/lit/ - Literature

>>10948337

I read Submission lately and enjoyed it a lot. I'll probably get Atomised soon.

>>10948337
Both, a lot of it is elliot-rodger tier garbage but he has a lot of valid observations, 10/10 would read again

>>10948348
give me examples of his observations

>>10948356
I like this one

>>10948356
In atomised he theories on the effect of god-like beauty on women - ultimately he says that too beautiful women dont even get approached by chads and therefore end up with trash at an age of 18-19 and start down a road of deterioation from there

An observation I have previously observed to be true but never fully theorised

he's not really edgy

>>10948391
By normie standards he is

>>10948391

He's just honest not edgy.

>>10948337
He's a frenchman, what else do you need to know?

>>10948337
Probably the most talented and important writer of the 21st century. Scintillating works.

>>10948370
This sounds like something an AI in Skyrim would say.

>>10948441
>a character in Skyrim would talk about post-industrial alienation

>>10948370
This must be satire

>>10948337
He's a good journalist. He's the only intellectual who I think truly understands what is happening on a street level in Western society. I would put him alongside JP, but he's miles ahead of him in calibre as a writer and as far as his breadth of knowledge goes. If the West ever undergoes a radical lifestyle shift or, dare I say, a collapse, Elementary Particles and Submission will be the best books historians use to figure out what was happening in our heads as we walked over the cliff's edge.

Does anyone know of authors who 'know' as much as Houellebecq in this regard?

>>10948370
Lmao this is what Gogol basically said like hundreds of years ago

What a hack.

>>10948452
>>10948484
Stop it. Stop it!

>>10948370
is that a critique or an observation?

>>10948605
Its an observation. Houellebecq is no traditionalist, he's more the kind who thinks we jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire

>>10948632
I remember reading an article about that, but I was a bit scepcital about it because I didn't check if the guy who answered the question in the interview was a nutjob or not

ah here it is, still have it bookmarked:
http://hilobrow.com/2011/11/04/douglas-rushkoff/

>>10948370
>in past ages all children were sons
When did we lose our way? When did we forget the art of homosexual reproduction?

>>10948337
I just think he's fun to read, desu
Pretty cathartic to read about sexually frustrated, cynical young men in a modern society they can't fit in
Any recs? Already did Dosto, but he's a bit too emotional and lovey dovey

>>10948337
He's extremely redpilled on the shitskin infestation plaguing Europe.

>>10948337
He's a Roux de Poux

>>10948458
>I would put him alongside JP
JP's clearly a smart guy but something about his whole philosophy just doesn't seem right. I don't know exactly what it is because I'm a brainlet, but when he gets deep into explaining his worldview, it seems like he's approaching things very logically but some element of it just rubs me the wrong way
I don't mean that in a "grrr why won't he name the Jew" sense

Anyone seen that film about him getting kidnapped or whatever? Is it any good?

>>10948337

I seldom comment on people's appearance, but how can he CONSTANTLY look like he's decomposing without actually decomposing? Is it makeup or what?

>>10949164

I have. He directed, wrote and starred in it, and while it's competently made, it also feels like a bit of a put-on

>>10949164
pretty sure this is the plot of the map and the territory

I think I've read all of his works, and enjoyed them massively desu. He's both a talented writer (although very easy to read) and an edgelord.

If I've understood him correctly, the main thread running throughout his works is the decline of western culture, and he intentionally portrays himself (or his main characters) as the grotesque example of the man in modern society. As modern societies lose their traditions, their values, their identities, then what is left? As religion dies and atheism becomes widespread, what is the purpose of life other than to fill it with hedonism before you die?

Thus, his characters are all sex-obsessed misanthropes, who occasionally have glimpses of true happiness but which are all too fleeting. He's not as talented, but I view him as a very pessimistic and hate-filled companion of Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky's characters seem to escape the nihilism of modernity, but Houellebecq's characters succumb to it.

>>10948458
>dare I say, a collapse
yes it will, just wait about a century sadly
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/280/1754/20122845.short

He's fun but at small doses

>>10949988
>mfw some dumb british toffs think they can predict the future

>>10951329
that is teenager weight

>>10948458
>I would put him alongside JP
That's not high praise...

>>10951329
>toe shoes

he'd be thrown out of my gym for that degeneracy

. . .

>>10949126
>>10952694
I have moved past my JP-worship phase and realized he is not much more than a guy who figured out a lot could benefit from reading what philosophers have to say, minus actually reading them. He writes so a relatively stupid person could understand him just as well a well-read /lit/izen. This is just an observation, and maybe a critcism if you think he is a modern-day Socrates, but no means an complete denunciation and dismissal of a well-intentioned person.

I’m shooting blanks when trying to call on writers and intellectuals who understand that the society we live in is hanging from a razor-thin wire. Houellebecq amd JP are really the only two who seem to know what happens when the people stop taking their institutions seriously: total chaos.

If anyone wants to add to that list, I’ll start a reading list.

>>10953402
Spengler, Ellul, all the /Pol/ memes (Evola, Codreanu, Uncle Ted etc.), Huysmans (big influence on Houellebecq), Linkkola, all the leftypol memes (Debord, Baudrillard, etc.)

>>10948605
>>10948632
Both, he is a traditionalist but no reactionary, he believes that the world was better before but we can't go back to it.

>>10949164
probably not for you. it found my appreciation

A genuinely talented edgelord.

>>10948484

I mean...he IS French.

>>10956012
Your point being...