Platform (novel)

"Platform" is a novel by French writer Michel Houellebecq (translated from the French by Frank Wynne). It has received both great praise and great criticism, most notably for the novel's apparent condoning of sex tourism and anti-Muslim feelings.

A play in Spanish based on the book, adapted and directed by Calixto Bieito, premiered at the 2006 Edinburgh International Festival.

Plot summary

The story is the first-person narrative of a fictional character named Michel Renault, a Parisian civil servant who, after the death of his father, engages in sexual tourism in Thailand, where he meets a travel agent named Valérie. Valerie and Renault begin an affair, and, after moving back to France, hatch a plan with Valerie's boss (who works in the travel industry in the "Aurore" group, an allusion to the real-life Accor group) to launch a new variety of package holiday called "friendly tourism" and implicitly or explicitly aimed at Europeans looking for a sexual experience whilst on vacation. Single men and women - and even couples - would be targeted, and would vacation in specially designed "Aphrodite Clubs". Initially, the name "Venus clubs" was suggested but rejected as being too explicit - an allusion to the Villa Venus clubs dreamed of by Eric Veen in Vladimir Nabokov's classic Ada or Ardor. It is decided that Thailand is the best location for the new clubs, with the advertising making it clear that Thai women would also be easily available. The tours will be marketed predominantly to German consumers, as it is perceived that there would be less moral outrage in Germany than in France. Michel, Valerie and her boss Jean-Yves travel to Thailand on one of their company's tours incognito and enjoy an idyllic holiday. They decide that they will move to Thailand permanently, to perpetuate the bliss they experienced there. However, towards the end of their holiday, Muslim extremists commit a terrorist act (eerily similar to the Bali Bombing which occurred after the novel was published) in which Valerie is killed. Michel is left bereft, and at the end of the novel he travels back to Thailand to die; we realize that the novel is in fact his suicide note.

Literary significance & criticism

The novel has been criticized for its controversial content, including sexual elements some consider to be obscene, such as bisexuality and polyamory, and opinions some consider offensive to Islam.

Extracts from the novel, together with an interview Houellebecq accorded the magazine "Lire" led to charges being brought against him by France's Human Rights League, the Mecca-based World Islamic League and the mosques of Paris and Lyon in a trial reminiscent of Britain's Salman Rushdie affair. A panel of three judges, delivering their verdict to a packed Paris courtroom, acquitted Houellebecq of the charges of provoking racial hatred, ascribing Houellebecq's opinions to the legitimate right of criticizing religions.

See also

* Sex tourism
* Female sex tourism