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/lit/ - Literature

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17391721 No.17391721 [Reply] [Original]

Will Houellebecq be remembered?

Submission was good, but not profound. Seritonin was a flop. He hasn't written anything good since 2010. Will he have a place in literary history?

>> No.17391783

>>17391721
>Will he have a place in literary history?

He will have one, but I don't think he deserves one

>> No.17391793 [DELETED] 

>>17391721
Along with Don DeLillo, he is one of the only authors to accurately depict modernity in a truly literary way, so I imagine he'll be remembered. The most memorable work of Pynchon & McCarthy are period pieces – fantastic period pieces, but still period pieces. Krasznahorkai and Marías are also great, but provincial.

>> No.17391809

Along with Don DeLillo, he is one of the only authors to accurately depict modernity in a truly literary way, so I imagine he'll be remembered. The most memorable work of Pynchon & McCarthy are period pieces – fantastic period pieces, but still period pieces. Krasznahorkai and Marías are also great, but provincial. All six of the aforementioned authors will be remembered, to be sure – they are all excellent, and exceed Houellebecq in some respects – but only Houellebecq writes about "the way we live now."

>> No.17392044

>>17391809
>Along with Don DeLillo, he is one of the only authors to accurately depict modernity in a truly literary way, so I imagine he'll be remembered.
Reminder that applying Flaubertian realism to contemporary society does not mean you are successfully describing the contemporary world. Beckett and Kafka were the closest we got to accurate descriptions of modernity, they are heirs of Flaubert but they did not just blindly use his form with different content, which is precisely what Houellebecq does, and which is why he isn't an artist.
A decent novelist? Sure. But not an artist, and certainly not "modern".

>> No.17392415

>Thinking being profound is possible or useful in 2021
He has been the No.1 French literary export for quite awhile now, he will be remember forever. The actual content of the books don't matter. You will find this out when you get a bit older.

>> No.17392507

>>17391721
Who?

>> No.17392519

>>17391721
Serotonin was better than Submission.

>> No.17392540

>>17392519
Agree, much better even.

Maybe I read /pol/ to much but I really didn't get much from reading submission.

>> No.17392647

>>17392540
Submission is a great novel, but first time after I read it I thought its average, but after some time when I realized who Huysmans was and I also realized that the book itself doesnt criticize religion at all.

The plot shows the struggle of a man who was seeking for a religion, meaning, an escaping from melancholy.

I also watched on youtube an interview with Houellebecq and qhe mentioned that he wrote the part that Myriam is going to Israel only because he wanted to write the sentence 'There is no Israel for me'.

>> No.17392738

>>17392540
submission was not a critique of islam. if you read it like that you did not understand the novel. it is probably my favourite houellebecq book.

>> No.17392747
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17392747

>>17391721
I'm currently reading his first book, Whatever. I have to say its a wild ride. I've been hate-reading negative reviews of it on goodreads as well. Something about normies and women denying that the sexual revolution also had some negative effects really gets me riled up.

>> No.17392762

>>17392647
>the book itself doesnt criticize religion at all
I am capable of reading. The problem is that the book is underdeveloped.

>> No.17392834

>>17392647
While it doesn't criticise Islam explicitly, it does provide a useful insight into it: the protagonist is filled with resentment and the famous "Nietzsche the old fuck and Christ the faggot" passage shows exactly the resentment of not being able to either identify with traditional Christendom or overcome it as Nietzsche suggested, he is trapped in the nihilism of neither one or the other. Islam didn't really give his life meaning, he just submitted. Almost all historical instances of Islamic conversion stem from resentment. From the Arabs and Egyptians towards the Byzantine Empire to the Indonesians against the Dutch colonists.

>> No.17392999

>>17391721
He’s a one trick pony. A literal hack. His only good book is “Extension du domaine de la lutte”.

>> No.17393377

>>17392999
whatever

>> No.17393418

>>17392044
If you think that Houellebecq is a Flaubertian realist, I think you're mistaken. His novels are far more philosophical than Flaubert's. He allows the narrative voice to digress into philosophical commentary, which Flaubert never did.

>> No.17393439

>>17392747
>I'm currently reading his first book
I read it a month ago. Really good stuff.

>> No.17393452

>>17392834
>Almost all historical instances of Islamic conversion stem from resentment
Many opportunism, also.

>> No.17393456

>>17391721

What does writing well have to do with being remembered?

>> No.17393504

>>17392647
>I also watched on youtube an interview with Houellebecq and qhe mentioned that he wrote the part that Myriam is going to Israel only because he wanted to write the sentence 'There is no Israel for me'.
that's fantastic. do you have a link to the interview by any chance?

>> No.17393532

>>17393439
I'm not sure, I can hardly put it down. It is very gripping, but also very depressing. It poignantly describes what life is like for many of us, but doesn't seem to hold any answers for how to improve life. Then again, I'm still reading the 3rd part.

>> No.17393548

>>17392747
>>17393439
I've read most of his novels, though I haven't read Whatever.
I recently saw the film, but having read both Platform and the Elementary Particles the film didn't really make an impact.
I'll probably read it some day.

>> No.17393560

>>17391721
The map and the territory and everything that came after it is shit. He writes the same fucking book over and over again.

>> No.17394410

>>17393418
His style is more similar to Flaubert and every novel written after Flaubert in just about any language has his traces but you're right and that's why he's shit.
He's a cringe mix of flaubert and balzac(this is where the fake philosophy comes in) and le incel. It's just not art, it's bad

>> No.17394434

He will always be the incel /lit/ hero. I see that as a compliment tbqh.

>> No.17395067

>>17393504
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJI8YPopjgk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IyJEFbBhXo

Sorry but I don't remember which one exactly, but for sure one of them contains this explanation

>> No.17396389

>>17393532
>doesn't seem to hold any answers for how to improve life
is he obligated to give you one?

>> No.17396925

>>17391721
>Seritonin was a flop.

totally wrong, serotonin was his best book since the possibility of an island. GTFO loser

>> No.17397023

Am I the only one who thinks Whatever, Platform and The Elementary Particles are his best?

>> No.17397070

>>17394410
there are single pages of Serotonin that are better than anything you will ever be capable of writing