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marryd's review against another edition
5.0
Renee is the concierge at an apartment building for rich families in Paris. She has been widowed for 12 years and lives with her cat. She hides her intelligence and self education from the tenants due to her contempt for them. 12 year old Paloma lives in an apartment upstairs. She is planning suicide on her 13th birthday unless she can find a good reason to continue living. She too is filled with contempt for those around her. Mr Ozu moves into the apartment building and becomes a catalyst for change.
The book is written in two voices, that of Renee and Paloma, illustrated with different fonts and I found this structure very effective. It does take quite a long time for Mr Ozu to arrive.
I initially struggled with this book - for the first hundred pages or so - in spite of the beautiful writing and the wonderful exploration of ideas. The hilarious exploration of phenomenology is worth the price of the book. Still, it felt unrelenting in its negativity. Unlike the protagonists I thought change would come so I persevered. I stopped on numerous occasions to chase down allusions and references that were no familiar to me and this worked for me.
I can see that I will read this again more than once and it will reward me. It's absolutely worth the read. I'd love to be part of a book discussion with this book.
The book is written in two voices, that of Renee and Paloma, illustrated with different fonts and I found this structure very effective. It does take quite a long time for Mr Ozu to arrive.
I initially struggled with this book - for the first hundred pages or so - in spite of the beautiful writing and the wonderful exploration of ideas. The hilarious exploration of phenomenology is worth the price of the book. Still, it felt unrelenting in its negativity. Unlike the protagonists I thought change would come so I persevered. I stopped on numerous occasions to chase down allusions and references that were no familiar to me and this worked for me.
I can see that I will read this again more than once and it will reward me. It's absolutely worth the read. I'd love to be part of a book discussion with this book.
bkowalczik's review against another edition
4.0
What is life like for the intellectually gifted, geniuses, surrounded by the rest of us mere mortals? Is there meaning in life for the atheist genius? I liked this book because it made me think- at least a little bit - and took me places I wouldn't even think of going intellectually myself (there is a lot of philosophy) and I had to read it with a dictionary (I have a small vocabulary). However, there is still the story between these alienated souls that draws us into the novel and kept me reading until the very, surprising, end. ""I'll be searching for those moments of always within never. Beauty, in this world."
yvetteadams's review against another edition
3.0
This book wasn't what I was expecting. It was a little too philosophical for me and there wasn't enough plot. But having said that, once I got to the end (which I did like) I could look back on the book a little more fondly.
asiakota's review against another edition
1.0
Just like touching a hedgehog, it hurts to read this book. It is overflowing with pretentiousness to the point where I would skip entire pages when a philosophical rant would come up. I like philosophy and I like when a book adds philosophical elements to make me think about life and what I'm reading, but this was too much. Generally, the philosophical rants held no importance to the plot and it just screamed of "Oh I also know a lot about this so let me show off how much I know!"
Now, let's say you skip all of the philosophy: is the plot worth it? The main character is an extremely intelligent woman but has to pretend that she is stupid because she works as a concierge in a fancy building. God forbid someone finds out her secret... then what? Well, logically, probably not much because there's no reason for anyone to care. This story takes place in the present day, where schooling is free in France so if she really wanted, she could go back to school-- but that's besides the point. The whole premise of the story is that her world will end if people find out how intelligent she is and if they see her reading Kafka or whoever else. A normal person, even an uppity rich person, is too self-absorbed to care even in this ultra-posh place. Even if they did find out...this doesn't take place at a time when women couldn't read, so this entire premise makes zero sense.
Then we have the little girl who is going to commit suicide because she's too intelligent. This would have been interesting had the character shown any symptoms of depression and shown a deeper side to her story, but no she is just too smart to be alive. So here we have two unlikeable protagonists whose entire plot revolves around two non-issues fluffed up with useless philosophical pretentiousness.
All in all, maybe if you love philosophy then you can power through 50% of the book and mildly enjoy it but then you have to deal with the useless plot line. I probably would only recommend this book to that annoying person who always has to add a useless, unrelated fun-fact to any conversation-- they might relate to this book.
Now, let's say you skip all of the philosophy: is the plot worth it? The main character is an extremely intelligent woman but has to pretend that she is stupid because she works as a concierge in a fancy building. God forbid someone finds out her secret... then what? Well, logically, probably not much because there's no reason for anyone to care. This story takes place in the present day, where schooling is free in France so if she really wanted, she could go back to school-- but that's besides the point. The whole premise of the story is that her world will end if people find out how intelligent she is and if they see her reading Kafka or whoever else. A normal person, even an uppity rich person, is too self-absorbed to care even in this ultra-posh place. Even if they did find out...this doesn't take place at a time when women couldn't read, so this entire premise makes zero sense.
Then we have the little girl who is going to commit suicide because she's too intelligent. This would have been interesting had the character shown any symptoms of depression and shown a deeper side to her story, but no she is just too smart to be alive. So here we have two unlikeable protagonists whose entire plot revolves around two non-issues fluffed up with useless philosophical pretentiousness.
All in all, maybe if you love philosophy then you can power through 50% of the book and mildly enjoy it but then you have to deal with the useless plot line. I probably would only recommend this book to that annoying person who always has to add a useless, unrelated fun-fact to any conversation-- they might relate to this book.
mtolivier's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't immediately like this book -- it seemed too self-aware for my taste. But gradually the characters grew on me. I really ended up liking Renée, Paloma, Kakuro, and Manuela, and I wished I could have seen more of their interactions. Now if only it didn't have that French ending! A very unsatisfactory ending for this American.
nannamoo's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the book until I got to the end. Very disappointed by the ending and felt it detracted totally from the rest of the book
sprior's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sandwoo's review against another edition
3.0
Starts slow, and is dense with abstract philosophical themes but has interesting characters and whimsical elements.
frogsbucherei's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0