The Elegance of A Cliched Ending

Hey currently non-existent readers,
So this week I read the acclaimed novel by Muriel Barbery: The Elegance of the Hedgehog.
The E of the H is being hailed in Europe as a "philosophical fairy tale", "the ultimate celebration of every person's invisible part", "richly suggestive", "most astounding French literary sensation of 2007", and a "great social satire".
This all may be true, but the fact is, The E of the H is slow to start and ends with a tired excuse for an ending.
The main characters, Renee and Paloma, are both intriguing, but the plot, while possessing intriguing twists, is fairly standard.

A BASIC RECIPE FOR AN INSPIRING NOVEL
1. Take one or two lonely people. Give them boring, basic lives.
2. Follow their boring lives. Show occasional sparkles of their being unique, alive people.
3. Introduce interesting, cosmopolitan stranger. (Usually old.)
4. Add water and watch characters unfold and bloom.
5. Reveal scarring past event of character(s).
6. Tragic pitfall. Remaining characters recover slowly and beautifully.

Yeah. It's that simple.
I mean, sure The E of the H does ask some pretty complicated questions, but sometimes I just felt like the author was being pretentious, using the novel's characters to show off her philosophical and political views and knowledge.

The E of the H is still a really interesting read, but it doesn't quite live up to the rave reviews.

Rose Spinster

P. S. I changed my last name. I don't think it makes me flaky. I think it makes me interesting. Also I think it's funny.