakuro Ozu.
labfs39: Both have incredibly well-drawn, quirky characters that are lovable in their unique humaness. Both have highly intelligent characters that are vulnerable because of their very gift. In both books I learned things in fields not particularly close to me: math in Housekeeper and philosophy in Elegance.… (mais)
morsecode: The English-language editions (published by Europa Editions) of both novels are translated by Alison Andersen. There isn't a lot of similarity between the two novels (beyond the fact that both are quite literary), but I do think that someone who enjoys one will enjoy the other.… (mais)
bluepiano: Of no earthly relevance to the Barbery except that the death of the author is the death chosen by this author. Comment dit-on 'Look both ways before you cross' en français?
klerulo: Not so much the commonality of a French setting but that of a very enigmatic, obscure heroine who attracts the attention of others who are discerning and sensitive enough to perceive the hidden depths.
bluepiano: Both are modern French novels written by philosophy teachers, both protagonists are awkward and isolated, both authors mask their sentimentality with a calm tone and both remind us that pedestrians should look both ways before crossing a road.
Renée is the concierge of a Parisian apartment block. Lonely and self-educated, she is more cultivated than many of the building's residents: though she never lets on. Indeed she goes to some lengths to hide this information. Only teenage Paloma shares her intellectual curiosity: though neither of them knows this about the other.
Then a resident dies, and a new tenant moves in. And things will never be the same for Renée or Paloma.
The story alternates between Renée's and Paloma's points of views. There are philosophical discussions threading through the narrative, which points up the essential 'Frenchness' of this story.
From the point of view of the reader, it's a bit of a crash course in philosophy, and points up the many hypocrisies which many of us carry through our everyday lives.
It's a clever book, and one which I found initially hard to get into. But it's moving and engaging, with sympathetic portrayals of some characters who are on first acquaintance, perhaps unsympathetic. ( )
Kurze Inhaltsangabe Renée ist 54 Jahre alt und lebt seit 27 Jahren als Concierge in der Rue de Grenelle in Paris. Sie ist klein, hässlich, hat Hühneraugen an den Füssen und ist seit längerem Witwe. Paloma ist 12, hat reiche Eltern und wohnt in demselben Stadtpalais. Hinreissend komisch und zuweilen bitterböse erzählen die beiden sehr sympathischen Figuren von ihrem Leben, ihren Nachbarn, von Musik und Mangas, Kunst und Philosophie. Die höchst unterhaltsame und anrührende Geschichte zweier Aussenseiter, ein wunderbarer Roman über die Suche nach der Schönheit in der Welt. ( )
THIS is what reading is all about! A marvelous philosophical musing about art, beauty, social commentary, and the meaning of life. Redemptive, beautiful, and beautifully written. Kudos to the translator! ( )
I just finished this and I'm not sure what I think. I read it very quickly so that's a plus in that I wanted to find out how it ended. But I have a feeling the rave reviews raised my expectations to a level the book just couldn't reach. ( )
Le Figaro has described this book as 'the publishing phenomenon of the decade'. Elsewhere, there were comparisons to Proust. It sold more than a million copies in France last year and has won numerous awards. Does it match up to the hype? Almost. It is a profound but accessible book (not quite Proust, then), which elegantly treads the line between literary and commercial fiction.
Efter en något trög första del, förvandlades Igelkottens elegans till en liten pärla, till en bok som berörde mig. Och jag som sällan läser om böcker, funderar skarpt på att läsa om.
Därefter blir ”Igelkottens elegans” en fråga om ett ganska enkelt demaskerande och en ännu enklare trivialpsykologisk analys. Men fram till dess skrockar man förnöjt när Renée och Paloma var och en på sitt håll övertrumfar varandra i knivskarpa beskrivningar av den korkade och obildade parisiska överklassen och dess själsliv – tunt som en kålsoppa utan kål.
Trots det oväntade slutet faller Barbery, vars romangestalter avviker från klyschor av alla slag, själv i plattitydernas fälla. Dessutom kan man stundom få intryck av att författaren genom romanens båda berättarröster alltför tydligt vädrar sina åsikter om olika nutida samhällsföreteelser. Men i det stora hela har ”Igelkottens elegans” både charm, underhållningsvärde och intellektuell spänst.
Informação do Conhecimento Comum em inglês.Edite para a localizar na sua língua.
For Stephane, with whom I wrote this book
A Stéphane, con quien he escrito este libro.
Primeiras palavras
Informação do Conhecimento Comum em inglês.Edite para a localizar na sua língua.
"Marx has completely changed the way I view the world," declared the Pallieres boy this morning, although ordinarily he says nary a word to me.
Citações
Informação do Conhecimento Comum em inglês.Edite para a localizar na sua língua.
Thus, the television in the front room, guardian of my clandestine activities, could bleat away and I was no longer forced to listen to inane nonsense fit for the brain of a clam - I was in the back room, perfectly euphoric, my eyes filling with tears, in the miraculous presence of Art. (p.17)
In the heat of the cinema, on the verge of tears, happier than I had ever been, I was holding the faint warmth of his hand for the first time in months. I knew that an unexpected surge of energy had roused him from his bed, given him the strength to get dressed and the urge to go out, the desire for us to share a conjugal pleasure one more time - and I knew, too, that this was the sign that there was not much time left, a state of grace before the end. But that did not matter to me, I just wanted to make the most of it, of these moments stolen from the burden of illness, moments with his warm hand in mine and a shudder of pleasure going through both of us...' (p.71)
I flinched when she said bring and at that very moment Monsieur Something also flinched, and our eyes met. And since that infinitesimal nanosecond when - of this I am sure - we were joined in linguistic solidarity by the shared pain that made our bodies shudder, Monsieur Something has been observing me with a very different gaze. A watchful gaze. And now he is speaking to me. (p.130)
What is the purpose of Art? To give us the brief, dazzling illusion of the camellia; to carve from time an emotional aperture that cannot be reduced to animal logic. How is Art born? It is begotten in the mind's ability to sculpt the sensorial domain. What does Art do for us? It gives shape to our emotions, makes them visible and, in so doing, places a seal of eternity upon them, a seal representing all those works that, by means of a particular form, have incarnated the universal nature of human emotions. (p.199)
... αναλογίζομαι τελικά ότι ίσως αυτό να είναι η ζωή: πολλή απελπισία, αλλά και μερικές στιγμές ομορφιάς, στις οποίες ο χρόνος δεν είναι πια ο ίδιος. Λες και οι νότες της μουσικής έβαλαν μια παρένθεση στον χρόνο, μια αναστολή, ένα αλλού ακόμη και εδώ, ένα πάντα μέσα στο ποτέ.
Últimas palavras
Informação do Conhecimento Comum em inglês.Edite para a localizar na sua língua.
Because from now on, for you, I'll be searching for those moments of always within never. Beauty, in this world.
The lives of fifty-four-year-old concierge Rene Michel and extremely bright, suicidal twelve-year-old Paloma Josse are transformed by the arrival of a new tenant, Kakuro Ozu.
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Google Books — A carregar...
(3.79)
GROUP READ: The Elegance of the Hedehog
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Then a resident dies, and a new tenant moves in. And things will never be the same for Renée or Paloma.
The story alternates between Renée's and Paloma's points of views. There are philosophical discussions threading through the narrative, which points up the essential 'Frenchness' of this story.
From the point of view of the reader, it's a bit of a crash course in philosophy, and points up the many hypocrisies which many of us carry through our everyday lives.
It's a clever book, and one which I found initially hard to get into. But it's moving and engaging, with sympathetic portrayals of some characters who are on first acquaintance, perhaps unsympathetic.
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