gregoreads's review against another edition
1.0
I know I read it through a polarizing lens for a class, but I found this book to be trying way too hard at being shocking and revelatory. In particular, the whole dynamic between Valerie and Michel was a bit of an eye roller; their story was like a John Green novel for adults. Valerie was a mpdg who had never felt pleasure with a man...until this washed up misogynist, racist middle aged guy who hates himself and his life shows up and finds himself with her. Not my favourite archetype. Seeing the world through Michel's eyes gave me a headache.
herathecat's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
nata_sa_b's review against another edition
4.0
Houllebecqovu tvorbu mám naozaj rada, páči sa mi, že si nedáva servítku pred ústa a naváža sa do všetkého a všetkých. Okrem explicitných scén, táto kniha ich má požehnane, možno viac než by potrebovala, dokáže opísať a posunúť svoje videnie sveta, ktoré je miestami znepokojivé. Už som si zvykla, že jeho postavy sú skôr mierne pasívne a čakajú čo im život prinesie. Dokonca mi ani nevadí, že najskôr im dovolí zažiť šťastie a potom im ten pocit vezme. Možno preto, že nikdy nevykreslí hlavnú postavu dostatočne, aby ste si ju stihli obľúbiť a je vám svojim spôsobom ľahostajná. Na cca 240 stranách sa vám mihne takmer celý jeden život, ktorý je prepletený rôznymi úvahami - miestami je to až esej. Baviť to baví, je to Houllebecq. Buď ho milujete alebo ignorujete...
spiralnode's review against another edition
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Before I started this book, I read a bit about Michel Houellebecq. I can see that he splits the crowd. His Wikipedia biography reveals something akin to the stereotypical French artiste, his eccentricity showing in his background through his mother being described as hippie, him being raised in different places from Reunion to Algeria to later French, and this later being revealed in his writing through the exploration of psychology via the lens of the dark side of sex. And while there are some kinks in here (and also a rape scene that sensitive readers should know about), what I mean by dark is more towards sex as a political and economical tool, rather than the natural act it is. Even here, a lot of reviewers read Houellebecq as vulgar, and that disappoints me. I don't consider the scenes written here cheap, but rather tasteful and well-placed, marking the addiction and allure of sex as the motivation for the Eastern/Western and even colonisation discussions. It's there for a reason, and while it is provoking and shocking, it tells a story.
These discussions are taking places while honing in on the subject of sex tourism. The main character, Michel, is a man in his fourties, self-described as having no hobbies or interests. What he does do is frequently go to the peep-show around the corner from his workplace at the Ministry of Culture. At some point he goes on holiday to Thailand, where he meets Valerie as part of the travelling group. While engaging in sexual activities with the locals during his time there, it's only after their return to Paris that the two start a relationship. Valerie works in tourism herself, and looks into boosting the offering of her company through a charmingly called 'Aphrodite' package, trips for the sensual-minded.
As you can imagine, yes, there are a lot of sex scenes. And I can't talk about this book without talking about the erotic side of it because it is such a huge vehicle for the kind of discussions this book sparks. But as I said earlier, these are not gratuitous, and something I loved throughout is there is never any judgement or criticism of the prostitutes. In fact they are seen as victims of the systems, their struggles are depicted kindly, understandingly, and this is put in fact by being tipped well too. The scenes are not cruel or objectifying in the slightest, in fact they read as charming, in a hot and exciting way (with the one exception of the rape scene). And Michel and Valerie's relationship is also heartwarmingly mature. Sure, it misses the spark and messiness of romance novels, it is calm and quiet, two level-headed people coming together for mutual support, with proper communication, who find that they both have a sexual curiosity too.
And then there are a lot of passages that read almost like philosophy. Some of these are in the main character's head (we are reading in first person), some are in the dialogues other characters are having. These relate mostly to the East/West divide, what differentiates men and women in these cultures, what is attractive beyond the racial divide, and even how sex tourism is seen between different European nations with a comparison between the French, German, Italian and Spanish (Americans have been excluded due to their dominating religious takes, fair enough, that's equally as valid today in 2023 as it was in 2001). I particularly thought a lot about sex becoming cerebral in the West, filled with rules such as when in a relationship to make it physical, S&M, what is defined as objectification. The book also argues that the cost of sex in countries with low economies, such as Thailand or Cuba, is actually the price that a Westerner is willing to pay. The supremacy of the white man, of course.
I think this was provoking in the best way.
These discussions are taking places while honing in on the subject of sex tourism. The main character, Michel, is a man in his fourties, self-described as having no hobbies or interests. What he does do is frequently go to the peep-show around the corner from his workplace at the Ministry of Culture. At some point he goes on holiday to Thailand, where he meets Valerie as part of the travelling group. While engaging in sexual activities with the locals during his time there, it's only after their return to Paris that the two start a relationship. Valerie works in tourism herself, and looks into boosting the offering of her company through a charmingly called 'Aphrodite' package, trips for the sensual-minded.
As you can imagine, yes, there are a lot of sex scenes. And I can't talk about this book without talking about the erotic side of it because it is such a huge vehicle for the kind of discussions this book sparks. But as I said earlier, these are not gratuitous, and something I loved throughout is there is never any judgement or criticism of the prostitutes. In fact they are seen as victims of the systems, their struggles are depicted kindly, understandingly, and this is put in fact by being tipped well too. The scenes are not cruel or objectifying in the slightest, in fact they read as charming, in a hot and exciting way (with the one exception of the rape scene). And Michel and Valerie's relationship is also heartwarmingly mature. Sure, it misses the spark and messiness of romance novels, it is calm and quiet, two level-headed people coming together for mutual support, with proper communication, who find that they both have a sexual curiosity too.
And then there are a lot of passages that read almost like philosophy. Some of these are in the main character's head (we are reading in first person), some are in the dialogues other characters are having. These relate mostly to the East/West divide, what differentiates men and women in these cultures, what is attractive beyond the racial divide, and even how sex tourism is seen between different European nations with a comparison between the French, German, Italian and Spanish (Americans have been excluded due to their dominating religious takes, fair enough, that's equally as valid today in 2023 as it was in 2001). I particularly thought a lot about sex becoming cerebral in the West, filled with rules such as when in a relationship to make it physical, S&M, what is defined as objectification. The book also argues that the cost of sex in countries with low economies, such as Thailand or Cuba, is actually the price that a Westerner is willing to pay. The supremacy of the white man, of course.
I think this was provoking in the best way.
floodingfloods's review against another edition
1.0
After an at least somewhat interesting character examination in the opening forty pages or so, Platform slips quickly into a frustrating, offensive and, often, incredibly boring dirge.
For a novel centred on the sex industry, the actual sex scenes here, though predictably frequent, are for the most part uninteresting and formulaic: description of erection, description of Valerie's (occasionally another's) "pussy", verb of choice ("entered" or "penetrated", usually), an indication of who came. Perhaps surprisingly for such a shock jock, the author's sexual fantasies seem to begin and end with the three-way).
Houllebecq, despite taking us to Thai massage parlours, BDSM sex dungeons and tryst clubs, very rarely moves the plot anywhere interesting. Large parts of the middle section are devoted to the details of business acquisition. By the time the plot begins to roll along again - having bland missionary sex for the third time in a chapter doesn't count as "plot" - we're at the end of Part Two, which - well, tries to do something important although I'm not exactly sure what. It's an abrupt change of pace for sure, but whether the author is trying to make some sort of profound political point, etch out some satirical message or just shock the reader to attention is unclear. In any case, he achieves none of this.
What's more, the reader can't help but feel that there's more than a touch of the author's ego transposed into the Main Character (both author and character are named Michel, of course) through his philosophical-sounding but ultimately empty theses on quote unquote deep issues, his unabashed sexual prowess (count the number of times Valerie inexplicably climaxes within seconds) and above all the commitment to the tired heteronormative fantasy of the ugly old man fucking the hot young girl. There's a nauseating amount of self-worship here which doesn't make the MC's detestable qualities - his sexism, racism, homophobia - any easier to swallow. His frequent monologues deriding Islam and its followers are, presumably, meant to come across as the learned pronouncements of an iconoclastic pariah but instead show themselves as the racist rants of a thinly-written pseudo-intellectual.
Perhaps that's a good way to describe Houllebecq's writing more generally.
For a novel centred on the sex industry, the actual sex scenes here, though predictably frequent, are for the most part uninteresting and formulaic: description of erection, description of Valerie's (occasionally another's) "pussy", verb of choice ("entered" or "penetrated", usually), an indication of who came. Perhaps surprisingly for such a shock jock, the author's sexual fantasies seem to begin and end with the three-way).
Houllebecq, despite taking us to Thai massage parlours, BDSM sex dungeons and tryst clubs, very rarely moves the plot anywhere interesting. Large parts of the middle section are devoted to the details of business acquisition. By the time the plot begins to roll along again - having bland missionary sex for the third time in a chapter doesn't count as "plot" - we're at the end of Part Two, which - well, tries to do something important although I'm not exactly sure what. It's an abrupt change of pace for sure, but whether the author is trying to make some sort of profound political point, etch out some satirical message or just shock the reader to attention is unclear. In any case, he achieves none of this.
What's more, the reader can't help but feel that there's more than a touch of the author's ego transposed into the Main Character (both author and character are named Michel, of course) through his philosophical-sounding but ultimately empty theses on quote unquote deep issues, his unabashed sexual prowess (count the number of times Valerie inexplicably climaxes within seconds) and above all the commitment to the tired heteronormative fantasy of the ugly old man fucking the hot young girl. There's a nauseating amount of self-worship here which doesn't make the MC's detestable qualities - his sexism, racism, homophobia - any easier to swallow. His frequent monologues deriding Islam and its followers are, presumably, meant to come across as the learned pronouncements of an iconoclastic pariah but instead show themselves as the racist rants of a thinly-written pseudo-intellectual.
Perhaps that's a good way to describe Houllebecq's writing more generally.
nova996's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sarahside_up's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
xeni's review against another edition
3.0
When I first started reading this book, I really wasn't happy with it. It seemed boring and annoying: a book about a really boring old man who has nothing else to do other than bitch about other people's lives. The best part (in the first half of the book) was the trip to Thailand, since I could compare it to my own travels there. Still, I don't remember anything at all about sex tourism while I was there, and it's such a huge topic in this book.
One thing that really bothered me while reading was the writing style. Houellebecq loves to go off on tangents and over-explain other characters, situations, fields of work, etc. Because of that, the reader gets to over-learn about working as a chief executive, how the tourism industry works, way too much about France, and definitely too much about working as a Civil Servant in today's Information Age.
To be honest, I really do not like reading about France, or French people. It's just annoying and ruins a book for me. That's probably one reason why I was dissatisfied with this book.
On top of that, the book takes forever to get rolling, then starts speeding up, and by the end it's moving at break-neck speed. The problem is, the story line should have the opposite focus. The build-up is unimportant and boring, the middle gets to be a bit more interesting, but is ultimately only setting up for the finale. The end, the most important part, is skimped on details and fast on action, and we could finally use some extra explanations here, but don't get them.
Due to these two points, I really couldn't enjoy the story. By the time the "amazing end" came about, I was disgruntled by the subject matter, the characters and the writing style. There were a few really wonderful philosophical points, but nothing where I would say that it rescued the book for me.
All in all, I was disappointed. I do not know why this book is listed on the list of 1001-Books-To-Read-Before-You-Die, since it wasn't amazing in any sense of the word.
One thing that really bothered me while reading was the writing style. Houellebecq loves to go off on tangents and over-explain other characters, situations, fields of work, etc. Because of that, the reader gets to over-learn about working as a chief executive, how the tourism industry works, way too much about France, and definitely too much about working as a Civil Servant in today's Information Age.
To be honest, I really do not like reading about France, or French people. It's just annoying and ruins a book for me. That's probably one reason why I was dissatisfied with this book.
On top of that, the book takes forever to get rolling, then starts speeding up, and by the end it's moving at break-neck speed. The problem is, the story line should have the opposite focus. The build-up is unimportant and boring, the middle gets to be a bit more interesting, but is ultimately only setting up for the finale. The end, the most important part, is skimped on details and fast on action, and we could finally use some extra explanations here, but don't get them.
Due to these two points, I really couldn't enjoy the story. By the time the "amazing end" came about, I was disgruntled by the subject matter, the characters and the writing style. There were a few really wonderful philosophical points, but nothing where I would say that it rescued the book for me.
All in all, I was disappointed. I do not know why this book is listed on the list of 1001-Books-To-Read-Before-You-Die, since it wasn't amazing in any sense of the word.
kiri_johnston's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Medical content, Body horror, and Sexual content
lapetiteprincess's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A bit slow at times and some passages are hard to follow. Nonetheless, it’s an interesting book that holds a few shocking suggestions that makes one think.