Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Elegance of the Hedgehog

The Elegance of the Hedgehog
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Author: Muriel Barbery, Alison Anderson (Translator)
We are in the center of Paris, in an elegant apartment building inhabited by bourgeois families. Rene, the concierge, is witness to the lavish but vacuous lives of her numerous employers. Outwardly she conforms to every stereotype of the concierge: fat, cantankerous, addicted to television. Yet, unbeknownst to her employers, Rene is a cultured a...  more »
ISBN-13: 9781906040185
ISBN-10: 1906040184
Publication Date: 6/1/2009
Pages: 320
Rating:
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 12

3.3 stars, based on 12 ratings
Publisher: Gallic Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Elegance of the Hedgehog on + 50 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 17
What a stunning, gorgeously-written book! I've placed it on my All-Time Top 5 List without hesitation. The narrative perspective switches back and forth between a cranky, secretly-erudite Concierge at a high-end French luxury building and the genius-but-equally-cranky 12-year-old daughter of one of the residents, a Socialist member of the French government. With equal parts Ignatius J. Reilly'esque laugh-out-loud outrage at the world & people's stupidity mixed with a survey of modern literature and key philosophical ideas, this elegant book covers everything from profound ideas to the profound ways that people hide - from each other and themselves. The sudden ending actually made me cry, which was when I realized how invested I had become in the characters.
reviewed The Elegance of the Hedgehog on + 347 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 8
I really liked this one, although I did skip over a few of the more "abstract" of the tiny chapters. Paloma, the younger co-protagonist did come off as a tad too precocious at times, so I could understand folks disliking her for that reason; Renee, the other main character, wasn't nearly as over-the-top. Moreover, the supporting characters carry their own weight, not just two-dimensional props.
The book has been described as a "fable", but I'd say it's as much a parody, though there's a moral to the story.

Definitely recommended.
reviewed The Elegance of the Hedgehog on
Helpful Score: 7
This book takes a little reading before you are drawn into it, but I can't encourage you enough to keep reading. The characters are well developed in their own idiosyncratic ways. The plot is slow, because the plot isn't really what the book is about. And yet by the end, I found myself rooting for the two main characters. While occasionally the dialog of the 12-yr old girl may at times seem unbelievable for a youngster, I decided to read those segments instead as a interlude between chapters to reflect upon some aspect of life. And the child in the girl does come out, eventually. As do the hopes and dreams of the stifled concierge. This book is about so much more than the story line itself - even the title speaks to the metaphors and morals the story has to give.
woot avatar reviewed The Elegance of the Hedgehog on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
Reading this book is sometimes hard going, but deeply satisfying. For anyone who has struggled with the meaning of life and death (and who has not?), it provides moments of strain and pain, and times of rare joy. Be sure to read it all the way through.
fyrefairy54 avatar reviewed The Elegance of the Hedgehog on + 13 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
This novel takes place in Paris, where a concierge of an apartment complex for wealthy patrons, a thirteen-year old girl, and a new Japanese resident intersect each other's lives--and their hearts. Rife with witty, often funny, musings about life, death, and art, this book drew me in slowly, making me care for Paloma, the thirteen-year old, Renee, the concierge and secretly self educated woman, and the gentle Kazuro, who sees through them both, becoming Paloma's friend...and drawing Renee into the light of life and love.
It was wonderful, heartbreaking, beautiful, and funny. Rread this book, and you won't forget it.
Read All 58 Book Reviews of "The Elegance of the Hedgehog"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

kayladaila avatar reviewed The Elegance of the Hedgehog on + 33 more book reviews
The Elegance of the Hedgehog had me laughing out loud and crying. This is just such a beautiful story told from two points of view. One of the narrators is Renee, a concierge working in a very exclusive apartment building in France. The other is Paloma, a 12 year old girl and one of the tenants in the apartment building. Paloma has declared, at least to the reader that on her thirteenth birthday she will set fire to her family's apartment and then commit suicide. They are like bookends and between them are their volumes of knowledge and philosophy that they share with the reader. Of course Renee's contribution is larger since she is a 54 year old widow, who has lived longer and done a tremendous amount of studying. Their stories are similar because they are both trying to hide who they are for their own personal reasons, and reach the same conclusions when they are brought together by a new tenant. The writing is just so beautiful and that alone would make this an incredible book to read, but the characters and their idiosyncrasies make them come off the page and make you want to know more about them.
eshaunessy avatar reviewed The Elegance of the Hedgehog on + 4 more book reviews
Beautifully written with a sweeping story, it was hard for me to get into at first, but I ended up enjoying it.
BrightGirl avatar reviewed The Elegance of the Hedgehog on + 4 more book reviews
Such a lovely book. It is insightful, thought-provoking, uplifting and heartbreaking, but not in that tragic way modern fiction has adopted just to be shocking. You come away from the book feeling better for having read it and not as though it has taken something from you. Recommend highly.
auctionmaven avatar reviewed The Elegance of the Hedgehog on
This was not one of my favorite "reads" although it was entertaining in parts. The author won many prizes for this and so I believe it was written well. The girl who is the main character learns many things about the dynamics of life and family.

Book Wiki

People/Characters
Paloma Josse (Primary Character)
Renee Michel (Primary Character)
Kakuro Ozu (Major Character)
Manuela (Average Character)
Pierre Arthens (Trivial Character)
Real Places
Fictional Places

Genres: