Helpful Score: 17
What a stunning, gorgeously-written book! I've placed it on my All-Time Top 5 List without hesitation. The narrative perspective switches back and forth between a cranky, secretly-erudite Concierge at a high-end French luxury building and the genius-but-equally-cranky 12-year-old daughter of one of the residents, a Socialist member of the French government. With equal parts Ignatius J. Reilly'esque laugh-out-loud outrage at the world & people's stupidity mixed with a survey of modern literature and key philosophical ideas, this elegant book covers everything from profound ideas to the profound ways that people hide - from each other and themselves. The sudden ending actually made me cry, which was when I realized how invested I had become in the characters.
Helpful Score: 8
I really liked this one, although I did skip over a few of the more "abstract" of the tiny chapters. Paloma, the younger co-protagonist did come off as a tad too precocious at times, so I could understand folks disliking her for that reason; Renee, the other main character, wasn't nearly as over-the-top. Moreover, the supporting characters carry their own weight, not just two-dimensional props.
The book has been described as a "fable", but I'd say it's as much a parody, though there's a moral to the story.
Definitely recommended.
The book has been described as a "fable", but I'd say it's as much a parody, though there's a moral to the story.
Definitely recommended.
Helpful Score: 7
This book takes a little reading before you are drawn into it, but I can't encourage you enough to keep reading. The characters are well developed in their own idiosyncratic ways. The plot is slow, because the plot isn't really what the book is about. And yet by the end, I found myself rooting for the two main characters. While occasionally the dialog of the 12-yr old girl may at times seem unbelievable for a youngster, I decided to read those segments instead as a interlude between chapters to reflect upon some aspect of life. And the child in the girl does come out, eventually. As do the hopes and dreams of the stifled concierge. This book is about so much more than the story line itself - even the title speaks to the metaphors and morals the story has to give.
Helpful Score: 6
Reading this book is sometimes hard going, but deeply satisfying. For anyone who has struggled with the meaning of life and death (and who has not?), it provides moments of strain and pain, and times of rare joy. Be sure to read it all the way through.
Helpful Score: 5
This novel takes place in Paris, where a concierge of an apartment complex for wealthy patrons, a thirteen-year old girl, and a new Japanese resident intersect each other's lives--and their hearts. Rife with witty, often funny, musings about life, death, and art, this book drew me in slowly, making me care for Paloma, the thirteen-year old, Renee, the concierge and secretly self educated woman, and the gentle Kazuro, who sees through them both, becoming Paloma's friend...and drawing Renee into the light of life and love.
It was wonderful, heartbreaking, beautiful, and funny. Rread this book, and you won't forget it.
It was wonderful, heartbreaking, beautiful, and funny. Rread this book, and you won't forget it.
