Michel Houellebecq: Platform

[The Doogster]

Hi folks

I just finished this, and I'm not sure what to make of it. It was a pastiche of ideas which do the rounds regularly on right-wing Internet sites. It also contains ludicrously garish sex scenes which are designed to shock but after a while become staid. Stylistically it is neither here nor there.

Despite its flaws, I still loved it for its freshness and its contempt for vacuous art. Although I no nothing of its subject matter, I think it captures wonderfully a moment in time. Or perhaps I'm just turning into Houellebecq's main character......

Anyone else read it? Is his earlier novel, Atomised, worth chasing up?

 

[Stewart]

Is his earlier novel, Atomised, worth chasing up?

If you liked Platform, go for it. Personally I disliked Atomised, because the sex scenes became dull. You may be interested, if you can get it, in The Fascination Of Evil by Florian Zeller, which takes as its spark the controversy surrounding Platform and deals with a Houellebecqesque character in Egypt - it has a touch of Houellebecq and a sprinkle of Kundera, and is certainly worth reading.

 

[Baz]

I bought Atomised a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to read it when I'm done reading The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. It's supposed to be good, but I'll get back to you with what I think of it.