<p>The school year is winding down, the days are getting longer, and theres much, much more time to read, right? Well, maybe not. But if you can, set aside some time and join us for our June discussion of The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. </p>
<p>This New York Times Bestseller won the 2007 Brive-La-Gaillarde Readers Prize, 2007 French Booksellers Association Prize, 2007 Rotary International Prize (France), and 2007 French Librarians Prize for Culture. Dont worry, thoughwell be reading the English translation (or at least I will :)).</p>
<p>Discussion will begin June 1st. Here is the Amazon link for those interested:</p>
<p>Its such a wonderful book, buy it anyway. Mine has since been passed on to friends. This book led to wonderful discussions at our book club. One thing I learned is that while the author made up the address of the coop, it actually is the home of Prada (or some similar brand–will have to go back and check my notes).</p>
<p>I bought it a few months ago as one of a buy two get one free and Barnes. Still sitting on an end table in my living room.
Time to open it!</p>
<p>BTW - Off topic here …
did “we” read “The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo”? I think I am getting it for Mother’s Day.
My SIL read it for her book club and raved about it. So, if not - just a suggestion.</p>
<p>I’m still a low-tech reader, so it never occurred to me to check for high-tech availability. Maybe it’s something we should take into consideration when we make future selections.</p>
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<p>We haven’t read it. It has been suggested once or twice, but ultimately rejected, partly because some people had already read it, and partly because the darkness/violence was a bit off-putting. I haven’t read it myself, but I hear it’s excellent.</p>
<p>To date, these are the books we have read:</p>
<p>The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield The Help by Kathryn Stockett The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zaf</p>
<p>There is a Mother’s Day special at Barnes & Noble - buy one, get one 1/2 price with free shipping. Hedgehog was $13.50. The sale is good until May 3rd.</p>
<p>OK, no worries – I got it on Amazon for $10.70. Since I currently have a 30 day free trial of Amazon Prime, there’s no minimum purchase for free shipping.</p>
<p>I noticed yesterday that our public library has The Elegance of the Hedgehog available in the e-audio section. I thought about downloading it onto my iPod and listening while I walked, but I already purchased the book from Amazon. However, I thought to remind those with Kindles (and iPods :)) to look toward the library - no leaving home involved.</p>
<p>I’m about half way through the book, but this review (from Publishers Weekly on Amazon) makes me want to pick up a copy of the audio version:</p>
<p>
[quote]
This audio version of the surprise French bestseller hits the mark as both performance and story. The leisurely pace of the novel, which explores the upstairs-downstairs goings-on of a posh Parisian apartment building, lends itself well to audio, and those who might have been tempted to skip through the novel’s more laborious philosophical passages (the author is a professor of philosophy) will savor these ruminations when read aloud. Tony Award–winning actress Barbara Rosenblat positively embodies the concierge, Ren</p>
<p>I am on page 60 of The Elegance of the Hedgehog and frankly, I don’t know if I am going to finish this book. I am bored to tears with this one and completely uninterested in it. It is a slow, dull read at this point. I am really hoping that it gets better soon.</p>
<p>My book club raved about the Elegance of the Hedgehog and there were just two of us who were more iffy about it. I admired it, felt like it attempted to deal with some interesting ideas but was somewhat annoyed by the first person voice and the way she was always telling the reader what every single event in the story meant and how I was suppose to think about it. I felt as if it was overwritten, as if the author didn’t have enough trust in the reader to figure it out ourselves?</p>
<p>I’m enjoying it, although I will say that I had to completely switch gears from what we experienced with The Shadow of the Wind. So much of Shadow was setting and movement, whereas The Elegance of the Hedgehog is almost claustrophobic in its setting and the “action” is mostly in the mind. </p>
<p>Also, I’m more of a practical thinker than a philosophical one, so to be honest, much of Madame Michel’s musings go over my head. (But I did read Anna Karenina, so at least I get those references. :)) One final comment, then I’ll save the rest for June 1st (if anyone is still hanging in there until then): I have a 12 year old daughter, and the 12 year old narrator, genius or not, requires a whole lot of suspension of disbelief on my part. That said, I’m still finding the book interesting and worthwhile.</p>
<p>So … scrap my original plan to kick back over Memorial Day weekend and read The Elegance of the Hedgehog. All your comments indicate that I probably need to start now. Whether I end up liking it or not, it sounds like a bit more effort than I thought.</p>
<p>As an aside, *The Elegance of the Hedgehog<a href=“French”>/i</a> falls into the “translation in literature” category, as does *The Shadow of the Wind<a href=“Spanish”>/i</a>, as does *The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo<a href=“Swedish”>/i</a> - another purchase of mine. My literary horizons expand by the minute. :)</p>
<p>^ For me, the book moved pretty quickly once I decided not to re-read or excessively ponder parts I didn’t understand. Turned out that was a lot of parts. As William Hurt said in The Big Chill, “Sometimes you just have to let art flow over you.”</p>
<p>Some people in my book group loved the philosophy part of the book; others of us (me included) kind of skipped over all of the philosophy parts and focused more on the story. In that way, there was something for everyone. I would like to re-read this book. I think it was very well-written and the translation was wonderful. Too bad it’s not available on the Kindle, because the built-in dictionary would have definitely come in handy!</p>
<p>Well, it’s June 1st! Is anybody out there? Did anybody stick with The Elegance of the Hedgehog from murky beginning to dreary end?</p>
<p>I did, and I’m not sure it was worth the effort. I slogged my way through sentences like, “All of phenomenology is founded on this certainty: our reflective consciousness, the sign of our ontological dignity, is the only entity we have that is worth studying, for it saves us from biological determinism.” I kept with it, in hopes of a satisfying denouement, as the French say. And what was the payoff? Death, Disappointment, Despair. Yes, I know that lives were changed for the better, and that hope shines through in the end; nonetheless, it just didn’t move me.</p>
<p>I’m keeping an open mind, however, and am ready to be convinced of the book’s merits. What did you think?</p>