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Saturday, February 28, 2004

The New Book Club Book is Michel Houellebecq's "The Elementary Particles" / published as "Atomised" in the UK

The complete review site for the book attempts to provide just that, for anyone interested in finding out what everyone has already thought of it.

There is an official Michel Houellebecq (apparently pronounced Wellbeck) site. Which includes an article by Louise Wardle (Guardian, Friday April 5, 2002) that begins: "Women in his novels all end up dead or hurt. He propositions every female interviewer he meets. And his drinking and depression can leave him semi-comatose. But Louise Wardle still didn't realise how difficult it would be to make a film about Michel Houellebecq.'

Michel is no stranger to controversy. It sounds like he may be able to teach Mel Gibson a thing or two.

Interestingly, according to the Guardian "The Times" has said that Mr Houellebecq, who French critics like to bracket with Albert Camus, is no more a novelist of ideas than Benny Hill:

"Platform does not contain an "idea" to keep a mayfly awake at night, and Houellebecq is no more a novelist of ideas than Benny Hill. (...) At best, Platform might reinforce Michel Houellebecq's position as the talismanic idiot-savant of the emasculated literary right. But he is an idiot-savant who does not savoir anything." - Giles Coren, The Times



By the way, Team Dustin members may not be surprised to hear that Mel Gibson's recent behaviour has troubled Dustin and some of his closest and most powerful "friends." NewsMax.com reports today that "Dustin Hoffman has talked to friends about what he called Mr. Gibson's 'strangeness' during the ABC interview."

Share the passion of the Christ and get the mug, the pendant, the T-shirt!

And oddly enough after what we were saying last night Jim Caviezel, the actor portraying Christ in the Passion, dislocated his shoulder during filming.

Posted by Nick @ 09:58 GMT

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