'Possibility of an Island', by Michel Houellebecq

“Our lives are like a novel we once read.” MH.

I see the amazing Mr. Turner has posted a couple of book reviews. Great idea! I’ve been meaning to have a go at Michel Houellebecq for some time. Not because I particularly like the bloke (I’ve read all his books) but because he causes me to reflect on my own inner inconsistencies. And I appreciate that. It’s all too easy these days to slip off into booze-sodden apathy in front of the TV. Houellebecq tweaks my curiosity. He may be an over-sexed French arsehole (MH can be a real prick sometimes) but he knows how to press the literary world’s buttons.

"Not having anything around to read is dangerous: you have to content yourself with life itself, and that can lead you to take risks." MH.

It was ‘Platform’ that got me started on MH. Something about it intrigued me. He is obviously more than a little familiar with the fleshpots of Bangkok but he writes about it in such a detached, ambivalent way. Is he moralizing or what?

“Our genitals exist as a source of permanent access to pleasure.” MH.

Houllebecq likes to give detailed accounts of sexual activities and throw in observations about economics and social change. He can be very entertaining and repulsive at the same time. Not quite sure how he gets away with it. Because he’s highly intelligent I suppose. And quite seductive. A moralist, a very broadminded moralist, could perhaps make the case that Houellebecq is really nothing but another prophet, another voice crying out against spiritual and moral decadence. Certainly, if you read his books in order, they seem to be headed in a certain direction. He is going somewhere. Towards his own special hell probably. Which he would regard as a sort of redemption. And he manages to offend just about everybody en route.

Of course I know there’s a good chance he’s doing it all on purpose. He’s something of a shit-stirrer is Michel. Giving offence for it’s own sake. And I know he knows it too. But that’s what makes him interesting. So here’s my take on ‘The Possibility of an Island’ (Le Possibilite d’une Ile) his latest book. As you can see I’m in 3 or 4 minds about it.

First off, I enjoyed ‘Platform’ very much. A lot of people found it depressing. Not me. I thought it was a hoot. Ah hah, I thought, here’s a writer who knows how to push the old envelope and stir things up. Literature needs a good kick in the arse from time to time and MH is the fellow to do it. Maybe he's not a great wordsmith (he hates Nabokov, describes him as, ‘...that mannered pseudo-poet, clumsy imitator of Joyce.’) and his books read like science journals, but he certainly doesn’t shy away from delicate subjects. Also he can be bloody funny in a Gallic kind of way. Overall though I have to say ‘Possibility’ was disappointing.

It’s like he’s come to the end of his rope. And there’s nothing there. Basically what we have is an old comedian who’s run out of jokes. He’s ridiculed every leftist theory since Sartre, had lots of blowjobs, made lots of money and now he’s achieved immortality. Whoopee! And he’s done it through, don’t laugh, cloning. He now lives in a secure compound with his faithful and undemanding clone dog 'Fox' (aka unconditional love). Along the way he’s shattered every taboo he can think of, race, religion, babies, cannibalism, euthanasia, pedophilia you name it. And he hates Islam too. This is the kind of thinking that has endeared him to so many new-age multiculturalists. But you can tell it’s not much fun anymore.

He’s bored. He doesn’t bother to hide his disgust with humanity. He keeps writing but you can tell it’s getting tedious and repetitive. You keep reading for the same reason you watch a car-crash. You want to look over the edge of the cliff even if you’re scared of falling into the same old void. This is what’s dangerous about Houellebecq. He numbs you. His future is very bleak indeed. You want to know what keeps him going. And you can’t shake the feeling that he may even be enjoying himself, in a nihilistic sort of way of course. And if all that wasn’t bad enough he even makes jokes about his condition. Some of them are quite funny. It’s just that laughing along isn’t anything to be proud of.

These are strange times. We live fragmented lives many of us, connected only by things like TV and the Internet. MH is definitely a man for our times. But is he an important writer? Does he matter? It’s going to be a long time before we know the answer to that I think. Houellebecq is a writer in the French ‘outsider’ tradition. Baudelaire, Camus, Celine. There’s a place for that kind of stuff of course but when all’s said and done it’s just one way of looking at things.

Is ‘Possibility’ any good then? Martin Amis hasn’t, to my knowledge, pronounced judgment so we can’t be sure. I, however, found it readable (my last remaining critical criteria) and even entertaining. Just not as good as ‘Elementary Particles’ or ‘Platform’ in my opinion. So don't let my musings put you off. MH might be just what you're looking for. It does make you wonder what he gets out of it. Money is some consolation I think. But what he does next to fill in his time is anybody’s guess. He sounds tired to me.

 
“Anything can happen in life, especially nothing.” MH.

You can buy it here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0297850989/202-6003311-1503036?v=glance&n=266239

Review by Chuck Woww

© C. Woww. All rights reserved by the author.