As an extra note Houellebecq is pretty easy to read in French. Many critics dislike him as he uses everyday language and short simple sentences, and uses a very flat style (which also makes him easy to translate). Houellebecq is aware of this I think which is why he called one book "Platform"= plat (flat) forme (shape)
Thanks for that. I learned French as a child, so theoretically it should be easy enough to re-learn it but I'm not so sure... I learned Chinese, Korean, and Japanese (to varying degrees) since then and really now should put effort into Khmer (as I live in Cambodia). But French is one that I would love to get back into because of the great literature it opens up.
I had not thought about the title of Platform. Very interesting!
Strange how many critics look down upon the simple style. I've always believed that those writers who can express complex ideas simply are so much better than the ones who used flowery, dense language to get across the same ideas.
The issue is that he doesn't address complex ideas but kind of describes symptoms (I kind of disagree) and without language thats engaging he just comes across as whining and sad (I kind of agree) which makes his longer books a slog (I don't know I've only read the shorter ones). Having said that he's won serious lit awards in France so he's admired and hated at the same time.
It doesn't help that he's a "public" writer and intellectual and has turned into a parody of himself, which makes him quite difficult to like.
Anyways... Even with my crappy French "Extension de la domaine du lutte" is readable and bleakly funny if you've worked in an office.
Ok. I see. I think the claim about not addressing complex ideas is clearly false but yes he comes over as sad and whiny. I have never hugely enjoyed long books but Houellebecq's longest ones are very engaging in my opinion.
Alas, any public intellectual will be torn apart in the 21st century. We live in an era where everyone's faults are amplified and the intelligent are not allowed heroes.
Naked Lunch is a comic masterpiece, no doubt. I would hesitate to call much of Burroughs' other work overtly comic (although, strangely, it can become comic when he reads it himself).
As an extra note Houellebecq is pretty easy to read in French. Many critics dislike him as he uses everyday language and short simple sentences, and uses a very flat style (which also makes him easy to translate). Houellebecq is aware of this I think which is why he called one book "Platform"= plat (flat) forme (shape)
Thanks for that. I learned French as a child, so theoretically it should be easy enough to re-learn it but I'm not so sure... I learned Chinese, Korean, and Japanese (to varying degrees) since then and really now should put effort into Khmer (as I live in Cambodia). But French is one that I would love to get back into because of the great literature it opens up.
I had not thought about the title of Platform. Very interesting!
Strange how many critics look down upon the simple style. I've always believed that those writers who can express complex ideas simply are so much better than the ones who used flowery, dense language to get across the same ideas.
The issue is that he doesn't address complex ideas but kind of describes symptoms (I kind of disagree) and without language thats engaging he just comes across as whining and sad (I kind of agree) which makes his longer books a slog (I don't know I've only read the shorter ones). Having said that he's won serious lit awards in France so he's admired and hated at the same time.
It doesn't help that he's a "public" writer and intellectual and has turned into a parody of himself, which makes him quite difficult to like.
Anyways... Even with my crappy French "Extension de la domaine du lutte" is readable and bleakly funny if you've worked in an office.
Ok. I see. I think the claim about not addressing complex ideas is clearly false but yes he comes over as sad and whiny. I have never hugely enjoyed long books but Houellebecq's longest ones are very engaging in my opinion.
Alas, any public intellectual will be torn apart in the 21st century. We live in an era where everyone's faults are amplified and the intelligent are not allowed heroes.
Naked Lunch is a comic masterpiece, no doubt. I would hesitate to call much of Burroughs' other work overtly comic (although, strangely, it can become comic when he reads it himself).
Of course, not everything is comic but there is much dark comedy throughout his work.