This book is one of the best from the first ten. It's about two women --the older Renee and the young Paloma -- who both live in a chic Parisian apartment building and are exceedingly intelligent and wildly unhappy. They spend a good part of the book waxing philosophic on art, life, and their disdain for the rich people they live with.
Both of them feel the need to suppress their brilliance for the sake of those around them, but eventually forge a friendship with one of the new neighbors, Monsieur Ozu that brings them both out of their shells.
The book isn't heavy on plot, and there are moments when it drags. But I really, really enjoyed this book.
Reading this book made me want to be a better person, but not in a cliché way. There was one part where one of the characters was talking about how people don't really talk to other people. The quote:
"We don't recognize each other because other people have become our permanent mirrors. If we actually realized this, if we were able to become aware of the fact that we are only ever looking at ourselves in the other person, that we are alone in the wilderness, we would go crazy."Truth. As someone who talks a lot, I sometimes wonder if I'm actually paying attention to the words coming out of the other person's mouth, or if I'm just waiting for them to be quiet so I can start talking again.
And the quote from which the book's title comes:
"Madame Michel has the elegance of the hedgehog: on the outside, she's covered in quills, a real fortress, but my gut feeling is that on the inside, she has the same simple refinement as the hedgehog: a deceptively indolent little creature, fiercely solitary -- and terribly elegant."Isn't that just a marvelous metaphor for everyone in the world? Je pense que c'est vrai.
I also felt kind of cool for understanding Parisian cultural, social and political issues and short French phrases -- my French classes haven't been a total waste (I hope).
I feel like I haven't begun to do this book justice, but this will have to do. Read it yourself, because she says most things much better than I could hope to summarize them.
Next up: ...not exactly sure. Maybe Olive Kitteridge.
