- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: Knopf (July 15 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0375414622
- ISBN-13: 978-0375414626
- Product Dimensions: 24.2 x 16.8 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 572 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #662,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Booklist
The controversial French author of The Elementary Particles (2000) turns in another unremittingly bleak novel. In addition to amplifying his views on the decadence of Western civilization, Houellebecq displays an absolutely chilling prescience in his depiction of a violent Muslim sect. Misanthropic, sexually frustrated bureaucrat Michel embarks on a "Thai Tropic" package tour, amusing himself with snide commentary on his fellow vacationers and frequent visits to sex clubs. Although he is attracted to business executive Valerie, he has trouble engaging her in small talk. However, when they return to Paris, their relationship quickly turns passionate as they explore sadomasochism and public sex. Michel talks Valerie and her business partner into marketing sex tours to the Third World, selling them on his theory that Westerners have lost touch with their own sexuality. But when they decide to sample one of their own tours, their resort becomes a flashpoint for Islamic hatred. Houellebecq is unrelenting as he meticulously constructs a world that mirrors his own cold vision and that cuts uncomfortably close to the bone. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
“Howard Stern meets Albert Camus in this novel of sex and alienation . . . Houellebecq has sharp observations about ennui in the Western world and rage in the Muslim one.”
–Kyle Smith, People
“Astute, graceful, sexually preoccupied . . . Houellebecq rewards with glimpses through his particularly keen lens.”
–Arthur Hirsch, The Baltimore Sun
“A novel at once brilliant, charming, puzzling, annoying and sometimes downright repulsive . . . The work of a highly talented writer.”
–Jean Charbonneau, Cleveland Plain Dealer
“The talented, cynical Houellebecq blasts Western culture and Islam in his odd, subversive entertainment.”
–Carlo Wolff, The Boston Globe
“Blunt, arrogant, coolly detached, ultra-sophisticated, impeccably and simply presented, intellectually self-assured and very self-conscious . . . This is the real thing, the kind of novel that ends up in the canon.”
–Michel Basilières, The Toronto Star
–Kyle Smith, People
“Astute, graceful, sexually preoccupied . . . Houellebecq rewards with glimpses through his particularly keen lens.”
–Arthur Hirsch, The Baltimore Sun
“A novel at once brilliant, charming, puzzling, annoying and sometimes downright repulsive . . . The work of a highly talented writer.”
–Jean Charbonneau, Cleveland Plain Dealer
“The talented, cynical Houellebecq blasts Western culture and Islam in his odd, subversive entertainment.”
–Carlo Wolff, The Boston Globe
“Blunt, arrogant, coolly detached, ultra-sophisticated, impeccably and simply presented, intellectually self-assured and very self-conscious . . . This is the real thing, the kind of novel that ends up in the canon.”
–Michel Basilières, The Toronto Star
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
"The Stranger" in Thailand,
By A Customer
This review is from: Platform (Hardcover)
This book appeared on a list of Esquire magazine's best books for 2003, and when I read the description, I knew I had to read it.At first it appeared I would be disappointed. The first quarter to half of the book will seem a bit alien to anyone who is not familiar with French culture, especially pop culture. There are references to cultural personalities that the average non-French reader simply will not recognize. It also seems to echo common French literary themes--alienation, sexless love, loveless sex. However, Houellebecq's characters, namely the protagonist's lover, Valerie, and the protagonist himself over the course of the book, make numerous simple but insightful comments about the human condition in modern (especially Western) society that leave the reader pondering them far after closing the cover. As an American who is a long-time resident of Asia, with knowledge of some of the activities in which the book's characters engage, it is clear that Houellebecq did his research, and his conclusions resonated with me and those of others in a similar position. Platform is certainly worth a read, but more importantly, proper consideration about its form and message.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't miss the point,
By
This review is from: Platform (Hardcover)
Don't miss the fact that this book is, essentially, a stunning romance. Michel's life doesn't change after Thailand because of Thailand, it changes because of Valerie...into his empty life arrives the brilliant, passionate, uncompromised love he'd given up on and never expected to find. It's romance from a male perspective, to be sure, and from the same male perspective too many men are afraid to express today. It's real, bleak, uplifting, crushing...the finest novel to come through my hands in years.
3.0 out of 5 stars
easy read,
By "surflower" (Muscat Oman) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Platform (Hardcover)
Having just finished reading this book I was a bit suprised to read some of the reviews that stand for it.I read this book more or less as take on a western man's place at this point in his life - nothing more, nothing less. There;s not much that he says that people don;t generally say around a group of friends. I was also really suprised by the amount of people who have made some comment on how he represents Muslims in this book. I am a white western female who lives in the Arab/Muslim world - someone who actually loves Muslims - & I don;t think there's anything to comment on how he treats Muslims- the writer is doing nothing more than how most people speak , how the media speaks. This book covers so little ground in light of "views on Muslims" that I didn;t even think anything of his comments. They are usual comments & views from western people who are largely ignorant of Muslim life &/or are common views of westerners who do not care to know anything more of Muslims than they see in their every day lives. No big deal there. This book is about westerners (& particualrly a man's view) of how life is in his world, at this point in time. There are many men & women from the west into sex tourism in the world & this is a book that touches on that. It;s bascially a book about understanding one's alienation with their life. Nothing more, nothing less.
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