Platform

Platform is a novel by the French writer Michel Houellebecq, first published in 2001 by Éditions Flammarion. It is the third book of his series «En medio del mundo», which began with the short story Lanzarote (2000). The story is told in the first person by Michel, a forty-year-old middle-ranking civil servant who, after his father's violent death and a modest inheritance, decides to take a break and joins an organised tour to Thailand, where he hopes to enjoy sexual adventures with local prostitutes. His reserved temperament keeps him from going beyond a clumsy, unfinished encounter with Valérie, a fellow traveller who works in the international tourism industry. Back in France, however, the two begin an intense relationship built on an extraordinary sexual understanding.

The narrative weaves together a reflection on sex tourism, prostitution in Southeast Asia and the relations between Western civilisation and the developing world. Valérie and her boss, Jean-Yves, propose a new kind of holiday package centred on sex for the company they work for, aimed chiefly at the German market, where they judge moral resistance to be weaker than in France. The project proves a striking commercial success, but the spread of religious intolerance begins to cast a shadow over it, until an Islamist terrorist attack breaks into the final part of the novel.

The book provoked controversy for its views on Islam and sexuality. Houellebecq was prosecuted for inciting racial and religious hatred, though the case was ultimately dismissed. Many critics have called the novel prophetic, since its climax closely resembles the Bali bombings of 2002, and it appeared only days before the attacks of 11 September 2001.