Welcome to Litsy!

"Was I capable of being happy in solitude? I didn‘t think so. Was I capable of being happy in general? That‘s the kind of question, I think, that is best not asked."

I enjoyed this one far more than I initially thought I would... such a fine sarcastic tone on contemporary society, such a realistic depiction of mid-life crisis with its swings between feeling hopelessly useless and the illusion of a new challenge, the harsh loneliness devouring those who realize they had experienced true happiness only after they lost it for the most stupid of reasons...

Vacation stack ready 📚

L'amore restava l'unica cosa in cui si potesse ancora, forse, avere fiducia❣

Ero capace di essere felice in generale?🙃

Maybe not the best Houellebecq's novel, but definitely worth reading!
Peut-être pas son meilleur roman, mais vaut vraiment la peine d'être lu.
Iako nije Houellbecqov najbolji roman, definitivno vrijedan čitanja.

On the pan/so-so border. I disliked it less at the end than at the beginning, so there is that... A cynical mind may wonder if it made the #bookerinternational2020 longlist just to rustle up a little press coverage.

It‘s very difficult to get past the ‘shocking to be shocking‘ scenes and main character‘s attitude. When you do, it‘s the story of a depressed man, who doesn‘t like himself, slowly withdrawing from the world. Not one to linger over.

I‘ve made it to the half-way point 🎉. Same amount again to read 🥺

It started with something like a Benny Hill sketch, a middle-aged man helping two young hippies to pump up their tyres & fantasising. Of course he lived by a naturist beach.

I thought maybe we‘d be heading into Satire or Black Comedy? If we are it‘s passing me by. Miserable people living miserable lives, and obsessing over the failings of previous ‘partners‘ 👇

Mindblowingly bad. There wasn‘t any aspect that wasn‘t the worst thing I‘ve ever read. A pretentious, crude agricultural theorist (he LOVES agricultural theory nearly as much as listing his views about vaginas) drives round France thinking about how clever he is, correcting sections of Proust to include more ‘pussy‘ references and once describing a paedophile attacking a girl in so much detail I had to skip it. Somehow both shocking and boring.

It‘s kinda incredible to be half way through something and know for sure it‘s the worst book I‘ve read in my whole life. I‘ve said that before but this is The One. The MC hates every woman he‘s slept with but wants to list the features of their genitals to us while he drives round France wishing other ppl understood agricultural policy as much as him.

I‘d bail but there‘s just under 1hr to go and I‘m curious to see how bad it can actually get?

Pretty repulsive (I read this in English, ignore the fact that the blurb is in Spanish)

So I always think it‘s interesting & important to read Houellebecq, he‘s thought provoking though I tend to not like his characters. This time I just can‘t take the misogyny, the arrogance and then be expected to have empathy for this male protagonist. Much of the plot had potential but his flashbacks to the women in his past are awful & filled with sex more than almost anything very deep about the women.