The Elegance of the HedgehogThis is a book translated from French by an author named Muriel Barbery. It has two main characters. The first is a concierge in a fancy apartment building in Paris. She's really smart and loves to read Tolstoy and watch obscure Japanese movies, but she tries to hide all this from the residents of the building. The second is a 12-year-old girl who lives in the building. She's a loner and a genius. She's decided to kill herself on her 13th birthday, unless she can find something before then that will convice her not to. The two alternate telling the story, which is mixed with lots of philosphy and general reflection on life. The book is a little slow in places (especially in the beginning), but gets more interesting when this mysterious Japanese guy shows up.
The book wasn't meant to be a comic work, but there were some really funny lines, and those lines were made even funnier due to the fact that the humor came unexpectedly. I'm reading a Dickens book for school right now, and the humor in this book kind of reminded me of Dickens humor. You're calmly reading and then you have to stop for a second and go, "Hey! That was actually really funny! Well done, writer!" There were also some really beautiful, thought provoking lines.
The ending of this book made me really angry at first. I really didn't think it should end like it did. But once I read the very last chapter, I wasn't quite so mad any more, and I decided that I suppose the ending kind of did work. Plus, Barbery's overall theme is a theme I use a lot when I write, so I can get behind her on that one. 7.5 pretzel bites!
The book wasn't meant to be a comic work, but there were some really funny lines, and those lines were made even funnier due to the fact that the humor came unexpectedly. I'm reading a Dickens book for school right now, and the humor in this book kind of reminded me of Dickens humor. You're calmly reading and then you have to stop for a second and go, "Hey! That was actually really funny! Well done, writer!" There were also some really beautiful, thought provoking lines.
The ending of this book made me really angry at first. I really didn't think it should end like it did. But once I read the very last chapter, I wasn't quite so mad any more, and I decided that I suppose the ending kind of did work. Plus, Barbery's overall theme is a theme I use a lot when I write, so I can get behind her on that one. 7.5 pretzel bites!
KAY
