Classic Book Review : Michel Houellebecq - Platform (2001)
An old fart in a superhero movie (I think) once said something along the lines of: “there comes a time where a man has to ask himself whether he wants a life of happiness or a life of meaning”. Right, like you can choose that shit. That’s why so many people are living happy and meaningful lives out there. Love, meaning, fulfillment, these are intimate blessings and they happen to you randomly. They also can be taken from you. At least, that’s what French literature juggernaut Michel Houellebecq argues in his now classic existential novel Platform, which aged like fine wine.
Platform tells the story of Michel Renault, a lonely, joyless middle-aged man who goes on an organized tour of Thailand after his father’s passing. Uncomfortable among conventional tourists, Michel prefers to spend time with local sex workers who he deems more honest. He also likes to rile up his more conservative traveling companions with his provocative views on sex. That’s how he meets Valerie, a young tourism executive who just wants to be loved and celebrated properly. Michel’s life takes a turn for the better just when he had given hope it would.
There’s a lot to unpack here. There always is in Houellebecq’s novels.
Houellebecq is extremely critical of tourism in Platform. Michel makes a rather ethical use of Thailand’s sexual economy and judges his traveling companions more insulated journey, but they nature of what they seek is the same. Tourism can never be real and fulfilling in itself, because it’s a financial transaction between a country and its visitors. Whether you buy the skill of its sex workers or its beautiful landscapes, you’re delivered exactly what you pay for. Not more, not less. The travelers of Platform are caught in a self-perpetuating quest to purchase meaning.
That leads us to what Platform is really about: sex. Michel falls in love with Valerie (ironically a member of her organized trip) because she shares his views on sex. Once they start hooking up, they pretty much can’t stay in the same room without fucking. Although Michel Houellebecq is a master at making great arguments in bad faith, he earnestly argues that sex is how two human being connect at the most intimate, quintessential level. That our carnal instincts should be embraced and celebrated. Michel and Valerie’s sexual connection shields off their respective loneliness.
Sure, this looks pretty simplistic from a bird’s eye view. Without falling into spoiler territory, I’ll say that Platform is really about the brittleness of human connection. There’s more to Michel and Valerie’s connection than just sex even though it’s what they compulsively do. Together, they found a way to sooth each other and find pleasure. They share an understanding with their bodies that they could never express with words. It’s beautiful in a spare, grownup way. Characters in a Michel Houellebecq novel can never really be happy for very long, but I’ll leave it to that.
Houellebecq is a grand master. He can be profoundly disingenuous and make a great point anyway. In Platform, he invites judgement and scorn only to confront your morals to a story of profound connection. Sure, it’s a novel about sex. But it’s also about chasing meaning and that same meaning changing over time. Nothing is set in stone. Everything in temporary. It’s both a nihilistic and liberating truth. That’s why sex is so important in Platform (and I suspect in Michel Houellebecq’s life). It’s something you can enjoy in the here and now.
8.2/10
