61 pages • 2 hours read
Muriel BarberyA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Colombe rings for Renée an hour before concierge hours begin, so Renée turns her away. Renée doesn’t care for Colombe, who dresses like a Bohemian even though she’s wealthy, but she does respect that Colombe is a brilliant student. Instead of returning to Renée, Colombe sends her sister Paloma, who asks Renée to be on the lookout for an envelope for Colombe. Renée invites Paloma in for tea. Paloma tells her she purposefully tries to make Colombe think she’s stupid. Paloma asks Renée if she can visit her again; she admits that she needs a new hiding place. On her way out, Paloma tells Renée that she is clearly very intelligent.
Colombe’s envelope arrives unsealed, so Renée reads the contents. The envelope contains Colombe’s dissertation draft with notes from her professor. Colombe’s dissertation is about a medieval monk/philosopher named William of Ockham. She reads through the dissertation and judges that Colombe understands the philosophy but in a useless way. One of the questions Ockham poses is whether universal things exist. He posits that general things are only tricks of the mind and that everything truly exists as an individual entity.
Appearance Versus Reality
View Collection
Art
View Collection
Beauty
View Collection
Books About Art
View Collection
Books & Literature
View Collection
Coming-of-Age Journeys
View Collection
Community
View Collection
Education
View Collection
Family
View Collection
French Literature
View Collection
Friendship
View Collection
Mortality & Death
View Collection
National Suicide Prevention Month
View Collection
New York Times Best Sellers
View Collection
Philosophy, Logic, & Ethics
View Collection
Popular Book Club Picks
View Collection