The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Before I actually start this post, I would just like to give you my OFFICIAL seal of approval for this book!
This book receives a FIVE out of FIVE or a TEN out of TEN or anything else you deem to equal perfection or perfect enough that you seem force to give it a high grading.

BEWARE OF MILD SPOILERS!

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery is a delightfully witty, funny, thoughtful book following a few months in the lives of twelve-year-old Paloma Joss - who plans to commit suicide by swallowing a bunch of sleeping pills and then setting fire to the family's apartment - and Renee Michel - who is an extremely intelligent concierge that hides her cultured and sophisticated self so as not to seem above her social class.

The story is told mostly through the perspective of Renee while a few chapters are set aside for Paloma's list of Profound Thoughts and Movements of the World: both of which are journals that she is writing at the time of the novel.

It's difficult to choose which one of these two amazing characters has the largest change throughout the novel (I'm not going to say what happens to each because that would be silly to give away the ending), and in the same way, I can't decide which of the two has the most thought-provoking conversations:

Is it Paloma viewing culture shock that leads to delinquents and rebels, while also seeing that cats are merely totem poles - "mobile decorative objects" as she puts it - that people flaunt to show their aristocracy and culture?

Or is it Madame Michel seeing Western continuity as supposed to be fluid without interruption while Eastern continuity has jerkiness and disruption that ends in blissfulness, while also wondering whether there is a universal table or if every table is a singular entity in itself (trust me on this: it ACTUALLY makes sense if you read the passage)?

The only thing about this book that might have even partially irritated me was the fact that I had to keep a dictionary next to me at all times because the characters would randomly drop words like:
Bourgeois or (this happened in the very beginning) Incunabulum. I gladly accepted the second word, however, when I realized it helped the characterization of Renee's hidden intellect.

During the first half of the novel, everything seems perfectly normal and no one really starts changing too much...
that is until the new tenant Kakuro Ozu moves in and sees past the façades of Paloma and Renee and sees the true person underneath.

Now I don't want to ruin too much of this book for you before you read it, but just know that I highly suggest this book for ANYONE!

Once again: 5 out of 5
EASILY.

If you have read it or plan on reading it, tell me how you feel about this novel in the comments below and have a lovely day!

Oh! Also if you have a favorite novel or movie that you would like me to review, feel free to leave the title below!

And keep turning pages!