In the past, I’ve often considered reading a Michel Houellebecq novel, but I kept discovering reviews that left me cold; fortunately, when The Map and the Territory was translated (from the French, by Gavin Bowd), I read an interesting review that induced me to read the book (there was another contributing factor: it won a French literary award — The 2010 Prix Gongourt).

As the novel unfolds, the author persistently distorts the fourth wall: the protagonist, Jed Martin, is an artist who is curiously attached to the author:

The artist in the novel paints a portrait of Houellebecq, who is a character in the novel. When Jed Martin gives the painting to Houellebecq, the author seems reluctant to accept and acknowledge the painting: Houellebecq’s reluctance in the novel may allude to his reluctance in parceling out private thoughts; the author’s personality is exposed (warts and all) while the artist plans and completes the painting.

Houllebecq-in-the-novel also writes a lengthy catalogue blurb for Jed Martin’s first vernissage [which is apparently another term for varnishing day, and is also “…a reception at a gallery for an artist whose show is about to open to the public.” — Dictionary.com].

Jed becomes a wealthy man; his early successes come with his photographs, especially his work with Michelin Maps; and, later in his career, his series of portrait paintings solidifies his name; coincidentally, his bank account swells.

The novel explores themes such as: the creative process, relationships, social decay, the challenges of an introverted existence, the evils of assembly lines, and aging.

There is hope and happiness, but a melancholic thread runs through the book, and one character is the (somewhat surprising) victim of a ghastly murder, but it all seems apropos after the book’s epigram (a quotation from Charles d’Orléans):

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“The world is weary of me,

And I am weary of it.”

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Recommended

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