tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post6744387791564291780..comments2024-03-25T09:01:20.997-07:00Comments on Diary of an Autodidact: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel BarberryDiary of an Autodidacthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849157548643091986noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-47951277534917869472015-12-12T10:02:47.714-08:002015-12-12T10:02:47.714-08:00I see.a hint of the hedgehog in your writings. Cer...I see.a hint of the hedgehog in your writings. Certainly your faith and...I'll just say it...your feminist beliefs suggest a hedgehog.Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16098063988095610502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-42919260879598362462015-12-07T10:09:41.087-08:002015-12-07T10:09:41.087-08:00A "girl who had read far too much Camus."...A "girl who had read far too much Camus." Yes! That's a great point. I'm glad you got to read this one. I'm afraid I tend toward fox, rather than hedgehog, by Berlin's definition. Diary of an Autodidacthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11849157548643091986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-87020879937762891372015-12-06T17:43:53.122-08:002015-12-06T17:43:53.122-08:00It’s taken a while, but I finally got around to re...It’s taken a while, but I finally got around to reading this book. My original intention was to read it in French, but I’m much too lazy to look up words.<br /><br />It’s really a wonderful book. There is much that I admire about it, but it was the humor that drew me in. Renee is an astute observer, and even in death she didn’t fail to note the ridiculous. Paloma with her writings on the absurdity of life and suicide seemed like a brilliant young girl who had read far too much Camus, but has the makings of an amazing woman.<br /><br />There is, of course, the question of whether Renee is a hedgehog or a fox. In the early pages I was quite certain that she is a fox with her devouring of cultural objects, from the films of Ozu to Blade Runner. However, as the novel progressed, and she noted moments of beauty, including the placement of a comma, I became less certain. Was beauty her singular vision? Her one big thing? Paloma had pledged to her to search for the moments of beauty, or as she put it the “moments of always within never.” <br /><br />In the end, I can’t really label her as just a hedgehog or a fox. Even Berlin couldn’t say that Renee’s beloved Tolstoy was one or the other. I believe Gore Vidal said it best:<br /><br />"To be, in Isaiah Berlin’s bright metaphor, hedgehog rather than fox. Yet the human mind is not capable of this kind of exclusivity. We are none of us hedgehogs or foxes, but both simultaneously."<br />Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16098063988095610502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-60911750863442299092014-02-16T22:57:23.164-08:002014-02-16T22:57:23.164-08:00I know the feeling. My book list is longer than Do...I know the feeling. My book list is longer than Don Juan's little black book...<br />Diary of an Autodidacthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11849157548643091986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-33503041173460702202014-02-15T21:45:28.441-08:002014-02-15T21:45:28.441-08:00That's an excellent suggestion, but give me so...That's an excellent suggestion, but give me some time to get to it. I've a lot that I'm working through at the moment.Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16098063988095610502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-70446898977881783662014-02-11T11:16:31.391-08:002014-02-11T11:16:31.391-08:00That's an interesting possibility. In the book...That's an interesting possibility. In the book, Paloma describes Renee as having the elegance of the hedgehog. Given the author's fascination with the thinkers and writers that Berlin discusses, it seems likely that she had some knowledge of the essay. If so, then perhaps one is left with the question of whether Renee more closely resembles the hedgehog (seeing life through the lens of one central idea) or the fox, seeing things from multiple perspectives. <br /><br />Perhaps you should read the book, and let me know your perspective on that question. Diary of an Autodidacthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11849157548643091986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-78164806348530678122014-02-08T10:34:49.971-08:002014-02-08T10:34:49.971-08:00Barberry's novel is responsible for your blog&...Barberry's novel is responsible for your blog's name, and I wonder if her novel is inspired by Isaiah Berlin's essay "The Hedge and the Fox". If you aren't familiar with it, the first line reads: <br /><br />There is a line among the fragments of the Greek poet Archilochus which says: 'The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.'<br />Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16098063988095610502noreply@blogger.com