欧宝娱乐

Some asides before the review: Ugh. One of my pet peeves is when books don鈥檛 start on page 1 and I think that this book starts farther ahead of page 1 than any book I鈥檝e ever read. Enough said about that. Also, in this edition there are some mistakes: fourth and sixth floor residents get mixed up two times, the age difference/direction of the sisters was given incorrectly in one instance, I think. I tried, mostly successfully, not to be too OCD like Colombe, Paloma鈥檚 sister, as I am normally bothered by these kinds of errors, but it was so easy to immerse myself in the lives of the characters in this case.

This book has very short chapters that make it easy to read just one more, then just one more, and yet one more, and so on. I wish I鈥檇 had the time to read the whole thing without putting the book down.

I thought it was pretentious, self-conscious, too smarty pants clever and possibly somewhat contrived. I felt blindsided at one important juncture. Some things occasionally rang slightly false. Maybe the whole story wrapped up too neatly. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it anyway, but I can鈥檛 give it 5 stars for the reasons just stated.

This is a book about our ability or inability to change. It鈥檚 also about being different. It鈥檚 also about the unexpected. It鈥檚 also about intimacy and connection with others vs. hiding one鈥檚 true self from others. It鈥檚 fascinating to read, and often amusing, sometimes sad. I think there are some flashes of brilliance.

This book really reminded me of the joy of reading, the simple pleasure of getting to know fictional characters. I loved these characters and enjoyed spending time with them. Paloma (I鈥檝e always enjoyed twelve year old girl characters in literature, ever since I was younger than 12 and was introduced to Madeleine L鈥橢ngle鈥檚 characters Meg and Vicki!) and Ren茅e are so perspicacious and Paloma is so funny, one of the most amusing suicidal characters I鈥檝e had the pleasure to read about, even though I questioned the authenticity of her plans, at least throughout much of the book. They are two highly intelligent misfits who are so much more appealing than most of those conventional people surrounding them. Kakuro Ozu is such a wonderful character as well; he was so easy to fall in love with and appreciate. Manuela, the other various building residents, and some other characters are of some interest as well. It took a while to really understand why Ren茅e and Paloma have chosen to present facades. The reader gets to see more of their real selves throughout the book and they鈥檙e delightful.

Paloma and Ren茅e are each interested in different facets of Japanese culture and that culture, and also philosophy, Russian literature, fine art, and music all play parts in this book, as do class and caste and French sensibilities, and human nature. I loved so many parts, and particularly loved the scene with Paloma and her mother鈥檚 therapist, and I found most of Paloma鈥檚 and Ren茅e鈥檚 musings were wondrous and often hilarious.

I think whether readers like this book or not will have to do with how much tolerance they have for philosophizing (I have a lot) and how much they like/identify with the two narrating characters, the 12 year old wealthy girl considering suicide: Paloma, and the 54 year old residential building concierge: Ren茅e. (I enjoyed their voices.)

P.S. Edits:

I am really wanting sliding doors, tea & pastries with friends.

One of the review blurbs in the front of the book says a Parisian psychotherapist is prescribing this book for her patients. Hmm. I think it would depend on the person whether this book is experienced as life affirming or devastating or something else; I wouldn't prescribe it to everyone. I don't recommend it for everyone, but I'd recommend that readers who find it intriguing definitely read it.