Michel Houellebecq

A bureaucrat with a taste for pre-packaged goods, Michel Renault travels to Thailand where he begins to gain a taste for the exotic and sensual, an interest that draws him into an intense love affair with Valerie. 35,000 first printing.

A Novel

Platform

Frank Wynne

A bureaucrat with a taste for pre-packaged goods, Michel Renault travels to Thailand where he begins to gain a taste for the exotic and sensual, an interest that draws him into an intense love affair with Valerie. Reader's Guide available. Reprint. 17,500 first printing.

In the end, markets expand, desires escalate, but meaning? That’s always in short supply.

Nana Khoperia

Tuago

Hard not to hate this book, but even harder to put it down. It's funny and well written and it leaves a really bad taste in the mouth while reading it, which I bet was the intention of the author. 

However, it's hard not to attribute all the homophobia, racism, misogyny, etc. which is all over the book to the author's worldview.

Liam Byrne 

Book 51: 'Platform' by Michel Houellebecq

I was recommended 'Platform' with the suggestion that it would be 'brutal', and a more succinct and correct review of the book there couldn't adequately be. It is, at times, brutal and unflinching in its depiction of relationships, violence and sex, but at heart, there is a fairly simple and effective love story right through the core of this story. It is this element of a story that I didn't quite expect from someone such as Houellebecq that allows the shocking elements of the narrative to really stand out, and provide the book with its emotional wallop.

 

Michel Renault is the main character, and in a similar nature to his namesake in 'Atomised', he is a man who skirts around the edges of society, a fact that is highlighted effectively within the first part of the novel, a description of a tour around Thailand. His boredom of, and frankness to, the other guests is contrasted with his enjoyment of the sexual tourism side to Asia. As seems to be a common thread in Houellebecq's novels, he is graphic in his depictions of sex, with it often showcased as a primal human desire that usurps many of the desires we are made to feel are necessities within life, such as friendships and relationships. Even with his occasionally caustic nature, he is able to woo one of the women on the trip to the point where, upon returning to France in the second part of the story, they strike up a relationship.

Read the rest at: http://thatdifficultfirstnovel.co.uk/...

Michel is a civil-servant at the Ministry of Culture. When his father is murdered, Michel takes a leave of absence to go on a package tour to Thailand. Infuriated by the shallow hypocrisy and mediocrity of his fellow travellers, only the awkward Valerie attracts his attention. Too bashful to pursue her, Michel prefers the uncomplicated pleasures of Thai massage parlours and sex with local women. Back in Paris, he calls Valerie and they plunge into a passionate affair, which strays into S&M, partner-swapping and sex in public. Michel quits his job, and tries to help Valerie and her boss, Jean-Yves, in their ailing travel business, by offering travel packages based on sex tourism in the third world. When their project comes to fruition and the three return to Thailand, Michel discovers that sex is neither the most consuming nor the most dangerous of human passions...

Platform A Novel