Hunting and Gathering
Posted by: Misha Stone
After Mary Ellen’s post on some recent French fiction garnering a lot of buzz, I thought about another French novel I read recently that would be perfect for book groups.
Anna Gavalda’s Hunting and Gathering is a winsome novel about a group of misfits who find one another in Paris. Camille is an artist who lives a life on the fringes, stunted by her painful past. Philibert is an idiosyncratic intellectual who eventually takes Camille in and a friendship blooms between the unlikely pair. Philibert’s lautish roommate, Franck, adds another dimension to the motley assembly, otherwise known as the ”family of no-hopers.”
When I read Gavalda’s book, I was reminded of its American counterpart, Stephanie Kallos’ Broken for You which is also about how chance encounters and the power of opening yourself to life and relationships.
Gavalda presents her characters in all of their mystifying complexity. She makes you care and root for them all.
I should mention that a film was made with Audrey Tautou, of “Amelie” fame. Does that sell you on the book? Really, just read it. I needn’t tell you that Paris is very in.
