The Map and the Territory (2012) by Michel Houllebecq has many of the qualities of his previous work that I admire. I have to admit that his last novel The Possibility of An Island, was, in my opinion, his weakest novel to date. I enjoyed this one much more. And once again Houllebecq addresses big themes like aging and death, father-sons relationships, the role of art in a capitalist society, and the representation of reality through art among others. Most of these ideas are mouthed or executed in the story of the artist Jed Martin, who I think voices many of the author’s opinions-however, it is more complicated than that since Houllebecq also appears as a character in the novel. Some of these issues can be seen in the following extract from the novel:
“We too are products,” he went on, “cultural products. We too will become obsolete. The functioning of the system is identical—with the difference that, in general, there is no obvious technical or functional improvement; all that remains is the demand for novelty in its pure state.”
One of the things I like about this novel is that Houllebecq has experimented with style and genre. The last third of the novel is essentially a murder mystery. (He even admits to doing research for that part of the novel) The novel is also postmodern in the sense that it is a meta-narrative. The author himself appears in the novel as a character that is ultimately killed. This is often used for comic affect, but it also allows him to make some pronouncements about art and the role of art in society. This calls to mind Bret Easton Ellis’ novel Luna Park, which involves a similar meta-narrative and violent happenings. In a sense, Houllebecq is also something of a science fiction writer since his novels often depict an unlikely fictionalized version of the future. In this novel France becomes a tourist destination for other wealthier countries in the near future--having nothing else to offer the world in his opinion. This may explain why he lives in Ireland. It is a return to form from one of the more provocative writers writing today.
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