Thursday, May 04, 2006
La possibilité d'une île, the most recent novel by Michel Houellebecq is rambling and perhaps overlong, but it’s also his most ambitious and frankly devastating work yet. He probably needed that extra length to have the cumulative effect of the book grow so powerfully, though sometimes it feels like he’s just piling up events hoping it’s going to add up to something, and luckily it does. The somewhat overcomplicated approach has the book split into alternating chapters. A chapter for the story of Daniel1, and a short chapter for, usually, a commentary on the previous chapter, written from the perspective of one of his future (2,000 years later) clones, Daniel24 then Daniel 25. The bulk of the book could hardly be considered science fiction though - it’s much more focused on the life of Daniel, a successful, provocative comedian and filmmaker, and the two significant love affaires in his life. The first with a woman who wants love, but not sex. The second with a woman into the sex, but not into the love. Somewhat less interesting are the sections spent later in the book as he finds himself getting involved with a sort of cult, the ultimate purpose of which is to raise money for research into DNA and cloning. It’s not so much that he really gets wrapped up in their beliefs, just that he spends some time as a guest VIP at one of their retreats in the midst of important events, more as a witness than a participant. It’s the book as witness approach that gives La possibilité d'une île some of its strange, convincing power. In a way, it’s written as a sort of a gospel from the bible. However, instead of presenting a message of hope, the message is more one of exhaustion or despair for the future (and present) of mankind. Thankfully the book, especially early, also has its share of humor. Houellebecq loves to provoke and he’s up to many of his old tricks here - some light racism, sexism etcetera (the character's or the author’s or both?), but he goes about it in such a weird way as to keep it interesting instead of offensive, unless one is easily offended. Really the book has a lot in common with all three of his previous novels I’ve read, but takes everything much further, and in that sense, it’s probably also his best.
