L'Elegance du Herisson
This entry, is more for my personal edification than for anyone else.
I'm currently reading "L'elegance fu Herisson" by Muriel Barbery, in French. My mother sent it to me for Christmas and it's absolutely beautiful.
It's now in print here in the US, and I believe the title is "The elegance of the Hedgehog".
I just read a simple phrase that just sums up the posibility of love to me. The simple concierge of the building is going out with the fancy and rich Japanese newcomer and the ladies of the building meet them in the hallway and don't even recognize her as she is dressed up and hanging out with someone out of her class. The concierge, Renee, is stricken and repeats to herself "They did not recognize me!" and Kakuro turns to her and says "It's because they have never seen you. Myself, I would recognize you in any circumstances."
In french it reads:
"C'est parce qu'elles ne vous ont jamais vue, me dit-il. Moi, je vous reconnaitrais en n'importe quelle circonstance."
I don't know if I am able at all to translate how beautiful this idea is to me. This is the culmination of the whole book really, where we see how intelligent Renee is and how while she might not be the most beautiful or rich person around the block, she is truly the most amazing and of course elegant one.
This is one of many of the sentences that struck me throughout the book and I'm going to re-read it in it's entirety a second time in order to truly appreciate it. I just finished the book in a day, which I haven't done in a while because I usually have to interrupt my reading for school or work. This time I just had to keep on reading. Beautiful, beautiful book.
I don't know how good the translation is in English, but I still recommend it.
I'm currently reading "L'elegance fu Herisson" by Muriel Barbery, in French. My mother sent it to me for Christmas and it's absolutely beautiful.
It's now in print here in the US, and I believe the title is "The elegance of the Hedgehog".
I just read a simple phrase that just sums up the posibility of love to me. The simple concierge of the building is going out with the fancy and rich Japanese newcomer and the ladies of the building meet them in the hallway and don't even recognize her as she is dressed up and hanging out with someone out of her class. The concierge, Renee, is stricken and repeats to herself "They did not recognize me!" and Kakuro turns to her and says "It's because they have never seen you. Myself, I would recognize you in any circumstances."
In french it reads:
"C'est parce qu'elles ne vous ont jamais vue, me dit-il. Moi, je vous reconnaitrais en n'importe quelle circonstance."
I don't know if I am able at all to translate how beautiful this idea is to me. This is the culmination of the whole book really, where we see how intelligent Renee is and how while she might not be the most beautiful or rich person around the block, she is truly the most amazing and of course elegant one.
This is one of many of the sentences that struck me throughout the book and I'm going to re-read it in it's entirety a second time in order to truly appreciate it. I just finished the book in a day, which I haven't done in a while because I usually have to interrupt my reading for school or work. This time I just had to keep on reading. Beautiful, beautiful book.
I don't know how good the translation is in English, but I still recommend it.