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A review by xeni
Platform by Michel Houellebecq
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.