The Elegance of the Hedgehog is Muriel’s second book after Gourmet Rhapsody, and is actually the bread on a Gourmet Rhapsody sandwich. The Elegance of the Hedgehog is set in the same building as Gourmet Rhapsody and begins shortly before the death bed of Pierre Arthens, and quickly passes by his death with a simple thought from a 12 year old girl in another apartment:
Pierre Arthens for sure was truly nasty. They say he was the pope of food critics and a worldwide chapion of French cuisine. Well, that doesn’t surprise me. If you want my opinion, French cuisine is pitiful. So much genius and wherewithal and so many resources for such a heavy end result … And so many sauces and stuffings and pastries, enough to make you burst! It’s in such bad taste … And when it isn’t heavy, it’s as fussy as can be: you’re dying of hunger and before you are three stylized radishes and two scallops in a seaweed gelee served on pseudo-Zen plates by waiters who look as joyful as undertakers.
As a classically trained chef myself, i couldn’t agree more.
Once Pierre is dead, the story quickly moves on as Pierre’s apartment is soon taken over by a new, wealthy occupant.
So while Gourmet Rhapsody is certainly a good starter, you don’t need to have read it beforehand to enjoy the main course of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, you could actually read it when the Pierre’s death is spoken about in The Elegance of the Hedgehog, or even afterwards, as a desert, if you so wish.
But whether you read Gourmet Rhapsody or not, i highly suggest you read The Elegance of the Hedgehog. At it’s heart is Muriel having some fun with the juxtaposition of the poor concierge on the ground floor with the wealthy inhabitants of the apartments above; peeling back the curtains to see what’s really going on behind these closed doors, throwing in some great little rants, ideas, and wonderful, philosophical, food-for-thought concerning the disparity of rich and poor in society; and how each tend to live in completely separate universes, oblivious to each other, hopefully never having to meet on the stairs.
As i’ve previously mentioned in Night Train to Lisbon, i do enjoy philosophers who write novels, and if i had real books i’d happily put Muriel on the shelf next to Pascal.
Super good, and next up from Muriel will be The Life of Elves which i’ll be sure to get around to reading in the not too distant future.
