I also found the idea that it is Michel's suggestions put into practice that "explode" the novel very shocking. He is a character with no real life of his own, and it is odd that his observations of humanity become integrated into cultivating a market as a part of the capitalist system. Is Houellebecq making a statement about the "Westernization" of sexual tourism? Without a doubt it is already a part of the capitalist system, but is the world ready for it to become a large-scale mainstream operation?
Monday, March 22, 2010
The Platform
I finished The Platform this weekend, and I was really surprised by its ending. The novel came full circled with Michel ending up in exactly the type of place and situation that it seemed his destiny to inhabit at the start of the novel. His relationship with Valerie was the only thing that brought any fire or color to his world, and it appears that her death has left him just as gray and pointless as he was before, if not more so for losing his enthusiasm for the female body. He has no ambition, no real desire, nothing left. If the novel is centered around the theme of love, what is Houellebecq saying about love?
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I believe that Houellebecq IS making a statement about the westernization of sexual tourism. Just look at the character of Robert, he has travelled all over since his 3rd divorce and this whole notion of paying for sex and picking out girls from a "buffet" is almost like second nature to him. The practice of sexual tourism may already be widely acknowledged on the other side of the world but legally and socially speaking, I highly doubt it will be reaching us anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteI just finished the book and the last few chapters kept me on my toes. I was very surprised at the ending. Although, I knew that starting such a controversial way of traveling it was bound to attract trouble. It was very shocking that Valerie died; when everything was suppose to fall into place. She wanted to retire from her job and “down grade” to resort manager at half the salary to Thailand. Michel did not mind doing the chores.
ReplyDeleteValerie dies at the hands of “three men wearing turbans”, yet, when he is questioned by the “the Thai police who were accompanied by an embassy attaché who acted as an interpreter” he does not know if they were either Arab or Asian origin. He is no help. As well as questioned by Americans who do not have an interpreter.
Certain events make people loathe things that they otherwise would not loathe, since the death of Valerie, Michel tries different forms of loathing Muslims. Even though, he himself is not sure of the assailant’s origin but all he knows is that they were wearing turbans. He needs someone to blame for Valerie’s death.
Michel, a man who at the beginning of the book seemed boring and just did the minimum at his job, a little bit perverted. Has learned to love someone with all his being and she is taken away in such a gruesome way. He is afraid of getting hurt again. He is afraid of loving again, of losing again. He rather feel numb than to feel pain. “My life was an empty space, and it was better that it remain that way. If I allowed passion to penetrate my body, pain would follow quickly in its wake.” P. 359. It does not work he still feels pain, he afraid of being forgotten, after all, he had no known family, no lover to send him off if he dies. He is lonely again, but he does not regret all that has happened.
Speaking of the "real world" of sexual tourism...
ReplyDeleteIN the book, Houllebecq mentions that similar hotels had been attempted with a focus on the gay community and they had been "disasters" or "failures". I know that's not the case.
Most gay people don't have kids, affording midlevel to senior professionals at least one fabulous vacation per year. The thing is....if you end up at a resort and all the other gay men are ugly or boring...you're stuck until the trip is over.
That notwithstanding, there are places all over the planet that cater to the gay set, but none so successful as the Atlantis Cruise. Why settle for a single resort in a remote village, when you can get on a boat with 5000 men with Speedos and island hop through the Caribbean?
However, many "gay resorts" are simply "straight" resorts that advertise one or two weekends per season as the "gay weekend".
- Aaron Kinchen