Books: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

This book was a birthday present from my roomie that I've been saving to read on my Mexico trip. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery caught my attention both for its name and because it was recommended on Kevin Slowey's blog. (Yes, I still love baseball that much.)

To tell the truth, a week after finishing this book I still don't know how I feel about it. I know that this was a book that I probably would have adored in college. Today, while it still has a lot of aspects that I enjoy, I found it a little bit overdramatic and preachy in its dedication to fine art. Also, it certainly wasn't the light, funny story that I expected from its title.

In a very small nutshell, the book is about two incredibly intelligent and artistic women who, for various reasons, don't want anyone to know about their talents. The writing style was delightful, and the characters of a middle-aged concierge and a 12 year old teenager play a beautiful counterpoint to each other in their views of the world. It is fun to watch these two people grow into their worlds and find their own meaning of life, and even though the storyline in the book is very simple, it's draws you in. Unfortunately, the author uses too much philosophy and preachy rhetoric for my taste to explain their search for meaning. This continuous extolling of art is constant enough to alienate people who may have an everyday appreciation of art rather than a liberal arts major's addiction to it. While a lot of people might appreciate a painting, many of those same people will lose interest after reading about how only intelligent and refined people properly appreciate Dutch still lifes.

All in all, I would recommend this book for anyone with a strong, passionate interest in art and philosophy. For those of you who don't, I would still recommend this book if you really appreciate good characterization and can stand a certain amount of preachiness. For those of you who prefer high action storylines and enjoy reading for entertainment more than abstract thoughts, I would save your time and skip this one.