The Elegance of the Hedgehog
by Muriel Barbery

OK, so I actually read this book almost a month ago. But the point is: I read a book. A real book, not a magazine. I was very proud of myself. We will not discuss how long it took me to read this book, though.

I really liked this book! I thought it was neat how the 2 characters from whose perspective the book was alternatively written would philosophize about the deeper meanings behind their seemingly ordinary lives. I enjoyed the “light philosophy” and the storyline. I enjoyed the inclusion of some Japanese culture. And the ending was completely unexpected! At first I was kind of shocked and sad, then I realized it was kind of beautiful, just like the book.

I will tell you what I should not have done, though. I should not have gone onto GoodReads or Visual Bookshelf and read other peoples’ reviews. When I did that, I found that most people were saying negative things about how improbable it was that a 12 year old girl and a concierge would have such deep thoughts, and that the deep thoughts were actually just pretentious babble. I started to doubt my impression. I started to think they were right, why did I find the voices of these characters credible?

My overall thought about this book is: those people can shut up. I liked this book.