Atomised / Gulliver's Travels

by Michel Houellebecq, Jonathan Swift

2 classic books for the price of 1: Vintage Satire is a limited edition gift pack which consists of beautifully designed separate volumes of Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift and Michel Houellebecq's controversial bestseller Atomised.

Vintage Satire is just one of ten Vintage Classic Twins to collect. Each twin consists of two books: a specially designed limited edition of one modern classic title and one established classic work. The books in each pair have been carefully selected to provide a thought-provoking combination.

Gulliver's Travels: In the course of his famous travels, Gulliver is captured by miniature people who wage war on each other because of religious disagreement over how to crack eggs, is sexually assaulted by giants, visits a floating island, and decides that the society of horses is better than that of his fellow man. Swift's tough, filthy and incisive satire has much to say about the state of the world today and is presented here in its unexpurgated entirety.

Atomised: Half-brothers Michel and Bruno have a mother in common but little else. Michel is a molecular biologist, a thinker and idealist, a man with no erotic life to speak of and little in the way of human society. Bruno, by contrast, is a libertine, though more in theory than in practice, his endless lust is all too rarely reciprocated. Both are symptomatic members of our atomised society, where religion has given way to shallow 'new age' philosophies and love to meaningless sexual connections. A dissection of modern lives and loves, it is by turns funny, acid, infuriating, didactic, touching and visceral.

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Michel Houellebecq (born Michel Thomas), born 26 February 1958 (birth certificate) or 1956 on the French island of Réunion, is a controversial and award-winning French novelist. To admirers he is a writer in the tradition of literary provocation that reaches back to the Marquis de Sade and Baudelaire; to detractors he is a peddler, who writes vulgar sleazy literature to shock. His works though, particularly Atomised, have received high praise from the French literary intelligentsia, with generally positive international critical response, Having written poetry and a biography of the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, he brought out his first novel Extension du domaine de la lutte in 1994. Les particules élémentaires followed in 1998 and Plateforme, in 2001. After a disastrous publicity tour for this book, which led to his being taken to court for inciting racial hatred, he went to Ireland to write. He currently resides in France, where he has been described as "France’s biggest literary export and, some say, greatest living writer". In 2010 he published La Carte et le Territoire (published the same year in English as The Map and the Territory) which won the prestigious Prix Goncourt; and, in 2015, Submission.

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful and very individual novel from French writer Michel Houllebeq who melds advanced genetics with the hippie movement to create a book which is much bigger in scope than you realise.

Tracking the (mis)fortunes of a pair of half-brothers growing up in late 20th century France we see how love, society, companionship and relationships can shape people's views of the world and lead to revolution in its truest sense.

So extreme are the characters that at times it can be difficult to identify with either of the brothers, but through their interactions with sub-characters you slowly come to understand their different plights.

Other than that though it was an interesting read which has rekindled my interest in philosophy and which delivers a quite fantastical ending, one which will leave you thinking about it for many days afterwards.

[Mikhail Conrad · Rating 2 out of 5]

(For Atomised):
A lesser Milan Kundera that incorporates more science rather than faux psychology.

[Karl O' · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I read a Houllebecq novel I finish feeling a little smarter & a lot dumber.

[farhana · Rating 3 out of 5]

modest book

[; · Rating 1 out of 5]

Decided to give this two stars about half-way through, settled on one star after the hilarious extinction of mankind ending. Completely unimaginative 400~ pages consisting of disjointed and uninspired wikipedia descriptions of scientific theories, tired, moralising post-'68 generation 'state of the nation' whines about abortion/the pill/sexual mores/breakdown of the family, and faux-explicit sex scenes that would have been shocking many years ago. Houellebecq's prose is cliche-ridden and predictable and writing a sex scene every two pages does not cover up for it. That said, it is fun to watch just how hard he is trying.

[Geoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A captivating read from start to finish. I have rarely been so enthralled by a book, let alone a book that is so unique and unflinchingly original. There's so much to this book it deserves another read... soon.

[Jenny Egan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating is for atomised.

[Clinton Sweet · Rating 1 out of 5]

Atomised - good riddance! Most arduous read ever about some random characters need to wank off in public in every chapter

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re: Atomised

[kate]

eh

[Matthew Dring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Atomised not other, quite sexual in content, good book. Bit heavy in places.

[Chaitra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rating is for atomised

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Atomised. Bleak view of society today

[keatssycamore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Atomized only. For the most part, repellant.