Possibility of an IslandMichel Houellebecq
Possibility of an Island
by Michel Houellebecq · first published 2006
7mentions
3recommended by
7HN commenters
2009–2019first – last mentioned
43% recommend57% neutral
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Three books I enjoyed this year: this census taker, China Mieville To Say Nothing Of The Dog, Connie Willis The Possibility of an Island, Houellebecq If you enjoy science-fiction, it is quite possible that you wouldn't enjoy any of the books above or even classify them as science-fiction (I would though) -- so definitely look them up…
on “Ask HN: What is the best sci-fi you read this year?” ↗Michel Houellebecq is a true prophet. From his novel Atomised to The Possibility of an Island (metaphor for social media) to Soumission, he's been years ahead re zeitgeist and social climate since the 90s.
on “Margaret Atwood, a Prophet of Dystopia” ↗Good luck with Elementary Particles. It's was too depressing for me. "The Possibility of an Island" gets better though, with a nice sci-fi underline.
on “What are you reading?” ↗…article explains it's just the way he does things - I especially like the part where he describes that he altered the original entry just a little bit to suit his own style, somewhat echoing his book The Possibility of an Island.
on “Houellebecq borrows from Wikipedia, never cites” ↗French author/philosopher Michel Houellebecq dedicated a rather [unnecessarily] lengthy science fiction novel "The Possibility of an Island" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Possibility_of_an_Island to this subject, with the grand idea being presented that out of all years humans mainly enjoy a tiny segment of it - when they're young, as…
on “Longevity Inc” ↗…in-depth analysis of the discontentment of sex tourism from the perspective of his alter ego, which is clearly formed by his own lived experience in Indonesia. I think it's his least coherent work FWIW. The Possibility of an Island arguably follows the timeline of Atomised and describes the nature of love through the narrative of three clones of the same person from the hedonistic present, totalitarian future and hunter-gatherer…
on “Explaining Sex Rate Changes” ↗Reading this book The Possibility of an Island which postulates the same, though through a more socio-religious angle rather than technological.
on “Sad as Hell” ↗