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Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Bompiani
Description
Just thirty, with a well-paid job, depression and no love life, the narrator and anti-hero par excellence of this grim, funny and clever novel smokes four packs of cigarettes a day and writes weird animal stories in his spare time. A computer programmer by day, he is tolerably content, until, that is, he's packed off with a colleague - the unimaginably ugly, sexually-frustrated virgin Raphael Tisserand - to train provincial civil servants in the use of a new computer system... A painfully realistic portrayal of the vanishing freedom of a world governed by science and by the empty rituals of daily life.
Media reviews
Der Nihilismus in Gestalt eines Software-Entwicklers
User reviews
LibraryThing member k0vy
I like the Guardian's comment on the back cover: "This book slips down easily like a bad oyster.". And, indeed, I was amused reading the first half. How can this guy be so negative. But at the end, I was dragged down to that mood, and needed some time to recover. Dangerous read. :)
LibraryThing member michaeldwebb
This is Houellebecq's first novel, short, concise, and covers all his usual themes: sex, philosophy and general disgust at being human.
Houellebecq is probably a great writer (or at least an important one), but he isn't a great storyteller - 'Possibilities of An Island' proved that. His limited
If you only want to read one of his novels I'd probably go for Atomised or Platform instead.
Houellebecq is probably a great writer (or at least an important one), but he isn't a great storyteller - 'Possibilities of An Island' proved that. His limited
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story telling ability doesn't really matter here though - it's short, basically a series of episodes marking the narrators mental deterioration.If you only want to read one of his novels I'd probably go for Atomised or Platform instead.
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LibraryThing member jcbrunner
Appropriately for the topic of this short novel, I bought it in Geneva among the limited selection of an airport kiosk to kill some time. I hadn't read any Houellebecq prior, though I have seen and not particularly liked the German film interpretation of his The Elementary Particles. The English
The book's contemporary Generation X authors such as Douglas Coupland and Nick Hornby treat similar themes in a much lighter and humane way. I am not sure if I want to read another Houellebecq.
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title of L'Extension du domaine de la lutte, Whatever, misses the original's aggressiveness of the narrator who is both depressed and filled with aggressive misogynistic and xenophobic resentment. A major reason why it took me so long to finish those few pages. The narrator is just a unsavory character whose company one not really seeks. He is decidedly not the enchanting monster type à la Humbert Humbert, Dexter or Grenouille (from The Parfume) but a sad little creep.The book's contemporary Generation X authors such as Douglas Coupland and Nick Hornby treat similar themes in a much lighter and humane way. I am not sure if I want to read another Houellebecq.
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LibraryThing member lorespar
From my public library: So its not really mine, but I just gravitate towards this writer's sense of impropriety, so French, yet so naked of culture at the same time.
LibraryThing member Tam2603
I am done and very glad, that it's over.
What a bad, bad book.
The protagonist is a sexist, pretentious prick, whose rambling is above all EXTREMELY BORING.
I don't see anything remotely good about this book and will not ever again read something by this author.
What a bad, bad book.
The protagonist is a sexist, pretentious prick, whose rambling is above all EXTREMELY BORING.
I don't see anything remotely good about this book and will not ever again read something by this author.
LibraryThing member arewenotben
Wish I'd read this 10-15 years ago. Probably would have done if it wasn't for that god-awful cover - like the art for the 3rd single of a terrible BritPop band. Enjoyably angry.
LibraryThing member wendyrey
Why is it so many of the '1001 books' are stream of consciousness, guilt ridden angst? This is well written ( and translated) and 'about' a depressive, introspective, social isolate, male geek, who finds it hard and/or impossible to relate to other people. He agonises a lot, drinks a lot, thinks
Elegantly written.
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about sex, gets depressed, gets treated and gets a bit better.Elegantly written.
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LibraryThing member SigmundFraud
Not among Houellebecq's best.
LibraryThing member GTWise
I have a collection of books I have been picking and choosing from, usually on the basis of, "what sounds good today?" and this was the most recent book I chose.
The first thing that has to be said is that I did not really care. I did not care what happened to the protagonist; there was never a
I can't say that the ideas expressed in the book are totally off. Houellebecq's protagonist isn't the first to cast sex as a kind of economics, not only that but a kind of economics where (at least in a non-monogamous world) there are haves and have-nots. By the end, he has divided the world into Mars (fear, money, power, domination, masculinity) and Venus (sex, seduction) and seems vexed that there is nothing else in the world. I can sympathize, the idea that there is nothing in life except material and sexual hierarchy is very vexing, and when you find it difficult to escape the notion it can become maddening. When sex and resources cease to be cast as matters that enrich you life and instead become the only content of your life, the world seems very small indeed. This is interesting. This is an interesting concept that can be explored and wrestled with.
But I still felt no intellectual connection with the protagonist. Maybe I am uncharitable, but I just don't see how two years without sex is cause for someone to lose their minds. If sex drought makes you sob intermittently throughout the day, your psyche probably was not built to last in the first place, and you don't make a very suitable model for a struggle that the modern human faces. I do say that some of his ideas have merit, but I would have to say that his reaction to his struggle smacks of someone trying to give their lives an existential flavor by portraying their petty struggles as existential crises that suck all the joy out of their lives.
It worked in The Stranger, because the fact of death reasonably seems like the sort of thing that can suck the color out of life. That is a real struggle that anyone can face in their lives. Lack of sex is a reason to get a faster internet connection, not a reason to try to get your liquored-up friend to go kill people on a beach.
Maybe if he had spent some time exploring what it means to live in a world that seems to be dominated by competition for resources and competition for sex - and how to move beyond such a life, I would have been interested. Maybe if he tried to live in defiance of a life. Hell, even if he decided that that was just how life is and decided to go with it, I would have been emotionally invested. But he apparently just decides to start losing control of his mind, and that is rather boring to me.
So, he had some interesting ideas that are worth exploring; it just all gets lost in a very boring descent into madness.
Oh well, it wasn't too long, no great loss. Whatever....
The first thing that has to be said is that I did not really care. I did not care what happened to the protagonist; there was never a
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point where I connected with him on an intellectual level ("hey, maybe this guy has a point! I can see where he's coming from...") or an emotional level ("I hope things work out for this guy, I really want to see him find a way to resolve his struggle"). Like any criticism leveled at a book, it may say something about the quality of the book or something about the quality of the reader.I can't say that the ideas expressed in the book are totally off. Houellebecq's protagonist isn't the first to cast sex as a kind of economics, not only that but a kind of economics where (at least in a non-monogamous world) there are haves and have-nots. By the end, he has divided the world into Mars (fear, money, power, domination, masculinity) and Venus (sex, seduction) and seems vexed that there is nothing else in the world. I can sympathize, the idea that there is nothing in life except material and sexual hierarchy is very vexing, and when you find it difficult to escape the notion it can become maddening. When sex and resources cease to be cast as matters that enrich you life and instead become the only content of your life, the world seems very small indeed. This is interesting. This is an interesting concept that can be explored and wrestled with.
But I still felt no intellectual connection with the protagonist. Maybe I am uncharitable, but I just don't see how two years without sex is cause for someone to lose their minds. If sex drought makes you sob intermittently throughout the day, your psyche probably was not built to last in the first place, and you don't make a very suitable model for a struggle that the modern human faces. I do say that some of his ideas have merit, but I would have to say that his reaction to his struggle smacks of someone trying to give their lives an existential flavor by portraying their petty struggles as existential crises that suck all the joy out of their lives.
It worked in The Stranger, because the fact of death reasonably seems like the sort of thing that can suck the color out of life. That is a real struggle that anyone can face in their lives. Lack of sex is a reason to get a faster internet connection, not a reason to try to get your liquored-up friend to go kill people on a beach.
Maybe if he had spent some time exploring what it means to live in a world that seems to be dominated by competition for resources and competition for sex - and how to move beyond such a life, I would have been interested. Maybe if he tried to live in defiance of a life. Hell, even if he decided that that was just how life is and decided to go with it, I would have been emotionally invested. But he apparently just decides to start losing control of his mind, and that is rather boring to me.
So, he had some interesting ideas that are worth exploring; it just all gets lost in a very boring descent into madness.
Oh well, it wasn't too long, no great loss. Whatever....
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LibraryThing member mingusfingers
"It's been a while since the meanings of my actions has seemed clear to me. The rest of the time I'm more or less in the position of observer"
Novel about a man whose cynical and aloof attitude to others affects his mental stability, taking refuge in violence and fantasies of sexual degradation. He
Novel about a man whose cynical and aloof attitude to others affects his mental stability, taking refuge in violence and fantasies of sexual degradation. He
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has a general sense of contempt and bitterness for others and believes such disaffection to be the norm. His bitterness is broken only by a sense of 'going on for the sake of going on', and by expressions of pathos for the helplessness and hopelessness of those he observes. He demands love and tenderness but is unable to bestow such feelings. He accompanies others on their pathetic drunken forays in search of sexual conquests and love without risking anything himself. He observes with derision, amusing himself with hate filled rants about other peoples egotism and mediocre ambitions. The observations sometimes ring true and are palatable but at other times just reveal an annoying self-conscious posturing in the narrator. It is a desperate and sociopathic monologue of a man who, in spite of this detachedness, doesn't really have much insight about himself or society. He has put so many walls up that he cuts off all possible pathways to being helped, making his descent into solitude and depression inevitable. Show Less
LibraryThing member Willstoc
The title fits the theme of the story perfectly. The narrator suffers from manic depression, and in turn has a completely apathetic and cynical world view. This was my first Houellebecq novel, so I won't be too quick to judge his storytelling capabilities. He has done a great job capturing the
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mindset and internal dialogue of a depressed man. The narrator depicts women in an obvious objectified male-gaze, and even reveals tendencies of racism. But such is the behavior of a man who undergoes daily bouts of incessant negativity. I did not like the narrator, and disagreed with everything he said and believed, but in order to truly simulate manic depression, Houellebecq had to delve so deep into pessimism that a glimmer of hope would surely be absurd. Show Less
LibraryThing member mlbelize
This isn't a bad book, it just isn't for me at this time. I really don't need a book that leaves me more depressed than when I began it.
LibraryThing member PilgrimJess
The unnamed narrator of 'Whatever', lives in Paris, has a well paid job working in computers and is currently single. He is lonely, utterly alone, has no friends and no family that we know of. Conversely this means that he is also completely free. Free from financial worries,attachment, guilt or
The original French title of the book “Extension of the domain of struggle” and in this novel Houellebecq looks at the struggle for free love in a modern liberal society. A society where sexual experimentation has engendered a society of winners and losers, where self-worth is governed by the numbers of sexual partners you can amass. “Sexuality is a system of social hierarchy”.
When the narrator and Tisserand, an ugly and lacking in charm colleague, are sent by their company to set up a training programme for a new computer system around some provincial towns they also embark on a tour of the local bars and clubs looking for sexual liaisons. Despite having steady jobs, a decent expenses account and good wages in this society they are still losers and abject failures.
“Just like unrestrained economic liberalism, and for similar reasons, sexual liberalism produces phenomena of absolute pauperization”
In this novel Houellebecq argues that the lack of love in society is a direct outcome of sexual liberalism and someone like Tisserand is powerless to fight it, he will know neither love nor sexual fulfillment. Conversely the elite of the hierarchy of sexuality are little better off, "In reality, the successive sexual experiences accumulated during adolescence undermine and rapidly destroy all possibility of projection of an emotional and romantic sort." Houellebecq argues that in a society where sexual images abound in the media, pop music etc is a society that is built on easy lies and sensual pleasure is a bankrupt one.
For Houellebecq questions of sex, desire are central. In this book religion, love, family and psychiatry are given short shrift. There is very little dialogue and none of the characters' backgrounds are expanded upon meaning that no easy remedies are offered up.This is a struggle we have to overcome ourselves.
There are some interesting ideas within this book but for me at least not a particularly memorable one. Houellebecq points out that there is a very fine line between love and hatred, in particular self-hatred, making this a pretty bleak but thankfully also a relatively quick read.
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emotions; free to do whatever he wants.The original French title of the book “Extension of the domain of struggle” and in this novel Houellebecq looks at the struggle for free love in a modern liberal society. A society where sexual experimentation has engendered a society of winners and losers, where self-worth is governed by the numbers of sexual partners you can amass. “Sexuality is a system of social hierarchy”.
When the narrator and Tisserand, an ugly and lacking in charm colleague, are sent by their company to set up a training programme for a new computer system around some provincial towns they also embark on a tour of the local bars and clubs looking for sexual liaisons. Despite having steady jobs, a decent expenses account and good wages in this society they are still losers and abject failures.
“Just like unrestrained economic liberalism, and for similar reasons, sexual liberalism produces phenomena of absolute pauperization”
In this novel Houellebecq argues that the lack of love in society is a direct outcome of sexual liberalism and someone like Tisserand is powerless to fight it, he will know neither love nor sexual fulfillment. Conversely the elite of the hierarchy of sexuality are little better off, "In reality, the successive sexual experiences accumulated during adolescence undermine and rapidly destroy all possibility of projection of an emotional and romantic sort." Houellebecq argues that in a society where sexual images abound in the media, pop music etc is a society that is built on easy lies and sensual pleasure is a bankrupt one.
For Houellebecq questions of sex, desire are central. In this book religion, love, family and psychiatry are given short shrift. There is very little dialogue and none of the characters' backgrounds are expanded upon meaning that no easy remedies are offered up.This is a struggle we have to overcome ourselves.
There are some interesting ideas within this book but for me at least not a particularly memorable one. Houellebecq points out that there is a very fine line between love and hatred, in particular self-hatred, making this a pretty bleak but thankfully also a relatively quick read.
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LibraryThing member Audacity88
After reading his other novels, Houellebecq's first effort feels weak by comparison. Without the tension of brotherhood and family (as in The Elementary Particles) or religion (as in Submission) to balance out his nihilism, the main character's pointlessness just feels... pointless.
Awards
Prix de Flore (1996)
Original language
Italian
Original publication date
1994 [French]
1998 [English]
1999 (Spanish)
Physical description
0.67 inches
ISBN
8845247708 / 9788845247705