Book of the Week - Michel Houellebecq, The Map and the Territory

Michel Houellebecq is a controversial writer, but one who is unlikely to be forgotten and who is capable of greatness. He was born on the French island of Reunion, but lived in Ireland for many years and is currently based in Spain. The Map and the Territory is his fifth novel, although he has published a number of volumes of poetry and non-fiction in addition. It was published in France in 2010 and was well received, winning the Prix Goncourt.

In typical Houellebecq fashion, it was not without controversy, in this case because he used a number of passages taken directly from the French version of Wikipedia without acknowledging these. In tribute, therefore, let me quote directly the Wikipedia plot summary: “The novel tells the story of the life and art of Jed Martin, a fictional French artist who becomes famous by photographing Michelin maps and painting scenes about professional activities. His father is slowly entering old age. Jed falls for a beautiful Russian executive from Michelin but is unable to hang onto this relationship. He becomes extraordinarily successful and therefore suddenly rich. He meets Michel Houellebecq in Ireland in order to ask him to write the text for the catalog of one of his exhibits, and offers to paint the writer's portrait. A few months later Houellebecq is brutally murdered.”

The Map and the Territory was published in the UK simultaneously in hardcover, paperback and Kindle editions. The first of the three is the one to go for – I have yet to see signed editions. I strongly suspect I would not like Houellebecq as a person, but he is an important French writer and his views are significant so I am sure that this is worth reading.

“Part thriller, part satire, Houellebecq's prize winning new novel will be a publishing sensation. If Jed Martin, the main character of this novel, was to tell you its story, he would perhaps begin by talking about a boiler breaking down, one 15th December. He would certainly recall Olga, a very pretty Russian he met at the start of his career. At the end of his life he will find a certain serenity, and utter only murmurs. Art, money, love, death, work, and France are some of the themes of this novel, which is resolutely classical and openly modern.”