Annihilation

(Paperback)

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A Daily Express Book of the Year 'The most important novelist to have been publishing in all of Europe over the past three decades' - The Sunday Times 'An extended meditation on human frailty and the lack of spirituality in the Western world . . . Houellebecq displays compassion and empathy, and a belief in the redemptive power of love' - New Statesman It is 2027. France is in a state of economic decline and moral decay. As the country plunges into a closely-fought presidential campaign, the French state falls victim to a series of mysterious and unsettling cyberattacks. The sophisticated nature of the attacks leaves the best computer scientists at the DGSI - the French counter-terrorism agency - scrambling for answers. An advisor to the country's Finance Minister, Paul Raison is close to the heart of government. His wife Prudence is a Treasury official, while his father douard, now retired, has spent his career working for the DGSI. When douard has a stroke, his children have an opportunity to repair their strained relationships, as they determine to free their father from the medical centre where he is wasting away. Michel Houellebecq's Annihilation reveals new sides to his writing, adding compassion and tenderness to the emotions of rage and irony that have powered both him and his earlier works to international fame. 'We have no one to match Houellebecq' - The Daily Telegraph Translated from the French by Shaun Whiteside Annihilation was a #1 Livres Hebdo bestseller in France w/c 10/01/2022, and a #1 Spiegel bestseller in Germany w/c 24/01/2022

Reviews

The most interesting novelist of our times * Evening Standard *
Michel Houellebecqs new book proves he is one of the worlds greatest novelists . . . He writes superbly . . . In England . . . we have no one, male or female, to match Houellebecq * The Daily Telegraph *
Surely the most important novelist to have been publishing not only in France but in all of Europe over the past three decades. -- David Sexton,The Sunday Times
A compassionate, deeply affecting novel about love and death and the way we treat the dying . . . worthy of Balzac . . . telling truths that come straight from Pascal. We can only hope that it is not Houellebecqs swansong, after all * The Spectator *
A novel by Michel Houellebecq isnt just a literary event; its news. I cant think of any other French novelist whos a must-read here; in fact I cant think of a contemporary novelist anywhere whose work reflects the mood of the times so acutely he seems to anticipate events; or any other writer who is so willing to show us the world as he sees it, not as wed like it to be -- Melanie McDonagh, Evening Standard
An extended meditation on human frailty and the lack of spirituality in the Western world . . . Houellebecq displays compassion and empathy, and a belief in the redemptive power of love. * The New Statesman *
Annihilation leans neither towards hope nor despair, but towards a transcendent serenity an eerie peace that arises, as everything arises in this novel, in the space to which warring forces give shape * The Guardian *
Since the start of his literary career, Michel Houellebecq has been viewed in France as a prodigy whom his readers and critics both love hating and hate loving. As well as a bestselling novelist, he has become a social phenomenon: a rock star, a freak, a visionary genius, a political agitator, even, for some, a prophet. * The Times Literary Supplement *
Houellebecq teases and confuses our moral compass, as any good novelist should . . . Annihilation harbours moments of incredible beauty. -- Camilla Grudova, The Daily Telegraph
A shattering read. But it's a truly powerful one too, and about much more than the grim picture of French society for which its brilliant author is mostly known * The Big Issue *

Author Bio

Michel Houellebecq is a novelist, poet and essayist, as well as an occasional actor, filmmaker and singer. Acclaimed both in his native France and worldwide, his novels include Atomised, Platform, The Map and the Territory and Submission.