Moments of Always Within the Never

Today I want to chat with you a bit about the last book I read before officially beginning my book-a-week challenge: The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery.

Now I had heard a lot of buzz about this title over the last few months from reliable sources, and was intending to get around to it soon enough, but as luck would have it when I was home in upstate NY a few weeks ago the Mom-Squad passed along a copy to me, admitting that it had been a little challenging to get into but that she wanted to give it another whirl in a few months. Obviously I snatched it right up (don't worry Moms, I promise you'll get it back!) and devoured it over the course of a weekend.

At it's most basic level (and I promise I'm not being a spoiler, this is information you could glean from reading the book jacket) the story revolves around two women--a middle-aged concierge and a precocious twelve-year old--who choose to live as inconspicuous outsiders looking in, hiding their true selves from a world they perceive as unreceptive. The arrival of a elderly Japanese man catalyzes a remarkable series of events, as he recognizes and teases out the exquisite nature both women are secreting away.

While the plot is unassailably beautiful in its exploration of class, character, and redemption, my favorite aspect of The Elegance is how Barbery continues to probe, "moments of always within never," mediating on those beautiful and unexpected gems that sneak into ordinary moments, offering us respite and hope. This book doesn't apologize for its small scale, instead showing extraordinary restraint in its scope, focusing tightly on the earnest portrayal of two women who--in spite of their best intentions to remain invisible--deserve our special attention. This story's patient eloquence, its delight in ellipsis, its thoughtful reflections and, well, elegance, I suppose, all serve to remind the reader to search for beauty, regardless of the quotidian shell that might be incapsulating it. I believe this is the kind of book one can read again and again, simply to be reminded of those "moments of always... "

Admission: While I did finish The Elegance in a 48-hour period, I must admit that my mom's point about the book being tough to get into holds weight. For those of you who get intimidated and/or frustrated with allusion-heavy books, please be patient with this one; yes, there are multiple references to phenomenology, Tolstoy, and Marx (which, because I'm a dork got me super-excited, especially the beautiful section on wabi, pg. 164-5), but it's worth wading through all the semi-obscure references to get to the heart of the story, which in a way, is a good metaphor for the story itself--a kind of commitment to forging beyond the shell to see what lies within.