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Saturday, March 24, 2012

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Title: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Author: Muriel Barbery

Pages: 325

Genre: Modern French Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: The story is narrated from the viewpoints of two different people.  The first is a concierge of an upscale building in Paris.  She is in her mid-50s, slightly cantankerous and lives alone with her cat.  Unbeknownst to the tenants in the building, she also adores reading Tolstoy, critiquing classical music and admires Japanese culture.  The second protagonist is the twelve-year-old genius, Paloma.  She's the daughter of a French politician and can hardly stand her family.  In fact, she is planning her own suicide on her 13th birthday.  Until then though, she's trying very hard to act like a normal 12-year-old so as to not give anything away.

My Review:  For most of the book, I didn't love it, but the last 50-100 pages really helped me to enjoy it more.  There were a few parts of the book that got me laughing and other parts that got me thinking.  From browsing other reviews, it seems that people tend to really love this book or absolutely hate it. 

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