The first forty pages... Surprisingly moving

Renée is a fifty four year old woman who works as a concierge in the number 7, rue de Grenelle in Paris. She enjoys reading and learning, but it is not common for a supposedly not educated woman to know so much. Therefore she must be discrete about her extraordinary intelligence. Apparently being in a low class family is something that can hardly be changed, and therefore it is a curse to be intelligent and not being able to do anything with it. “(...) and I was doomed by my tragic destiny to suffer all the more, afore I as hardly stupid.”

On the other hand, we have a twelve year old girl who believes that being an adult is the worst that could happen. 

Throughout this beautiful well written novel we can find many interesting phrases and thoughts.

In this first forty pages I was really moved by the capacity of reasoning of the young girl, not everyone questions so much about their life specially at this age. First of all is the fact that she plans on committing suicide before reaching 13 years old, because apparently for some unknown reason at that age you star the inevitable transformation into an adult where you stop thinking. There is a passage in the book which says “(...)if you commit suicide, you have to be sure of what you’re doing and not burn the house down for nothing. So if there is something on the planet that is worth living for, I’d better not miss it, because once you’re dead, it’s too late for regrets, and if you die by mistake, that is really, really dumb.”  It is funny how we normally do not think on dying, and less in killing ourselves. Yet, this little girl believes that by killing her self she will be saving her self. We tend to think that we will have a tomorrow, and we keep on planning without being sure if we will have a tomorrow. This girl is saying we must live and enjoy life. Why is it that it is normally those who are conscious about their dead that decide to live their life fully, why is is that the question always is what would you do if you knew this was your last day on Earth?

In the same chapter, I found another passage that kept me on thinking, I mean it is pretty obvious but you never really think about it. 

(...) when we move, we are in a way de-structured by our movement toward something: we are both ere and at the same time not here because we’re already in the process of going elsewhere, if you see what I mean. To stop de-structuring yourself, you have to stop moving altogether. Either you move and you’re no longer whole, or you’re whole and you can’t move. 

Now a days we are constantly moving, rushing into something new or just the same old things but we cannot stay still. We must have action in order to enjoy the moment. The question is why is it? Why can’t we find something interesting in the moment and enjoy it?

The young girl doubts of the existence of a god and is shocked by the amount of people who believe in one. “people still believe they’re not here y chance, and that there are gods, kindly for the mot part, who are watching over their fate.”  Some people sit waiting for their destiny to happen instead of doing something with their lives. 

Renée has also some interesting thoughts, for instance the fact that she questions conscience,

It may seem to us that we have always seen and felt and, armed with this belief, we identify our entry into the world as the decisive instant where consciousness is born. (...) For in order for consciousness to be aroused, it must have a name. 

It is true, we can not talk about something that does not have a word assigned, a name that describes it, otherwise we are not conscious of it. I can not recall the first time I felt. In theory you learn almost everything as you grow, but what if certain things you already know before you are born, how does that happen?

In this first forty pages I have managed to reason and meditate on a lot of things about my life, my beliefs, manners and lifestyle. I am really enjoying this book. Let us see what more can this wonderful novel move in my brain.