For Your Consideration April 1-3 ~ Marx Preamble ~ pgs.17-27

1. A concierge who reads Marx! Might one suspect she is contemplating subversion or joining a union? Why is she reading his German Ideology?

2. "Mankind would do better to confine itself to its own needs." Does it appear that Mme. la Concierge is doing just that? Do you understand the title of this chapter: "Whosoever sows desire harvests oppression?"

3. Do you think Renée fits the stereotype of the typical French concierge? How has Muriel Barbery so carefully and clearly described her?

4. How does the tone and the attitude of the second narrator contrast with that of the concierge?

5. Would you say Renée and Paloma are both hedgehogs? What might they each be hiding from, or frightened about behind their protective cover?

6. How do you think the young Paloma has developed this "big thing" about Japan? Did you ever try to write poetry at her age? Are you familiar with the Japanese haiku?

7. Is it so unusual for an adolescent to think about suicide? Do you think Paloma's dream of a " delicate slipping away" jives with her actual plan? How can it possibly achieve social justice?

8. What is an autodidact? Or - "the most recent eructation of the ruling corporate elite." Shall we keep a vocabulary list of unfamiliar words? Which ones have you noted?