A Woman's Paris ~ Joie de Vivre

By Melissa Larson

Numerous philosophical references, a suicidal twelve-year-old girl, and an autodidact disguised as an uneducated concierge: these terms popped up in nearly every review I could find of The Elegance of the Hedgehog. Prior to reading it, all I knew about the novel was that it appeared on the syllabus of a course entitled “Love and Death” at my school. So, it seemed safe to assume that this was not the most conventional (and likely not the most feel-good) story ever written. Muriel Barbery did not disappoint.

My previous A Woman’s Paris post focused on a film’s romantic portrayal of Paris as a city of glamor, opulence, and rich culture, serving as a source of inspiration for artists and authors alike. While Barbery also sets her story within upper-class French society, there is nothing romantic about it. Instead, the voices of two primary characters serve as tools to criticize the shallow, frivolous lifestyles of the wealthy occupants of a Parisian apartment building. A blend of cynicism and pretentiousness pervades the first chapters of the novel, as both protagonists describe their conscious efforts to confine themselves to their stereotypical roles in society, as defined by the aristocrats of France.

Rather than showcasing her love of Russian literature and Japanese films for others to see, Renee devotes as much time to hiding her thirst for knowledge as she does to her duties as a concierge. The materialistic inhabitants of the complex routinely see a dowdy woman addicted to television programs; little do they know that she sneaks philosophy books into her room and carefully selects her words when speaking to them in order to intentionally sound like a simpleton. The belief that revealing a passion for learning would disturb society’s status quo is the motivation for her actions.

Similarly, Paloma, a young girl living on the building’s fifth floor, has become so disillusioned by the shallowness of her family and classmates that she sees no point in living past her thirteenth birthday. Although she possesses superior intellect and knowledge beyond her years, she dumbs herself down when interacting with others, in order to come across as an average adolescent. Leading up to the fateful day, she records her observations of people, places, and ideas as “Profound Thoughts” in journals, in an attempt to find true beauty in the world before she takes her own life. As a result, she is initially the only person suspicious of Renee’s true identity; Renee also believes there to be more to Paloma than meets the eye. Barbery’s juxtaposition of these characters’ voices makes it apparent that this comes as a result of each seeing a bit of herself in the other. All they need is a catalyst to turn unspoken words into a real connection. Luckily, they eventually meet Kakuro Ozu.

My personal and academic ties to Japanese culture made it impossible for me to not be curious about how Japan was going to be represented in a story written by a French author. Before Kakuro moves into the building, I felt as though Barbery presented critical views towards class structure in France, yet did so with diction and syntax that retained the elegance that the country’s language is known for around the world. (Of course, credit must be given to those who translated the novel into English as well). Paloma builds upon this idea in her journals. Constantly looking down on those who do not recognize truly beautiful moments, she specifically discusses the importance of language when criticizing the views of one of her teachers. She describes the skillful use of grammar as “a way to attain beauty… [and] ascend to another level of the beauty of language”. Therefore Barbery’s skilled, artistic style of writing speaks to her own talents as an author while also allowing Renee and Paloma to convey their sophisticated appreciation for beauty, and Japanese culture in particular. The effectiveness of this approach comes as a result of the story being narrated and driven solely by the thoughts of these women; whether enjoying the simplicity of a haiku or the nature of a Japanese sliding door, their reactions to Kakuro’s disruption of everyday life in the building come across as authentic and pure. Consequently, the friendship and love that develops between the three characters seem all the more natural as well.

Excerpts of book reviews on the novel’s back cover warned me to prepare for a beautiful yet tragic ending, and again, Barbery did not disappoint. Despite being a bit teary-eyed during the last few pages, I felt refreshed after closing the book. I do not remember having ever called a book “refreshing” before, but I think this comes as a result of having never read a story that conveyed sarcasm and cynicism in such a stylistically elegant way. This seems to have a polarizing effect on readers; based on what I saw on Goodreads, most people either loved it or hated it. Perhaps this means that while Paloma describes Renee as having “the elegance of the hedgehog” (i.e. culturally refined despite some external prickliness), the novel itself also expresses a bit of this abrasive elegance. After all, what else can be expected from a story of characters unable to hide their own intelligence and depth in spite of their own cynicism, undermining society’s expectations of them until the very end?

Readers’ Choice: 70 books about Paris (Fiction and Non-fiction)

Paris Was Ours by Penelope Rowlands

Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light by David Downie, Alison Harris and Diane Johnson

Paris, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down by Rosecrans Baldwin

Paris: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd

This is Paris by Miroslav Sasek

Paris My Sweet by Amy Thomas

My Life in Paris by Julia Child

The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris by John Baxter

C’est La Vie by Suzy Gershman

The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World’s Most Glorious and Perplexing City  by David Lebowitz

Paris in Love: A Memoir by Eloise James

Paris: A Love Story by Kati Marton

Paris Stories (New York Review Books Classics) by Mavis Gallant and Michael Ondaatje

True Pleasures: A Memoir of Women in Paris by Lucinda Holdforth

Chronicles of Old Paris: Exploring the Historic City of Light by John Baxter

Immovable Feast: A Paris Christmas by John Baxter

Paris Stories by Mavis Gallant

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik

Americans in Paris: A Literary Anthology by Adam Gopnik

Paris France by Gertrude Stein and Adam Gopnik

Dreaming in French: The Paris Years of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Susan Sontag and Angela Davis by Alice Kaplan

Into A Paris Quarter by Diane Johnson

Paris Was the Place by Susan Conley

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier by Thad Carhart

1960s Paris Through the Looking Glass by Elizabeth Meixner

Paris-Chien: Adventures of an Ex-Pat Dog by Jackie Clark Mancuso

French Twist: An American Mom’s Experiment in Parisian Parenting by Catherine Crawford

The Painted Girls: A Novel by Cathy Marie Buchanan

Colette’s France: her lives, her loves by Jane Gilmour

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery and Alison Anderson

Walking Paris Streets with Eugene Atget: Inspired Stories about the Ragpicker, Lampshade Vendor, and Other Characters by Greg Bogaerts

The Missing Italian Girl: A Mystery in Paris by Barbara Corrado Pope

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal

Americans in Paris: Life and Death Under Nazi Occupation by Charles Glass

Is Paris Burning? by Larry Collins and Dominique La Pierre

The Short, Strange Life of Herschel Grynszpan: A Boy Avenger, a Nazi Diplomat, and a Murder in Paris by Jonathan Kirsch

Pictures at an Exhibition by Sara Houghteling

Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel, Nazi Agent by Hal Vaughan

Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert Edsel

And The Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris by Alan Riding

Mission to Paris: A Novel by Alan Furst

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Paris Without End by Gioia Diliberto

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway: The Paris Years by Michael Reynolds

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein

Paris Was Yesterday (1925-1939) by Janet Flanner

Walks in Hemingway’s Paris: A Guide for the Literary Traveler by Noel Riley Ritch

The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields

I Am Madame X by Gioia Diliberto

The Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland

The Greater Journey by David McCullough

The Paris Years of Thomas Jefferson by Professor William Howard Adams and William Howard Adams

An Evening with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson: Dinner, Wine and Conversation by James Gabler

Eiffel’s Tower: The Thrilling Story Behind Paris’s Beloved Monument and the Extraordinary World’s Fair That Introduced It by Jill Jones

Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris by Graham Robb

The Judgment of Paris by Ross King

The Ambassadors by Henry James

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant

Old Man Goriot by Honoré de Balzac

Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran

Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Caroline Weber

Renoir, My Father by Jean Renoir

Little Women Abroad by Louisa May Alcott and May Alcott

French Ways and Their Meaning by Edith Wharton

Do you have a book title and author to add to our Readers’ Choice list of books about Paris? Write: Barbara Redmond at barbara@awomansparis.com

Melissa Larson was born in Japan and raised in Round Lake Beach, Illinois. Melissa is studying International Studies, Japanese, English, and Community and Global Health at Macalester College, St. Paul, MN, and is a student intern at the Minnesota Department of Health and A Woman’s Paris. Melissa will be studying abroad in Denmark in an international public health program later this year and plans to chronicle her first trip to Europe while overseas for A Woman’s Paris. When not rowing on Macalester crew or taking ballroom and salsa dance classes, Melissa enjoys reading and working on her cross stitching in her free time.

You may also enjoy A Woman’s Paris® post, McLain’s “Paris Wife” will have you head over heels for the Hemingways. Bethany Olson was drawn to McLain’s writing, detailed and thoughtful, that artfully captures Hadley’s voice and Ernest’s character in McLain’s fictionalized rendering of Hadley and Ernest’s relationship and their life in Paris. As did Hadley, Bethany found herself falling for for Ernest Hemingway, drawn to his exuberance, quick wit, and verve for life. Included are vimeos featuring interviews with Paula McLain by WHSmithDirect and BookLounge.

Still, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Bon appétit, Julia! The book, Julie & Julia, writes Bethany Olson, is narrated by a vivacious, hysterical, brutally honest woman who is saddled with an unfulfilling job and is desperate for a new project. Powell decides to cook her way through Julia Child’s famed cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Including recipes for Pralin, (caramelized almonds), Les Truffes aux Chocolat, (chocoalte candies in the form of truffles), and Couques, (tongue-shaped caramelized cookies made from puff pastry dough), from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I and Volume II. 

More Midnights in Paris: Readers’ Choice French films from 2013. Melissa Larson takes us on a journy of Woody Allen’s film Midnight in Paris where we follow a montage of postcard-worthy shots of Paris and are introduced to Gil and Inez, an American couple taking a trip to the city. Gil literally loses himself in the streets of Paris and finds himself in its “Golden Age” shaking hands with such literary greats as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and Ernest Hemingway. Including a list of classic French films from 2013. (French)

Portraying France though Cinema: Myth vs. Reality. Melissa Larson explores the common stereotype that finds its way into the American Hollywood film: the perception of Paris. Who wouldn’t want to believe that he or she could travel to a place known for its beautiful art, food, wine and language of love? 

86 Classic French films to watch again and again. French woman Bénédicte Mahé believes that to better understand French pop culture and French people you may meet, you need to have some notion of cinematographic culture. She shares with us important French films (mainly from the 1990s and 2000s) that will help you accomplish just that. (French)

African-American Expatriates in Paris, by writer Kristin Wood who shares a few of our favorite books written by and/or about African-Americans in Paris and France. Some are novels; some are histories; all are fantastic reads.

Text copyright ©2014 Melissa Larson. All rights reserved.
Illustrations copyright ©Barbara Redmond. All rights reserved.
barbara@awomansparis.com