The Life of Elves

I planned to begin reading Muriel Barbery’s latest novel, La vie des Elfes (The Life of Elves), after breakfast one morning. I did not stop until I passed well over 100 pages. I was enthralled. My heart is firmly in the 19th century – George Eliot, the Brontës, Austin, Crandall, to name a few, so I love the detailed descriptions of landscapes, pastoral scenes, and peasants. I felt those places when I read Elves. It is like a painting. I see some figures, some color, some light, but it doesn’t move me. Then I see Monet’s “Haystacks,” and I am driven to tears. Likewise there are novels I enjoy, but every once in a great while, a real masterpiece comes along that moves me on so many levels. This novel is one of those. I hear show more the voices, the wind, and the raining beating on the thatched roofs. This is no ordinary novel.

Muriel Barbery was born in Morrocco, but her family left for France when she was only two months old. She studied there and received a certificate for entry into government service 1990. In 1993, she taught Philosophy in several colleges. She gave up teaching and lived for two years in Japan. Muriel has written two previous novels, including the internationally renowned The Elegance of the Hedgehog. She currently lives in Europe.

The Life of Elves is a lyrical, mesmerizing story of discord among living beings. The war this launches upsets the balance of nature. Two young women – one born in France and the other in Italy – possess magical powers. The two children possess supernatural powers, which allow them to resist the encroaching army. The Italian girl, Clara, possesses an extraordinary power to hear music and visualize the notes. She learns to play the most complicated compositions with almost no training. The Spanish girl, Maria, who later moves to France, is able to understand and communicate with nature. As the children develop their talents, they are able to see, hear, and communicate with each other.

Barbery writes, “There was a fallow field, overgrown with sleek serried blades of grass, rising gently to meet the hill through a winding passage, until it reached a lovely stand of poplar trees rich with strawberries and a carpet of periwinkles where not so long ago every family was permitted to gather wood, and would commence with the sawing by first snowfall; alas that era is now gone, but it will not be spoken of today, be it due to sorrow or forgetfulness, or because at this hour the little girl is running to meet her destiny, holding tight to the giant paw of a wild boar. // And this on the mildest autumn evening anyone had seen for many a year. Folk had delayed putting their apples and pears to ripen on the wooden racks in the cellar, and all day long the air was streaked with insects inebriated with the finest orchard vintage. There was a languidness in the air, and indolent sigh, a quiet certainty that things would never end, and while people went about their work as usual, without pause and without complaint, they took secret delight in this endless autumn as it told not to forget to love” (19-20). The prose reminds me of a Monet canvas.

Throughout the novel, Barbery has sprinkled some wonderful moments. For example, when Maria approaches a table “with three cloves of garlic and her glass [which] is an arrangement for the eye that pays tribute to the divine” (79). She slightly moves one of the cloves. Some pages later, Barbery explains, “The paths of fate: a garlic clove moved one millimeter and the world is utterly changed; the slightest shift disturbs the secret position of our emotions and yet it transforms our lives forever” (114).

The Life of Elves by Muriel Barbery will give the reader pause to stop – on almost every page – to consider her words, to wonder at the beauty and timelessness of her prose. 5 stars

--Chiron, 4/16/16 show less

I should have known better. I can’t abide elves and fantasy foolishness, but I loved Muriel Barbery’s first two novels and took a chance on this one. Elves who appear as real people battle dark forces. Two girls – Maria in France and Clara in Italy – are key to the battle. Clara has the gift of remote vision that seems to be activated when she plays the piano. Maria is like a little girl field marshal for the elfin forces. There’s some beautiful language, but I got lost.

Due bambine di origine ignota, ciascuna dotata di poteri fuori dall'ordinario, sono i mezzi attraverso i quali passa il salvataggio del mondo. Questa è la premessa del nuovo romanzo della Barbery, un fantasy, ambientato in parte in una Francia difficilmente identificabile e in parte in Italia, prima a L'Aquila e poi a Roma, e in entrambi i casi le città sono solo trompe-l'œil. Anche il tempo è indefinito, in certi momenti sembrerebbe di essere dopo la Prima Guerra mondiale (e questo se non altro avrebbe un senso), in altri dopo la Seconda (e questo invece senso non ne ha); non è chiaro chi siano gli Elfi del titolo e che cosa facciano nel romanzo, non è chiaro chi sia il nemico contro il quale combattono, e nemmeno perché siano show more state scelte le due bambine. Le descrizioni sono minuziose, ma troppo sopra le righe, in un'ansia estetica che pare voler coprire l'incapacità dell'autrice di rendere incisiva la trama. Il finale è, come ne L'eleganza del riccio, frettoloso e incongruente.
Ringrazio Gallic Book e Netgalley per avermi fornito una copia gratuita in cambio di una recensione onesta.

Two girls of unknown origin, each with extraordinary powers, are the means through which passes the saving of the world. This is the premise of the new novel of Barbery, a fantasy, set partly in France and partly in a difficult to identify Italy, before in L'Aquila and then in Rome, and in both cases the cities are only trompe-l ' oeil. Even the time is undefined, sometimes it seems to be after World War II (and this if nothing else would make sense), others after the Second (and this way however it does not); it is not clear who are the Elves of the title and what they do in the novel, it is not clear who is the enemy against which they fight, and it is not clear why the two girls were chosen. The descriptions are detailed, but too over the top, in an aesthetic anxiety that seems to cover the author's inability to make the plot incisive. The finale is, as in The Elegance of the Hedgehog, hasty and inconsistent.
Thank Gallic Book and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review. show less

I live in a a countryside, in Italy, and so when I picked up this book, The Life of Elves from Gallic Books I knew what I would have met and I haven't been disappointed. The book is translated wonderfully well and the plot to me similar, although distant at the same time for style and purpose from the one written by Joanne Harris: Chocolat.

Yes because the arrival of two outsiders in these two remote portion of lands, Spain and Abruzzo, and in two countrysides very well "captured" by the author, changed the course of the events for these simple people and lands...

The description of the italian countryside is perfect.

These kids had two gifts, the one of the vision of the past the first one in Spain and the one of music, the second living show more in Italy.

It's an emotional and a magical trip of sensations in rural lands where people have a big heart and where people believes at the power of certain people and at the enchantment that they can bring with...themselves

Scenarios also big cities as Rome, where for example the musician teenager will discover all the eccentricities of her Maestro. I recognized in that treats the ones I met in old and so-called important people when I was little and their desire of telling who they were sharing their opinions about various topics .
I was enchanted by the writing-style of Barbery. I didn't read her first book and I decided I will do that as soon as possible. To me a privilege to read her second book thanks to Netgalley.com.

I recommend this book to all that spirits in search for something magical, abstract, different, to all that people in love for discovering rural places but at the same time at all that human being in love for magic. show less

DNF

I really wanted to like this. It is beautifully written, but nothing ever seems to happen. I finally decided to DNF at about the half-way point.

The Life of Elves was an interesting read by Muriel Barbery.

I was totally ready to read this book, and then I lost all interest once I got two chapters in. The plot of the book sounded so exciting! It was going to be a thrilling adventure! But, it was quite the let down for many reasons.

1. This book is actually going to be two books, but it could have just been one big one.

2. You should be able to read a sample of this novel before you get it - the writing style was definitely not my favourite. I had a hard time reading it (it was translated from french, so maybe that's why?). The style was strange and didn't benefit the novel at all. You can tell the author tried really hard to make an interesting book, but it fell really flat.

3. The show more chosen words are beautiful, but it just drags on and on and on and on and on....explaining is great, don't get me wrong, but too much makes a boring book. I felt like I read three chapters and only moved forward two minutes into the entire story.

I kept avoiding this book because it bored me, so I just trucked through it. I wouldn't recommend it personally, it's not a book for me! People who love flowery type explanation in books will like this one.

Two out of five stars.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. show less

I was so disappointed in this book, especially after loving The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I got about halfway and just gave up. The two storylines were just not that interesting, taking too long to develop, and I couldn't really keep the characters straight because they didn't make much of an impression on me.

It's almost a great book. I love the premise, but the execution was lackluster.