More of an ode to Nature and beauty than an actual novel 'The Life of Elves' by Muriel Barbery is a very strange mix, one that I constantly struggled with but, eventually, finished.
The plot, in the loosest possible sense of the word, revolves around two young girls born at precisely the same moment. One of them, Maria, resides in the French countryside and has an incredible affinity with the natural world. The other, Clara, grows up in Italy as a musical prodigy. Their connection becomes apparent as the tale progresses as does the effect they have on their surroundings and the people close to them. This does give the book at least some sense of cohesion.
Some of The Life of Elves is truly beautiful, sublime in its descriptive prose to the point where some moments are simply breathtaking. Unfortunately these are too isolated, swamped by almost incomprehensible writing. I am not sure if this is down to the translation (maybe the original French makes much more sense) but I found it virtually impossible to follow in places - and I am not easily stumped.
The love of the Arts and the nature that frequently inspires us as a race is apparent on every page, which in turn, is balanced by a passionate loathing of war and the evil that humanity is capable of. In the end I think this is where this novel fails. The author spends too much time on the philosophical arguments that are involved with our connections to the world around us, the beauty inherent in music, art in all forms and the destruction we are so good at inflicting that she forgets this is meant to be a piece of fiction and not a text to be studied by great thinkers at some future date.
I find it a great shame that I just am unable to recommend this book to my fellow readers.
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