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A review by screen_memory
The Possibility of an Island by Michel Houellebecq
5.0
Re-read the novel that instantly had me hooked on Houellebecq, The Possibility of an Island.
The narration shifts between Daniel1, taking place in the present time, and Daniel24 and Daniel25, subsequent clones of Daniel hundreds of years into the future after the Elohimities, a new religious sect in Spain, perfected the cloning techniques that have granted their followers eternal life via eternally recurring clones.
In line with Houellebecq's tragic humanism, Daniel1, a perpetually depressed multi-millionaire comic and producer, never discovers anything that makes him truly happy. Through the course of two relationships occurring in different stages of his life--one with Isabelle who doesn't like sex enough, and one with Esther who isn't fond of love--and following the general procession of circumstances, he ends up on the other side of every experience with some disappointment or regret.
Being a neohuman and separated from the original by centuries, Daniel24 & 25 contemplate the life story their originator left behind. Within their commentary is a curiosity of his emotional experiences, and a growing urge to experience what it was that made Daniel, yes, absolutely flawed and sad and disappointed, but, at times, incredibly happy and satisfied; to experience, simply, what made him human.
Daniel1's life was one characterized largely by sadness. His later clones' lives are ones characterized by objectivity and dispassion, yet they yearn to experience the chaos and turmoil that comes from the human experience. But, in this novel, no grand idea is stumbled upon, no epiphany is won, and the ending is inconclusive and saddening. In the lives of Daniel1 and his successors as with our own, there will be no joy or triumph in our finality, only a long, slow, dragging crawl to the end of a life that experienced much more sadness and regret than moments of absolute pleasure.
Houellebecq is one of the foremost social critics of Western life in the 21st century. His views on liberalism, sex, reproduction, the aftermath of the sexual revolution, and life in general are invaluable.
The narration shifts between Daniel1, taking place in the present time, and Daniel24 and Daniel25, subsequent clones of Daniel hundreds of years into the future after the Elohimities, a new religious sect in Spain, perfected the cloning techniques that have granted their followers eternal life via eternally recurring clones.
In line with Houellebecq's tragic humanism, Daniel1, a perpetually depressed multi-millionaire comic and producer, never discovers anything that makes him truly happy. Through the course of two relationships occurring in different stages of his life--one with Isabelle who doesn't like sex enough, and one with Esther who isn't fond of love--and following the general procession of circumstances, he ends up on the other side of every experience with some disappointment or regret.
Being a neohuman and separated from the original by centuries, Daniel24 & 25 contemplate the life story their originator left behind. Within their commentary is a curiosity of his emotional experiences, and a growing urge to experience what it was that made Daniel, yes, absolutely flawed and sad and disappointed, but, at times, incredibly happy and satisfied; to experience, simply, what made him human.
Daniel1's life was one characterized largely by sadness. His later clones' lives are ones characterized by objectivity and dispassion, yet they yearn to experience the chaos and turmoil that comes from the human experience. But, in this novel, no grand idea is stumbled upon, no epiphany is won, and the ending is inconclusive and saddening. In the lives of Daniel1 and his successors as with our own, there will be no joy or triumph in our finality, only a long, slow, dragging crawl to the end of a life that experienced much more sadness and regret than moments of absolute pleasure.
Houellebecq is one of the foremost social critics of Western life in the 21st century. His views on liberalism, sex, reproduction, the aftermath of the sexual revolution, and life in general are invaluable.