-
See Our Summer
Books to Watch!
by Michel Houellebecq, translated by Gavin Bowd
A tale of our present circumstances told from the future, when humanity as we know it has vanished.
Having made a fortune producing comedies that skewer mankind's consumerism, religious fundamentalism, sexual profligacy, and other affronts, Daniel is forty before he falls prey to the human condition himself: his beloved's body sags with age, their marriage dissolves, and true happiness seems a luxury reserved for their dog, Fox. After the colossal failure of his second great love affair, he joins a cult of health fanatics determined to produce a misery-free eternal life - manifested here in the voices of Daniel's subsequent clones, who enjoy the umpteenth Fox's companionship but shun the bands of fugitive "humans" on the horizon. Their commentary on Daniel's fate, and on the race as a whole, illuminates the basic tenets of our existence - laughter, tears, love, remorse - and their nostalgia for such emotions, all of which have long since disappeared.
"Everything ends frighteningly (unless you like clones) and satisfactorily (if you take a cynical enough view). Houellebecq has never written better, yet this novel seems stuck in the groove - clunky mini-essays, gonzo porn digressions - first etched by his earlier novels." - PW.
"A verbose novel of crushing ideas, ostentatious carnality and deep misanthropy that fail to connect. First serial to Playboy." - Kirkus.
This information about The Possibility of an Island was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
The book jacket blurb claims that Michel Houellebecq (pronounced Wellbeck) is the most famous French novelist since Camus.
.png)
Being slightly paranoid is like being slightly pregnant – it tends to get worse.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
