Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Sérotonín

Usually can handle an unlikeable main and some out there subject matter when it has a purpose but this was too gross for me and felt like shock value for shock value's sake so the author can claim he's edgy. DNF ~20%

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bourricote's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The writing is not bad. But the life of the main character is too close to the writer, and it's hard to think that his sexist descriptions are only his and not those of the writer.
Useless dirty descriptions of sexual interactions that do not add anything to the plot.

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cafezada's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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beriboo's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

2.5

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tommelise's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

2.0

It seems Houellebecq is just interested in being provocative for provacation sake. I Will be slightly concerned if someone says they truly enjoy his writing above other writers - he has some good points and passages, and it sure is a quick read but a lot of other great(er) authors make the same points and observations and they do it all while not feeling the need to be blatantly misogynistic, racist etc. It might be a point to make the character unlikable in this sense, but it was just such a big part of the book, and it did not seem the author had any implicit critiques of it that it made me uncomfortable. If you want to read about a depressed man tired of society read Doppler instead. The only reason I give it 2 stars and not one is that there is some good observations and I guess it kind be useful to know that some men really Think like this. It certainly was enlightening and horrifying to me.

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bibliomanicpanic's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

Underwhelming is an understatement. A sorry attempt at describing the life of a man morbidly depressed, Houellebecq allows much of his prejudices to bleed into his work. Both overtly and implicitly misogynistic, racist and unnecessarily homophobic, the attempt to demonstrate what Labrouste actually feels and how it has affected his life as well as his outlook on it does little by way of making the reader sympathetic to his situation. All the agriculture lingo is tedious at best. At worst, it’s completely irrelevant and only detracts from what little substance the story had in the first place. While I tried my best to remain impartial, the racism and misogyny in the text makes it difficult to focus on any underlying thematic elements and it detracts from the flow and over all body of the text. Not to mention, it takes away from any sort of immersion the reader might achieve.

Overall, an incredibly disappointing read I hoped I would like but ended up struggling to get through. It quickly became a chore and any enthusiasm there might have been in the first 5 pages was quickly dispelled.

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