Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

New York Times Bestseller

Ratings Explanation

Language: Several swear words and references to deity. 2 F-words.

Sexual Content: An incident between a male and a female dog in the elevator. Discussion about the sexual activities of bees.

Adult Themes: A 12-year girl contemplates suicide. Family tension. Perceptions of people based solely on socio-economic status.

Synopsis

Renee, the 54-year old concierge of an upscale apartment building in Paris, is frumpy and dimwitted, as far as the wealthy tenants know. What they would never suspect is that Renee is intelligent, funny and well versed in literature and art.

Paloma, the insightful 12-year old daughter of one of the wealthy families in the building, also has a secret. Disgusted with her pampered life and her ridiculously myopic family, Paloma has decided to commit suicide on her 13th birthday.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog is narrated by these two, seemingly unrelated, female voices.  Renee is unmercifully critical of the wealthy, who alternately judge and ignore her, without knowing a single thing about her. Paloma is extremely intelligent and sensitive and through her journals, is searching for a reason to continue living. Eventually brought together by a perceptive new tenant in the building, these two kindred souls find and appreciate each other, when others fail to do so.

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.  Alternately philosophical, witty and poignant, I was engaged from the very beginning. Barbery’s writing is beautiful and elevated (you may want to keep a dictionary handy), but also clever and funny. Renee and Paloma are endearing and I loved them both. Who can resist Renee who says, “I may be indigent in name, position, and appearance, but in my own mind I am an unrivaled goddess.” She absolutely won my heart when she offered a full-page diatribe on the wanton misplacement of a comma.

This book gave me a number of things to contemplate, including the question of class and the assumptions people make based solely on outward appearances, but it also makes a point of expressing that it is never too late to change the way we “see” other people. We each have the potential to touch someone’s life in a positive way and if we are open to it, friendship can  surface in the most unlikely places.

©2009 The Literate Mother