Muriel Barbery

( ‘The Elegance of the Hedgehog’ by Muriel Barbery, was my book of last year and was one of the reviews lost when my old blog was deleted earlier this year. I hope you don’t mind my posting it here again, as I talk about the author and her first novel, ‘Gourmet’)

‘The Elegance of the Hedgehog’ is a story told through two voices. The first, Renée, is the concierge of a magnificent apartment building, housing some from the higher classes of Paris. Her description of herself is unsympathetic. She is fifty-four, short, ugly, plump and with bunions on her feet. Renée has developed a persona, adopted a stereotypical manner to fit with how the inhabitants of her building expect her to behave. Yet, beneath this cleverly formed mask, Renée is intelligent, cultured and intuitive. Through a voice that is delicate, rich, sharp and subtle, she observes her advantaged or rather superficial neighbours. Renée pretends to be uneducated, inferior, to match with the expectations of the higher class who live in the building, `to perpetuate the charade of social hierarchy’. She observes the lacking politeness towards her and offers a critique of the higher classes, the conforming to stereotypes, the chosen learning that is recited and never fully understood.

There is a clear sense that although performing a persona that is expected of her, that protects her, behind the closed door Renée has an emotional and cultural depth that the other, more privileged, could never reach. I am left considering that sometimes in life we go into situations with expectations, with an inability to see beyond masks and into true beings. There are many who go through life with prejudices that never allow truth and individuality to shine. Beyond convention, beyond exteriors, beneath the mask, there is often so much more.

The second voice contrasts and enhances from some floors up within the same apartment building. Twelve year old Paloma Josse is one of the privileged, yet she is disillusioned and keen to avoid an indulged and inane future and so she is planning to commit suicide on her thirteenth birthday. Paloma has advanced intelligence and as she plans her suicide, she offers profound thoughts in her diary. Like Renée, Paloma is also living a life filled with deception, masking her actual intelligence but the reasons for this contrast with those of Renée. Through her words, we hear Paloma’s views on the inhabitants and on her parents, all with sharp and gifted observation. She offers a social conscience, questioning the empty intelligence of those around her.

For me, the story lifts to a perfect level with an unexpected death and an unexpected sale of an apartment in the building. The arrival of the Japanese Monsieur Kakuro Ozu causes quite a stir. For me, from p139 the story almost restarts with a renewed force, with the clever twisting together of lives and the moving of the plot onto a hugely satisfying level.

The delicacy and the beauty in this novel comes from the joining of Renée, of Kakuro and of Paloma. As Kakuro ignores social hierarchy and sees beneath Renée’s mask, there is a sense of nakedness and of purity. He challenges social prejudice and his ability to see true, inner beauty is a gift. There is a belief that when you see into a person’s soul, then your connection is blessed.

This is a truly delicate and beautiful story of friendship across class and across generation. The ending left me in tears.

‘The Gourmet’ is French novelist Barbery’s first novel. It is clever, crafted and a story that still has Renée as the concierge of the magnificent apartment building, but this is about a new main character (who just happens to live there).

France’s greatest food critic is dying, after a lifetime in single-minded pursuit of sensual delights. But as Pierre Arthens lies on his death bed, he is tormented by an inability to recall the most delicious food to ever pass his lips, which he ate long before becoming a critic. Desperate to taste it one more time, he looks back over the years to see if he can pin down the elusive dish. Revealing far more than his love of great food, the narration by this larger-than-life individual alternates with the voices of those closest to him and their own experiences of the man.

There is no doubt that the language choices and descriptions within this novel are luscious. Muriel Barbery is such a sensuous storyteller, hiding deeper significances and elusive searches for purpose beneath her characters’ words. There are parts of this story that flummoxed me. I had to reread and absorb several times and at one stage I paused, only to return after having re-read ‘The Elegance of the Hedgehog’. I felt that I was missing subtleties because of my inadequate recall. I honestly feel that having fresh knowledge of ‘The Elegance of the Hedgehog’ added additional depth and appreciation of ‘The Gourmet’. I was left feeling that it served almost as an appetiser, one to be truly savoured.

Both ‘The Elegance of the Hedgehog’ and ‘The Gourmet’ were translated by Alison Anderson. There is so much within both novels that is lyrical, remarkable, rich and memorable.

You can buy ‘The Gourmet’ HERE and ‘The Elegance of the Hedgehog’ HERE.