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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Depressing, disturbing, but strangely funny. The eloquence he uses to convey the emptiness of human life reinforces my impression that French people are too smart for their own good.
If office life got you down, well, don't read this book. It's bleak, pessimistic, and pretty standard for the single white male disillusionment with corporate toil tale that seemed to be everywhere in the 1990s. It takes place in France, while most of this type of fiction was probably American or British in origin, this one really takes the cake for being a downer without many redeeming qualities.
Oh, and the translator is so British it's distracting.
Oh, and the translator is so British it's distracting.
dark
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hailed as the original incel novel, this book grabbed my attention after the most recent incel attack in the UK which coincided with me witnessing some disturbing behaviour amongst my male counterparts’ treatment of females.
An incel (involuntary celibate) is a person who is unable to get a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one. Incel forum discussions are often characterized by resentment and hatred, misogyny, misanthropy, self-pity and self-loathing, racism, a sense of entitlement to sex, and the endorsement of violence against women and sexually active people.
Ironically, the first online community to use the term "incel" was founded in 1993 (just a year before Houellebecq wrote this book) when a Canadian university student known only by her first name, Alana, created a website in order to discuss her sexual inactivity with others. It was not characterised by violence or extreme subculture behaviour at this time. The violence came later, in 2018.
This makes Houellebecq’s second novel incredibly prescient.
Whatever’s French title “Extension of the battlezone” highlights the "disaggregating effects of post-Fordism on the intimate spaces of human affect"] through the story of a depressed and isolated man stuck in a tedious but well-paying programming job. The English title is supposed to capture the defeated attitude of our incel hero.
Our Hero takes just four lines to get to his anti woman ideology, calling some woman at a party who is removing her clothes a “stupid bitch.” He constantly refers to women in a demeaning manner, either to criticise their ugliness or how their vacuous conversations “were the last dismaying dregs of the collapse of feminism.”
Houellebecq does not make the protagonist a likeable character but there are amusing moments of narration which make it a compelling read. For instance: I even uttered the words aloud “the last dismaying dregs of the collapse of feminism. But they didn’t hear me.
In structuring it in this way, Houellebecq draws us in but also paints a bleak picture of the hero, and his invisibility in his little life. There is an undercurrent of unconscious homophobia too which doesn’t follow true with real life incels as far as I know.
This was a good little read that got a bit restless at the end.
An incel (involuntary celibate) is a person who is unable to get a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one. Incel forum discussions are often characterized by resentment and hatred, misogyny, misanthropy, self-pity and self-loathing, racism, a sense of entitlement to sex, and the endorsement of violence against women and sexually active people.
Ironically, the first online community to use the term "incel" was founded in 1993 (just a year before Houellebecq wrote this book) when a Canadian university student known only by her first name, Alana, created a website in order to discuss her sexual inactivity with others. It was not characterised by violence or extreme subculture behaviour at this time. The violence came later, in 2018.
This makes Houellebecq’s second novel incredibly prescient.
Whatever’s French title “Extension of the battlezone” highlights the "disaggregating effects of post-Fordism on the intimate spaces of human affect"] through the story of a depressed and isolated man stuck in a tedious but well-paying programming job. The English title is supposed to capture the defeated attitude of our incel hero.
Our Hero takes just four lines to get to his anti woman ideology, calling some woman at a party who is removing her clothes a “stupid bitch.” He constantly refers to women in a demeaning manner, either to criticise their ugliness or how their vacuous conversations “were the last dismaying dregs of the collapse of feminism.”
Houellebecq does not make the protagonist a likeable character but there are amusing moments of narration which make it a compelling read. For instance: I even uttered the words aloud “the last dismaying dregs of the collapse of feminism. But they didn’t hear me.
In structuring it in this way, Houellebecq draws us in but also paints a bleak picture of the hero, and his invisibility in his little life. There is an undercurrent of unconscious homophobia too which doesn’t follow true with real life incels as far as I know.
This was a good little read that got a bit restless at the end.
Mi ero ripromesso di lasciar perdere Houellebecq, ma una sorta di curiosità morbosa mi ha attratto di nuovo dalle sue parti.
Questo libro mi ha lasciato devastato, senza speranza, con la voglia di mettermi a letto e rannicchiarmi in posizione fetale. Sono stanco di questi personaggi vuoti e freddi, cinici e soli: la vita non è così, la vita non può essere così.
Questo libro mi ha lasciato devastato, senza speranza, con la voglia di mettermi a letto e rannicchiarmi in posizione fetale. Sono stanco di questi personaggi vuoti e freddi, cinici e soli: la vita non è così, la vita non può essere così.
Qualcuno dirà che, se è questo ciò che provo, allora il libro ha raggiunto il suo scopo e mi ha colpito dove voleva colpirmi e che io sto solo mettendo la testa sotto la sabbia, ma io, a questo qualcuno, risponderei volentieri: che si fotta!
bobo français déprimé qui écrit sur une société qu'il "comprend en faitent". Nul de chez nul. alber Camus mais version ali express.
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
Michel Houellebecq brak in 1994 door met zijn debuutroman Extension du domaine de la lutte. De sobere stijl en sombere thematiek deden me denken aan [b:L'Étranger|15688|L'Étranger|Albert Camus|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1332596551l/15688._SY75_.jpg|3324344] en [b:La Chute|774027|La Chute|Albert Camus|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356291219l/774027._SY75_.jpg|3324245] van Albert Camus, maar dan een slag nihilistischer. Net als in zijn latere werk – eerder las ik [b:Mogelijkheid van een eiland|11753161|Mogelijkheid van een eiland|Michel Houellebecq|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308319651l/11753161._SY75_.jpg|1169822] en [b:Serotonine|43470226|Serotonine|Michel Houellebecq|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552477859l/43470226._SY75_.jpg|66287595] - schrijft Houellebecq vanuit het perspectief van een eenzame, onaangepaste man, ditmaal een jonge it’er wiens leven hem saai en zinloos toeschijnt. Afgezien van de cursussen die hij in de provincie moet geven – een taak die hij verafschuwt – en zijn contact met collega’s en een bevriende pastoor, is zijn leven inderdaad eentonig.
Je n’aime pas ce monde. Décidément, je ne l’aime pas. La société dans laquelle je vis me dégoûte ; la publicité m’écoeure ; l’informatique me fait vomir.De protagonist houdt er een zwartgallige kijk op de wereld aan over. Met korte observaties toont hij zijn afschuw van dan wel medelijden met de mensen om hem heen, die volgens hem te lelijk of triest zijn om een gezond seksleven te hebben. Ik vond deze eenzijdige blik enerzijds ronduit hinderlijk en getuigen van een beperkt mannelijk, seksueel perspectief, maar anderzijds boeiden de opvattingen – die schommelen tussen apathisch, cynisch en depressief – me ook. Houellebecq is pijnlijk eerlijk over zaken waarmee mensen vanaf jonge leeftijd te maken krijgen: behalve geld speelt ook uiterlijk een rol bij de vraag wat het leven te bieden heeft. Voor de protagonist is die kwestie - een 'vinkje' avant la lettre? - een wezenlijk deel van zijn ‘strijd’.
C’est ce qu’on appelle la loi du marché. [...] En système économique parfaitement libéral, certains accumulent des fortunes considérables ; d’autres croupissent dans le chômage et la misère. En système sexuel parfaitement libéral, certains ont une vie érotique variée et excitante ; d’autres sont réduits à la masterubation et la solitude. Le libéralisme économique, c’est l’extension du domaine de la lutte, son extension à tous les âges de la vie et à toutes les classes de la société. De même, le libéralisme sexuel, c’est l’extension du domaine de la lutte, son extension à tous les âges de la vie et à toutes les classes de la société.Interessant is overigens dat het boek in het Nederlands vertaald werd als De wereld als markt en strijd en in het Engels als Whatever. Vooral die laatste verbaast me, omdat het een heel andere lading heeft.