Summary
Michel Houellbecq: Platforma
Exoticism, sex, tourism, Muslim terrorism - these are the spicy spices of the latest, third novel "Platforma" by today's most controversial world writer Michel Houellebecq. Sharp and funny, stylistically clean and drinkable and rarely stingy in exaggerations (especially sexual), this novel, with a clinical sense for details, portrays the average society of its time. The main character, named Michel, is an official in the Ministry of Culture, lives to the rhythm of television games and feuilletons, and peep shops on the way out of work. After the death of his father, an "old crook", he decides to travel to Thailand, as part of a sophisticated package-arrangement by the Nouvelles frontieres agency. There he indulges in the pleasures of erotic massage, visits bars with prostitutes, but also meets Valerie, with whom he will travel to Cuba and multiply his sexual experiences... With the novel Platforma, and the polemics and court proceedings that followed, Micncl Houellebecq once again carried the charisma of a free writer who writes exactly what he wants, giving trouble to censorship, criticism, political correctness and the prohibitions of society. Of course, someone will say that his views (and those of his heroes) are racist, sexist, shocking, but the question he implicitly raises - is it permissible to think badly in a democracy - remains open with "Platform"...
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