Holy crap, has it really been since last May that I posted a book review? Okay, the drought is over. But let's not be mistaken; it certainly doesn't mean that I haven't been reading since last spring, only that I have been neglecting my reviewing.
In any event, this latest book was loaned to me by a member of the group that I usually hike with on Thursdays. She said it had been circulated throughout the group and all loved it. I can see why. It was on the NY Times bestseller list for over a year and for good reason. The author is Muriel Barbery, a philosopher AND professor. I have neither heard of this author before nor her two novels, this one being the second in the series. Published in 2008 and originally written in French, it was easily translated into English and flows like it was always meant to be written in English to begin with.
This book is not a light read at all, but a philosophical reading on life, emotions, beauty in life, love, art, suicidal tendencies, secrets and more. It is written from the perspective of two characters; a middle-aged dowerly concierge of an upscale apartment house where the entire novel takes place and a pre-pubescent girl who resides on an upper floor. Both keep their true, inner identities to themselves for much of the book until one day, a sophisticated, wealthy Japanese man named Kukoro comes to live in the building and transforms both their lives permanently and for the better.
Unlike a lot of books I've read in the past year, this one is enormously thought-provoking and one must really use their whole brain to comprehend what the author is trying to convey. I read that one therapist actually prescribes this book to her patients as one would prescribe Prozac! This is certainly the healthier alternative and you get an education in philosophy as a bonus. I'd recommend it to anyone who has a passion for philosophy, appreciates great literature, deep thinking, and the finer things in life such as beauty in the natural world, the human condition, and love, of course.
