The Elegance of the Hedgehog By Muriel Barbery

This is a beautiful book written from the perspective of two intelligent yet introverted females; Renee, the concierge of an upscale Parisian apartment building, and Paloma, a young girl who lives with her family in the building. Each chapter takes the form of a themed journal entry. Renee hides her intelligence from the wealthy tenants of the building that she serves. Paloma tells us at the beginning of the book that she plans to commit suicide on her thirteenth birthday.

The arrival of a wealthy Japanese gentleman in the building disrupts the lives of both Renee and Paloma. Monsieur Ozu befriends each and helps them to begin to reevaluate the way that they see the world. The author’s recurring topics include philosophy, art, culture and class.

I worry that I have lost more than I should have in reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog in English rather than French (not that I could have read it in its original French). Near the end of the novel, one of the heroine’s makes a comment about having called someone vous (you, formal) rather than tu (you, informal) for many years. Until this moment in the novel, I hadn’t realized that she was calling her friend vous. I used to speak some French in High School – this may be the motivation that I need to learn again.

It amazes me that even though there are so many books that keep telling us that our lives are only as good as the people that we share them with, there are still many people who haven’t gotten the message. I’m not familiar with all of the philosophers and artists that are mentioned in the book, but I think that Barbery is trying to show us that understanding these scholars can only take you so far. Knowing and loving fellow humans is really the only way to appreciate all that art and nature have to offer.

Push, Pushing, Pushed

The heroine of Push by Sapphire (PS3569.A63 P87 1997), Precious Jones, is perhaps one of the most tragic characters in contemporary literature (at least, I can think of very few characters that rival her misfortunes). Often times, when I am reading a book, I think back to earlier portions of the story to find the protagonist’s mistake – the thing that they could have changed that would have prevented later misfortunes. In the case of Precious, I don’t think that this mistake exists; she was just a normal, good child who was overlooked and mistreated.

I assume that many folks already know the subject of the novel, due to its popularity and the movie based on the book that was recently released. For those of you who are not in the know, Precious Jones is an overweight, illiterate teen girl who at the beginning of the book is pregnant with her second child. She is abused by her mother and has been raped by her father repeatedly for several years. The story is about her attempts to receive a quality education and the dedicated instructor who encourages her. The determination and endurance that Precious exhibits is inspiring and a little bit heartbreaking.

Though this topic may seem grave and terrifying, the reader also sees the side of Precious’s life that is typical of any teen girl. She is cautious and concerned with her hair and clothes. She feels self-conscious about her body. Despite the years of rape, she still wants to meet a boy who loves her and finds her attractive. Even though my life and circumstances are very different from those of Precious, it is easy to relate to her.

In a fairly short novel, Sapphire manages to create a vivid picture of her heroine’s life, personality and aspirations. Perhaps one of the more impressive feats that Sapphire has accomplished is that her dialog and narration sound authentic, but are still easy to read. In this way, Sapphire brings us not only into Precious’s Harlem community, but her life.