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0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 It may have been too French for me Nov 18, 2009
I really wanted to like this book. From the reviews I assumed that the juxtaposition between 54 year old Madam Michel and 12 year old Paloma would be fun. Unfortunately they crossed paths too late in the novel for satisfaction sake.
Madam Michel was much too literally verbose for me and Paloma was much too precocious for a 12 year old in my opinion. The book did get fun when Kakru Ozu entered the mix, but alas, too little, too late....bg
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 lovely middle-aged Cinderella story Nov 18, 2009
Renee is the frumpy 54-year-old concierge in a posh Paris residential high-rise. Paloma is an ultra-precocious 12-year-old who resides in the building with her wealthy, educated, superficial family. These two narrators ultimately find themselves kindred spirits, joined by new resident Monsieur Ozu, a Japanese gentleman who has aroused the curiosity of everyone else in the building. Both Renee and Paloma are leading a clandestine life, but Monsieur Ozu recognizes almost immediately that Renee, despite her impoverished upbringing, is a closet intellectual with a finely-honed appreciation for the arts. She quotes Proust and Kant, recognizes Mozart's Reqiuem when it is blasted from Ozu's bathroom, and prefers Dutch painters over French. Paloma's chapters are journal entries of "Profound Thoughts." She is the top student in her school but keeps her smarts in check so as not to draw too much attention to herself. She is also matter-of-factly planning suicide, unless something to live for appears in the meantime. At times, both Renee and Paloma wax philosophical, making the book a bit of a snoozer in the beginning. However, after the three main characters discover each other, I became hooked. Will Renee overcome her reticence and break out of the shackles of her class and position? Will her new friendships give Paloma the raison d'etre that she's seeking? Renee is the Cinderella character that we're hoping has found her prince, and Paloma provides her own brand of cynical humor. Her mother immediately carts her off to the family psychiatrist when Paloma tells the family that she hears voices, just to get them off her case. The scene where she cuts a deal with the shrink is priceless.
0 of 3 found the following review helpful:
fast service Nov 16, 2009
the book came on time and I was able to send it as a gift.
0 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Wordy Nov 14, 2009
in spite of the beautiful writing, I didn't care much for this book. I found it way too wordy. While the end picked up, it wasn't worth plowing through all that meandering philosophy to get there.
3 of 5 found the following review helpful:
I guess I AM shallow Nov 08, 2009
I was insulted when a friend raved about this book, but then dismissed it, stating, "it's too heady for you." I consider myself intelligent and well read, while my friend is less so; I immediately chose it for our next book club book. What a mistake! First, no-one read it ("I got through 15 pages and couldn't force myself to pick it up again") The four of us who did read it were mixed on our reviews.
Basically it is a study of class in modern French society. A totally prosaic bore. The two primary characters, Renee and Paloma, each speak in first person, narrating a chapter or two then switching. Neither character is likable; the irony is that each class secretly feels it is superior to the other. Because of issues in her past, Renee feels she has to hide her intelligence from her tenants; I found this to be contrived. As for Paloma's suicide intent, I never took it seriously.
The book does get lighter with the introduction of another primary character two thirds into the book. Just as you see some positive changes occurring and a lightening of the mood, there is a surprising twist that I will not reveal that again mires it in melancholia . It's a cop-out.
I gave it two stars because I chalked its wordiness up to the fact that it's a translation. And one other star because Renee did make me laugh when she wanted to kill a tenant for a misplaced comma in her written note.
I am proud to be shallow.
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