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stinekristin's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicide, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts
magnolyuhh's review against another edition
3.0
“God takes care of us; he thinks of us every minute, and he gives us instructions that are sometimes very precise. Those surges of love that flow into our chests and take our breath away - those illuminations, those ecstasies, inexplicable if we consider our biological nature, our status as simple primates - are extremely clear signs.
And today I understand Christ's point of view and his repeated horror at the hardening of people's hearts: all of these things are signs, and they don't realise it. Must I really, on top of everything, give my life for these wretches? Do I really have to be explicit on that point?
Apparently so.”
And today I understand Christ's point of view and his repeated horror at the hardening of people's hearts: all of these things are signs, and they don't realise it. Must I really, on top of everything, give my life for these wretches? Do I really have to be explicit on that point?
Apparently so.”
just_in_books'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? Yes
3.75
iancarpenter's review against another edition
2.0
This for me is the beginning of burnout by Houellebecq, a writer I love so much that I've held off on reading books of his so that I have one to turn to when I desperately want him. But here, there was so much that verged on a parody of his obsessions. What felt shockingly, refreshingly frank about his take on male sexuality and relationships and the possibility of happiness, ten years ago, was here so deeply predictable as to provoke eye rolls. You could feel every harsh, depressed, pornographic assessment of a former lover (always women) pages before it came and it feels deeply besides the point. And while the novel is about loneliness and depression and pointlessness the sexual diversions have a lifelessness that for me is starting to feel like its just ground he has trod in every book. The political angles, the mini-revolution in the book comes late enough that I found it hard to care about. And the ending, so very often the stunning part of his books (he's written some of my favourite endings ever), is here only fine and not something that saves or rewards the slog. Virginie Despentes feels like she's taking his oeuvre (sure, minus his on the pulse intellectualism and political focus) and giving it vitality and timely, in your face feminism and understanding of sexuality that for me means she's writing about men better than him in this book. I don't know why he'd write this after her book. It feels maudlin. Ready for something new by a master.
book_whisperer's review against another edition
3.0
A book that started at 5*, dropped to 3*, got back to 4* and ended at 3*. A depressed man that wants to die, has insulting thoughts about any natioanlity that comes thru his life (nice 0 political corecteness), hates everything, sees everything decomposing (the railway company, for example), wants to kill a small child only for him to be saved is a nice plot. But there are too many things getting in the way that makes the book being less nice while reading it, that interrupts the flow of the story.
yvngkafka's review against another edition
3.0
You’d have to be motherless to enjoy the first third. Last third was really incredible.
medema22's review against another edition
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ritadsequeira's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jashton's review against another edition
4.0
A powerful indictment of contemporary Western society, and more specifically, the inefficacy of the European Union as a positive force. At first, the narrative presents itself as the story of a depressed man suffering from the postmodern condition—entrapped in a state of loneliness and ennui—but the book takes a completely different direction when Florent travels out to Normandy. The first half of the story had been decadent, intentionally obscene and rather flat, but when the political undertones became brighter in the French rurality, the themes that Houellebecq was hinting at became more apparent. The European Union, with their policies of globalisation and aggressive free trade, have left domestic farmers to compete in a global market, and Houellebecq's frustration with the carelessness of the officials obviously becomes clear through the dialogue of the farmers. But, after the politics seemingly comes to an end, the final part of the book consists of the dark spiral that Florent takes as his depression worsens (and his antidepressant usage increases). I remained gripped through every page, and thoroughly enjoyed the story, however morbid it may have been.