Andrew Hussey
En Garde
Public Enemies
By Bernard-Henri Lévy and Michel Houellebecq
Atlantic Books 308pp £17.99
With the recent award of the Prix Goncourt for his latest novel La Carte et le territoire, Michel Houellebecq suddenly seems to have earned the right to be taken seriously. It’s been a long time coming. Houellebecq first came to international prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s with a series of novels that expounded a gloomy worldview he calls ‘depressionism’, which sees futility and boredom in every human endeavour (except perhaps group sex, and even then the excitement is only fleeting). Meanwhile, over the past decade Houellebecq has become an established presence in the French media, known for his deliberate provocations, which have ranged from denouncing Islam to an apparent espousal of casual racism and misogyny. Now, after fifteen years as the arch-rebel of contemporary French letters, Houellebecq has become the mainstream. As a perennial outsider he is no doubt deeply disappointed by this turn of events, but it does force the reader to look a bit harder at his back catalogue.
This is especially true of Public Enemies, a public correspondence between Houellebecq and the ‘philosopher’ Bernard-Henri Lévy, which was an immediate bestseller on its publication in France in 2008. Lévy, or ‘BHL’ as he is known to the French public, cuts a clownish figure on the French media
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Richard Flanagan's Question 7 is this year's winner of the @BGPrize.
In her review from our June issue, @rosalyster delves into Tasmania, nuclear physics, romance and Chekhov.
Rosa Lyster - Kiss of Death
Rosa Lyster: Kiss of Death - Question 7 by Richard Flanagan
literaryreview.co.uk
‘At times, Orbital feels almost like a long poem.’
@sam3reynolds on Samantha Harvey’s Orbital, the winner of this year’s @TheBookerPrizes
Sam Reynolds - Islands in the Sky
Sam Reynolds: Islands in the Sky - Orbital by Samantha Harvey
literaryreview.co.uk
Nick Harkaway, John le Carré's son, has gone back to the 1960s with a new novel featuring his father's anti-hero, George Smiley.
But is this the missing link in le Carré’s oeuvre, asks @ddguttenplan, or is there something awry?
D D Guttenplan - Smiley Redux
D D Guttenplan: Smiley Redux - Karla’s Choice by Nick Harkaway
literaryreview.co.uk