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Rating: 
- Lanzarote is one of the most beautiful islands in Europe
How dare they call Lanzarote uncultural and hedonistic? It is not the island that is uncultural and hedonistic but the badly educated common tourists that travel there and remain in their small enclaves of english larger louts and retired, beer bellied, uncultured, not speaking a word of Spanish and loud British citizens.
I grew up in Lanzarote and excluding certain tourist destinations (Costa Teguise, Playa Blanca and Playa del Carmen) it is a stunning island with very friendly laid back people.
If people decide to stay for 7 nights in their villa surrounded by blackboards that tell us proudly that they serve English fried breakfasts at 2 euros (in 30 degree heat) then very well, but please don't judge a stunning volcanic island that has produced one of spains best designers/architects (Cesar Manrique), some beautiful beaches, lovely sea food and weather that is the probably the best in the world.
Gracias.
Rating: - Nothing to offer
Loved his other books - not this one though. It covers many of the same themes but nowhere near as well.
Usually his books are very funny - again this was very light on the humour.
Rating: - Betrayal
I have given this 'pamphlet' one star because reading Houellebecq at this level is still better than reading most things. Anyone who read Atomised and Platform will feel utterly betrayed by this half hearted attempt, and anyone who hasn't read Houellebecq before would be better advised to go for those titles - they are superb.
Rating:
- When a snack is as tasty as a meal.
Mixed reviews for the hardback version of this book, mostly regarding its length. I enjoyed it immensely, but then, I never really got into 'Atomised', much preferring 'Platform'.
OK, 'Lanzarote' is a short (very short) story, in which nothing much happens. Whereas it was said of Beckett's greatest play 'nothing happens... twice', it could be argued that in 'Lanzarote' we don't even get double the nothingness. So what do we get?
A taut, well-written, evocative, erotic, snapshot of a brief moment in time. Like the photographs which accompany the novella, the text itself - the story - is one frame abstracted from a complete roll. Where the rest of that roll is, who knows? That isn't important.
Houellebecq speaks as he finds; unlike those British / American (there really isn't much difference these days - they're all racing for the prize) who dare not speak their minds, MH really doesn't seem to care. And that is why his fiction glows so brightly: it has the rare quality of honestly, and of respect.
Sometimes his characters are a little predictable insofar as we have preconceived ideas of national characteristics, but don't all authors and film-makers prey on this? Let's face it, the world is a small place, but 6 billion is an awful lot of people. We can't all be the same, have the same belief systems, despite BushBlair's best efforts.
But this takes us off the point really. The bottom line is that Houellebecq is a lighthouse in the middle of a dull grey sea (metaphorically speaking, obviously - though who knows what he looks like, his picture's not on the cover for whatever reason he sees fit. This book is tiny, nothing much happens, the characters are pretty odious, and it doesn't do much for Lanzarote's tourism business, but the book is funny (as I was pleased one hardback reviewer here noticed), readable, clever, original, and thought-provoking. I liked it a lot, and I look forward to the next one already. Who knows, I might even have a stab at 'Atomised' again.
Rating:
- Don’t let this be your introduction to Houellebecq
Houellebecq lets himself down with Lanzarote. Unlike his most recent full length novels – Atomised and Platform – this novella is not book of ideas. Once again his fascination with tourism as a means by which society might attempt to live out its fantasies is present. Yet here Houellebecq fails to take this idea forward and illuminate society’s darker side and fault lines.
Lanzarote might be the holiday Platform’s narrator took before going on that novel’s journey. The view of the world is the same, but here it is more crudely articulated; as if it has yet to be thought through or intellectualised. Consequently, one feels less sympathetic towards the project. For example, while the sex scenes are not as explicit as those in Platform, Lanzarote is somehow more pornographic because the book is so lacking in substance.
- Lanzarote is one of the most beautiful islands in EuropeHow dare they call Lanzarote uncultural and hedonistic? It is not the island that is uncultural and hedonistic but the badly educated common tourists that travel there and remain in their small enclaves of english larger louts and retired, beer bellied, uncultured, not speaking a word of Spanish and loud British citizens.
I grew up in Lanzarote and excluding certain tourist destinations (Costa Teguise, Playa Blanca and Playa del Carmen) it is a stunning island with very friendly laid back people.
If people decide to stay for 7 nights in their villa surrounded by blackboards that tell us proudly that they serve English fried breakfasts at 2 euros (in 30 degree heat) then very well, but please don't judge a stunning volcanic island that has produced one of spains best designers/architects (Cesar Manrique), some beautiful beaches, lovely sea food and weather that is the probably the best in the world.
Gracias.
Rating:
- Nothing to offerLoved his other books - not this one though. It covers many of the same themes but nowhere near as well.
Usually his books are very funny - again this was very light on the humour.
Rating:
- BetrayalI have given this 'pamphlet' one star because reading Houellebecq at this level is still better than reading most things. Anyone who read Atomised and Platform will feel utterly betrayed by this half hearted attempt, and anyone who hasn't read Houellebecq before would be better advised to go for those titles - they are superb.
Rating:
- When a snack is as tasty as a meal.Mixed reviews for the hardback version of this book, mostly regarding its length. I enjoyed it immensely, but then, I never really got into 'Atomised', much preferring 'Platform'.
OK, 'Lanzarote' is a short (very short) story, in which nothing much happens. Whereas it was said of Beckett's greatest play 'nothing happens... twice', it could be argued that in 'Lanzarote' we don't even get double the nothingness. So what do we get?
A taut, well-written, evocative, erotic, snapshot of a brief moment in time. Like the photographs which accompany the novella, the text itself - the story - is one frame abstracted from a complete roll. Where the rest of that roll is, who knows? That isn't important.
Houellebecq speaks as he finds; unlike those British / American (there really isn't much difference these days - they're all racing for the prize) who dare not speak their minds, MH really doesn't seem to care. And that is why his fiction glows so brightly: it has the rare quality of honestly, and of respect.
Sometimes his characters are a little predictable insofar as we have preconceived ideas of national characteristics, but don't all authors and film-makers prey on this? Let's face it, the world is a small place, but 6 billion is an awful lot of people. We can't all be the same, have the same belief systems, despite BushBlair's best efforts.
But this takes us off the point really. The bottom line is that Houellebecq is a lighthouse in the middle of a dull grey sea (metaphorically speaking, obviously - though who knows what he looks like, his picture's not on the cover for whatever reason he sees fit. This book is tiny, nothing much happens, the characters are pretty odious, and it doesn't do much for Lanzarote's tourism business, but the book is funny (as I was pleased one hardback reviewer here noticed), readable, clever, original, and thought-provoking. I liked it a lot, and I look forward to the next one already. Who knows, I might even have a stab at 'Atomised' again.
Rating:
- Don’t let this be your introduction to HouellebecqHouellebecq lets himself down with Lanzarote. Unlike his most recent full length novels – Atomised and Platform – this novella is not book of ideas. Once again his fascination with tourism as a means by which society might attempt to live out its fantasies is present. Yet here Houellebecq fails to take this idea forward and illuminate society’s darker side and fault lines.
Lanzarote might be the holiday Platform’s narrator took before going on that novel’s journey. The view of the world is the same, but here it is more crudely articulated; as if it has yet to be thought through or intellectualised. Consequently, one feels less sympathetic towards the project. For example, while the sex scenes are not as explicit as those in Platform, Lanzarote is somehow more pornographic because the book is so lacking in substance.