PositiveThe National ReviewFor most of Houellebecq’s characters, the reason for living, if it comes at all, takes the form of a woman’s pelvis. This goes double in Platform, whose central characters are promoters of, and enthusiastic participants in, the sex-tourism industry ... In Houellebecq’s accounting, global capitalism has exported material wealth and spiritual poverty. The emptying out of the West’s spiritual and cultural resources in pursuit of sheer economic might has made everyone richer and their lives more luxurious — but also increasingly inhumane.
