Quite a Menagerie I was anxious to read this novel after previewing the first few pages. It was a bit confusing at the beginning, but when the characters are sorted out all falls into place. You see characters and their animals and read reflections of them all which demonstrate their personalities and their positions in life. No, you don't meet a real life hedgehog, only a character who becomes much more and helps those around her realize what it is to be human.
didn't capture my interest It's rare that I don't finish a book, but I finally put this one aside and decided there were too many books that I would enjoy reading to waste any more time on this one. I never cared about any of the characters. They were all snobbish in their own way and fairly unlikable. I read about 2/3 of the way, hoping it would pick up, and it almost did with the mysterious new tenant, but even that storyline began to lose me. This was a book club selection, which we discussed last month, and only 1 member enjoyed this book. There were others who also didn't finish it, which is rare in this club. Perhaps it is the translation from French, but it seems to be written with an elitist tone, which turned me off fairly quickly. Can't recommend this one.unreadable, clunky prose.....boring The worst prose I have read in ages. Loaded with weird, clunky sentences. And extremely boring. Avoid, and don't believe the positive reviews.Deep, moving, funny... There are two narrators in the story. Renee, a middle aged widow who grew up in poverty to become the concierge at high-end apartment building in Paris. She is described as short, ugly and plump and hides her passion and highly evolved understanding of the arts, philosophy, Japanese culture and music from the building residents. The second narrator is Paloma who is a highly intelligent 12-year old who lives with her well-off family in the same building. She too hides her intelligence behind a mask of mediocrity and has determined to end her life on her 13th birthday for reasons that will be outlined for the reader. The story describes the day-to-day lives of Renee and Paloma until a new wealthy tenant moves into the building (Kakuro Ozu). Ozu is able to see through their disguises and appreciate both of them like no one else has at which time they begin personal transformations.
* I best describe this story as a philosophical fable conveying messages on the meaning of life, death, happiness, time & beauty - in the context of those with and without the benefits of beauty, wealth & social status
* The story has a simple (very) plot. While the writing is genius, the plot line is less so (e.g., unbelievable situations for the main characters; cliff-like ending).
* The use of satire is intelligent, witty and sad.
* There are many (MANY) "8+ letter" dictionary-look-up words.
* The story evolves with short vignettes that rotate between the two narrators.
* The Author is a master of turning a word or phrase in capturing life's small pleasures and perfect moments - I found it to be a charming story.
* Three of my favorite passages include:
"All our family acquaintances have followed the same path: their youth spent trying to to make the most of their intelligence, squeezing their studies like a lemon to make sure they'd secured a spot among the elite, then the rest of their lives wondering with a flabbergasted look on their faces why all that hopefulness has led to such a vain existence. People aim for the stars, and they end up like goldfish in a bowl."
"Personally I think there is only one thing to do: find the task that we have been placed on this earth to do, and accomplish it as best we can, with all our strength, without making things complicated or thinking there's anything divine about our animal nature. This is the only way we will ever feel that we have been doing something constructive when death comes to get us."
"...Just by observing the adults around me I understood that very early on that life goes by in no time at all, yet they're always in such a hurry, so stressed out by deadlines, so eager for now that they needn't think about tomorrow...But if you dread tomorrow, it's because you don't know how to build the present, and when you don't know how to build the present, you tell yourself you can deal with it tomorrow, and it's a lost cause anyway because tomorrow always ends up becoming today, don't you see?"
"Hedgehog" characters are captivating Barbery's characters are captivating. Some may find the book too wordy or philosophical, but I found it a delightful read.
