Clara and Maria are gifted with the talents of
empathy, intuition, clairvoyance and creative expression. They share an intimate
communication and connection with the natural world that surrounds them. Maria
lives in Burgundy, France; Clara lives in Italy. She is originally from the
Abruzzo.
Even though the girls live away from each
other the communication between them goes beyond the realm of words…
I appreciate the delicate style through which
Barbery describes her characters. For example, I will offer a glimpse into the
character of Maria from page 86:
“And yet Maria was close to the religion of
poetry every day, whenever she climbed a tree or listened to the song of the
branches and foliage. Very early on she had understood that other people went
about the countryside as if they were blind and deaf, and the symphonies she
heard and the tableaux she embraced were, to them, mere sounds of nature and
mute landscapes. When she wandered through her fields and woods she was in
constant contact with a material tide in the form of intangible but visible
lines which enabled her to know the movement and radiation of things, and if in
winter she liked to go to the oak trees in the combe in the neighboring field,
it was because the three trees liked winter too, and made vibrant sketches
whose strokes and curves she could see as if they were an engraving embodied in
the air by a master’s hand. Moreover, Maria conversed not only with matter, but
also with the creatures of the land.”
How can the enhanced perceptions and
sensitivities of their human souls help them face the threat of war? What role
do they play in the fight between oppression and freedom?
The Life of Elves is a tribute to the bond between art, empathy and Nature. I appreciate the mystical quality of the prose.
Metaphors and descriptions paint dream-like scenes that become timeless and intriguing to the reader. Unlike The Elegance of the Hedgehog, this story contains elements of fantasy.
The author offers an introspective outlook about some of the
characters. Muriel Barbery unearths the gems that are concealed under the superficial
façade of everyday life, and she does so with artistry. She did this in The
Elegance of the Hedgehog and she conveys a similar message in The Life of Elves. For example, read the description of Leonora Acciavalti
and draw your own conclusions about it:
“…
while the guests dined, their gazes followed the network of curving lines embraced
by her gestures, and when they left they took away with them some of Leonora’s
grace: she may not have been beautiful, but they found her sublime…”
Muriel
Barbery describes Leonora as a “world unto herself.”
“Her caste had bethrothed her to the role of
bored heiress, but fate had made a daydreamer of her, gifted with otherworldly
power, to such good effect that in her presence you felt as if a window onto
infinity had been opened, and you understood that it was by delving into
yourself that you escaped imprisonment.”
There is a story buried in a world of
dream-like descriptions, metaphors and introspective reflections. However, the
conflict and plot do not appear well-defined. The plot rolls on subtle waves of undertones. It is blurred by the poetical prose and the ramblings, which
become monotonous at times. It takes patience and attention to remember the endless
list of characters, both elves and humans.
Some
features of the story irritated me as a reader. Why are some of the characters always
drinking wine? I do not see the significance of this or the need to incorporate
it. The author appears to be obsessed with the act of drinking wine and with
hunting. I think these obsessions tainted the beauty of the story and appeared
to be at odds with the essence of the tale.
The unique descriptions of some of the
characters and the reflections the author threads into the narrative
aroused my curiosity, but the story did not deliver its full potential. It did
not satisfy all my expectations.
I
recommend the story to poetry lovers with the patience and time to lose
themselves in the lyrical narrative, the epiphanies and perceptions. Reading
this book is a personal journey, and it may require more than one read to
gain a deep exploration and understanding of it. It may illuminate something
inside your own conscience or it may not. It may awaken something to which you
have been indifferent, or it may simply not be for you. I am thankful for the
story because I reveled in the magical nature of the descriptions, but I was
left asking for more…
The photographs of the landscapes are from unsplash.com
