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UID:151@sciencefictionbookclub.org
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20140210T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20140210T220000
DTSTAMP:20240927T125233Z
URL:https://www.sciencefictionbookclub.org/events/142957962/
SUMMARY:The Possibility of an Island - Michel Houellebecq
DESCRIPTION:Who\, among you\, deserves eternal life? Daniel is a highly suc
 cessful stand-up comedian who has made a career out of playing outrageousl
 y on the prejudices of his public. But at the beginning of the twenty-firs
 t century\, he has begun to detest laughter in particular and mankind in g
 eneral. Despite this\, Daniel is unable to stop himself believing in the p
 ossibility of love. A thousand years on\, war\, drought and earthquakes ha
 ve decimated the earth and Daniel24 lives alone in a secure compound - his
  only companion\, a cloned dog named Fox. Outside\, the remnants of the hu
 man race roam in packs\, while Daniel24 attempts to decipher his predecess
 or's history. In a nightmarish vision of the implosion of the modern world
 \, he\, like his predecessor attempts to fathom the meaning of love\, sex\
 , suffering and regret.\n\nThe Possibility of an Island won the french lit
 erary award the Prix Interallié (2005)\n\n\n\n\n\nTakes you by the throat
  and shakes you. A bracing mix of visionary Aldous Huxley\, Evelyn Waugh a
 t his cruellest\, and ranting John Osborne\, THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ISLAND 
 is a charging bull in the china shop of modern fiction ― TIMES LITERARY 
 SUPPLEMENT\n\nTHE POSSIBILITY OF AN ISLAND is above all an aesthetic achie
 vement. For this\, Houellebecq should win the Prix Goncourt that polemics 
 and personalities have made so elusive ― SCOTSMAN\n\nHis deftly construc
 ted novel is a bleak comment on contemporary society\, at times funny\, br
 utal and revolting ― THE ECONOMIST\n\nAn exhilarating writer....in a cla
 ss of his own ― LITERARY REVIEW\n\nThere is no doubt that he is a writer
  who deserves the serious attention that he is now receiving ― THE TIMES
 \n\nProvocative and satisfying fiction ― HERALD\n\nThe novel is essentia
 l reading for anyone concerned with the state of either contemporary ficti
 on or the contemporary world ― DAILY MAIL\n\nThere are passages of irres
 istible black humour\, savage condemnation and genuine (and surprising) se
 ntiment ― INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY\n\nIf you liked ATOMISED and PLATFORM\, 
 you'll love THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ISLAND ... the most talented of current 
 French writers ― SUNDAY TELEGRAPH\n\nIt will sicken you\, reduce you to 
 laughter and stun you with its savage directness\, but it will always leav
 e you thinking ― SPAIN MAGAZINE\n\nThe first 300 pages of this novel pro
 ve that Houellebecq is one of the best novelists writing today ― INDEPEN
 DENT ON SUNDAY\n\nThe book shows his main strength: caustic wit with a mor
 al force that cuts through complacent assumptions ― SUNDAY TELEGRAPH\n\n
 Houellebecq keeps us listening\, even when we know we should leave ― IND
 EPENDENT\n\nReading Houellebecq is like being caught up in a tropical stor
 m: you are blown away by the ferocity of his imagination ― OBSERVER\n\nE
 urope's most inflammatory writer ― INDEPENDENT\n\nHouellebecq keeps us l
 istening\, even when we know we should leave. ― THE INDEPENDENT\n\nthe b
 ook shows his main strength: caustic with with a moral force that cuts thr
 oug complacent assumptions. -- Katie Owen ― SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 
LOCATION:Henry's Cafe Bar\, 80 Piccadilly\, London\, W1J 8HX\, United Kingd
 om
GEO:51.506703;-0.143398
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=80 Piccadilly\, London\, W1
 J 8HX\, United Kingdom;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Henry's Cafe Bar:geo:51.
 506703,-0.143398
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