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Le sens du combat
Notorious as a novelist, Michel Houellebecq was first known in France as a poet, and in many ways it is through poetry that he found his novelist's voice. The recipient of the prestigious poetry prize Prix de Flore, this collection of prose and verse pieces investigate issues of alienation, individualism, and disillusionment—themes that will be familiar to Houellebecq readers—while subtly adopting a variety of tones and styles, revealing facets of the author unknown until now in the English-speaking world. Deeply melancholic and despairing at the inhumanity of the present-day world, yet brimming with vitality and invention, these timely, poignant poems clear away the dross of hollow optimism and call for an end to the nightmare of modern existence.
124 pages, Paperback
First published April 23, 1996
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About the author
Michel Houellebecq
81 books8,338 followersMichel Houellebecq (born Michel Thomas), born 26 February 1958 (birth certificate) or 1956 on the French island of Réunion, is a controversial and award-winning French novelist. To admirers he is a writer in the tradition of literary provocation that reaches back to the Marquis de Sade and Baudelaire; to detractors he is a peddler, who writes vulgar sleazy literature to shock. His works though, particularly Atomised, have received high praise from the French literary intelligentsia, with generally positive international critical response, Having written poetry and a biography of the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, he brought out his first novel Extension du domaine de la lutte in 1994. Les particules élémentaires followed in 1998 and Plateforme, in 2001. After a disastrous publicity tour for this book, which led to his being taken to court for inciting racial hatred, he went to Ireland to write. He currently resides in France, where he has been described as "France’s biggest literary export and, some say, greatest living writer". In 2010 he published La Carte et le Territoire (published the same year in English as The Map and the Territory) which won the prestigious Prix Goncourt; and, in 2015, Submission.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
August 19, 2021
Publié quelques années après La Poursuite du bonheur, Le sens du combat est le deuxième ou troisième recueil de poèmes de Michel Houellebecq. L’auteur reste, dans l’ensemble, fidèle aux contraintes métriques et sonores de la stance classique, le plus souvent des séries de quatrains en octosyllabes, mais aussi, presque toujours, à un souci de clarté du propos.
Les thèmes propres au spleen et à l’idéal houellebecquiens s’affirment ici avec plus de force que dans le recueil précédent : le caractère à la fois désirable et sordide du corps humain (« Et sa viande excitante n’est qu’une enveloppe sur du sang. »), l’obscénité des rapports sociaux (« Les gens sont coincés dans leurs peaux, / Ils font danser leurs molécules / Le samedi ils se font beaux, / Puis ils se retrouvent et s’enculent. ») le caractère absurde et révoltant du monde en général (« Les pierres calcaires qui composent nos maisons sont des animaux morts. »), le contraste entre le sublime et le dérisoire (« J’aurais aimé être un Apache, / Mais je travaille à la Défense. »). Il y a aussi, par endroits, l’affirmation assez nette d’une forme d’engagement politique :
Quoi qu’il en soit, l’imaginaire de Houellebecq parvient fréquemment à élever les expériences du quotidien quasiment à la puissance du mythe. Voir la saisissante description du TGV fonçant à pleine vitesse, qui évoque la barque de Charon : « j’eus soudain la sensation que ce long vaisseau d’acier nous emportait (avec discrétion, avec efficacité, avec douceur) vers le Royaume des Ténèbres, vers la Vallée de l’Ombre de la Mort. / Dix minutes plus tard, nous arrivions à Auray. »
Les thèmes propres au spleen et à l’idéal houellebecquiens s’affirment ici avec plus de force que dans le recueil précédent : le caractère à la fois désirable et sordide du corps humain (« Et sa viande excitante n’est qu’une enveloppe sur du sang. »), l’obscénité des rapports sociaux (« Les gens sont coincés dans leurs peaux, / Ils font danser leurs molécules / Le samedi ils se font beaux, / Puis ils se retrouvent et s’enculent. ») le caractère absurde et révoltant du monde en général (« Les pierres calcaires qui composent nos maisons sont des animaux morts. »), le contraste entre le sublime et le dérisoire (« J’aurais aimé être un Apache, / Mais je travaille à la Défense. »). Il y a aussi, par endroits, l’affirmation assez nette d’une forme d’engagement politique :
Il est indiscutable et avéré que tout projet humain se voit de plus en plus évalué en fonction de purs critères économiques,
De critères absolument numériques,
Mémorisables sur fichiers informatiques.
Cela n’est pas acceptable et nous devons lutter pour la mise en tutelle de l’économie et pour sa soumission à certains critères que j’oserai appeler éthiques.
Quoi qu’il en soit, l’imaginaire de Houellebecq parvient fréquemment à élever les expériences du quotidien quasiment à la puissance du mythe. Voir la saisissante description du TGV fonçant à pleine vitesse, qui évoque la barque de Charon : « j’eus soudain la sensation que ce long vaisseau d’acier nous emportait (avec discrétion, avec efficacité, avec douceur) vers le Royaume des Ténèbres, vers la Vallée de l’Ombre de la Mort. / Dix minutes plus tard, nous arrivions à Auray. »
July 23, 2024
For us to live with death
Death must change to light
Light change to water
And water change to memory.
The above is elemental, allegedly simple. It was difficult to appreciate the first third of this collection as I was rolling my eyes at the obvious: the ennui of the cubicle, a Baudelaire at the self-checkout.
Themes coalesced, grouped however disparate. Sartre eclipsed the Flâneur and suddenly a longing was evident, I even thought of Elizabeth Bishop. Anyone familiar with the novels will recognize the themes, though the fleeting form he uses here is disorienting, like whiff of peat smoke outside of a metro station.
Death must change to light
Light change to water
And water change to memory.
The above is elemental, allegedly simple. It was difficult to appreciate the first third of this collection as I was rolling my eyes at the obvious: the ennui of the cubicle, a Baudelaire at the self-checkout.
Themes coalesced, grouped however disparate. Sartre eclipsed the Flâneur and suddenly a longing was evident, I even thought of Elizabeth Bishop. Anyone familiar with the novels will recognize the themes, though the fleeting form he uses here is disorienting, like whiff of peat smoke outside of a metro station.
September 5, 2014
Despite the atrocious translation, Houllebecq's brilliance is apparent in this thankfully bilingual edition. These are ruminations of a world-weary man who is, to put it colloquially, out of the loop, too old or wornout for the world. These are moments of everyday meaningless, moments of unbearable nostalgia, of void that is integral to the pettiness of human existence. Houllebecq's poems are sacrilegious and lustful, perhaps in sensibility closest to Leonard Cohen, only with an augmented sense of failure and without even occasional gratification of one's desires. What makes the poems a particularly interesting read, though, is the rigid, if not traditional structures the author has chosen for them. The verses are sumptuously executed in twelve- or eight-syllable meter, which, here even rhymed, does not feel contrived. The form gains a more solemn and sinister edge when one considers the doom and vulgarity of the content. (Sadly, not only was the said structure lost in translation, but also - more importantly - the unique and particular dynamics between the carefully composed meter and the (post)modern and broken-hearted imagery.)
Houllebecq is a poet of unavoidable loss, of a world which has become too large and monstrous for the individual. What is more, in this godless world, where the human race is reduced to itself, he goes so far as to proclaim time of death of the Human as well. The Beckettian bastard.
Je suis libre comme un camion
Qui traverse sans conducteur
Les territoires de la terreur,
Je suis libre comme la passion.
Houllebecq is a poet of unavoidable loss, of a world which has become too large and monstrous for the individual. What is more, in this godless world, where the human race is reduced to itself, he goes so far as to proclaim time of death of the Human as well. The Beckettian bastard.
Je suis libre comme un camion
Qui traverse sans conducteur
Les territoires de la terreur,
Je suis libre comme la passion.
May 10, 2013
I vaguely heard of Michel Houellebecq before stumbling on his book of poems in the Labyrinth Bookshop. I did not know that he wrote poems, as well as novels. The Art of Struggle, translated by Delphine Grass and Timothy Mathews, is captivating from the first verse of the first poem:
Dawn rises, grows, settles on the city
We've come through the night and not been set free
I hear the buses and the quiet hum
Of social exchange. I'm overcome with presence.
This is an aubade, but not an aubade that I've ever heard before. The lyrical second line is sandwiched by two plain-speaking lines. The faddish term "social exchange" shares the same line as the philosophical concept of "presence."How can one be overcome with "presence," usually considered a good thing, as opposed to "absence"? The speaker has been defeated even before the day begins. The poem beginning "What we need now is an attitude of non-resistance to the world" gave me the epigraph for a new sequence of poems, "A Position of Defeat."
Like lizards we bask in the light of phenomena,
Waiting for the night;
But we will not fight,
We must not fight,
We stay for ever in a position of defeat.
In its resolute defeatism, the poetry is revolutionary. It not only indicts Western societies of the evils of capitalism and consumerism, but it also rejects the progressive optimism and piecemeal reform of liberalism. To accept the latter is to misunderstand how deep and wide the rot has set in.
An eternity package, all included,
Personalized local discoveries,
Bodies for sale in the clubs,
But no sex guaranteed for the night.
In his relentless focus on urban decay and modern ennui, Houellebecq recalls his poetic predecessor Baudelaire. He is more pessimistic than Baudelaire, however. Desire, lesbian or otherwise, no longer saves; it is dying itself, if not dead. The adventure of walking through the sleaze of Paris he has converted into the daily trudge to La Tour Gan, the nondescript office tower in La Defense, a better symbol for present-day Paris than the Eiffel Tower.
The compact quatrains of most of the poems are varied with the occasional prose poem or poem with long, languorous lines. Houellebecq has a gift for writing manifestoes. His poetry is not afraid of ideas. And one of the biggest is that there is no transcendence in life.
Dawn rises, grows, settles on the city
We've come through the night and not been set free
I hear the buses and the quiet hum
Of social exchange. I'm overcome with presence.
This is an aubade, but not an aubade that I've ever heard before. The lyrical second line is sandwiched by two plain-speaking lines. The faddish term "social exchange" shares the same line as the philosophical concept of "presence."How can one be overcome with "presence," usually considered a good thing, as opposed to "absence"? The speaker has been defeated even before the day begins. The poem beginning "What we need now is an attitude of non-resistance to the world" gave me the epigraph for a new sequence of poems, "A Position of Defeat."
Like lizards we bask in the light of phenomena,
Waiting for the night;
But we will not fight,
We must not fight,
We stay for ever in a position of defeat.
In its resolute defeatism, the poetry is revolutionary. It not only indicts Western societies of the evils of capitalism and consumerism, but it also rejects the progressive optimism and piecemeal reform of liberalism. To accept the latter is to misunderstand how deep and wide the rot has set in.
An eternity package, all included,
Personalized local discoveries,
Bodies for sale in the clubs,
But no sex guaranteed for the night.
In his relentless focus on urban decay and modern ennui, Houellebecq recalls his poetic predecessor Baudelaire. He is more pessimistic than Baudelaire, however. Desire, lesbian or otherwise, no longer saves; it is dying itself, if not dead. The adventure of walking through the sleaze of Paris he has converted into the daily trudge to La Tour Gan, the nondescript office tower in La Defense, a better symbol for present-day Paris than the Eiffel Tower.
The compact quatrains of most of the poems are varied with the occasional prose poem or poem with long, languorous lines. Houellebecq has a gift for writing manifestoes. His poetry is not afraid of ideas. And one of the biggest is that there is no transcendence in life.
October 20, 2021
"Il est seul, maintenant, et la nuit est immense
Il frôle les objets d'une main hésitante
Les objets sont bien là, mais sa raison s'absente
Il traverse la nuit à la recherche d'un sens."
Il frôle les objets d'une main hésitante
Les objets sont bien là, mais sa raison s'absente
Il traverse la nuit à la recherche d'un sens."
December 26, 2020
This probably would have been a three-star review if I hadn't started attempting to read the French.
I do not know French -- I studied it in school before GCSEs, and haven't touched it since then -- but I can still appreciate the lyricism of the original, and it is lyrical, unlike the rather stolid English translation.
It's an unpleasant book to read, for sure, and certainly has a misogynistic tone at times -- but why else do we read literature than to understand what's going wrong in society, and how we could possibly make it right?
I do not know French -- I studied it in school before GCSEs, and haven't touched it since then -- but I can still appreciate the lyricism of the original, and it is lyrical, unlike the rather stolid English translation.
It's an unpleasant book to read, for sure, and certainly has a misogynistic tone at times -- but why else do we read literature than to understand what's going wrong in society, and how we could possibly make it right?
July 17, 2021
Mir langt es mit houellebecq. Empfehle das Buch denjenigen, die gerne schlechte Laune haben, oder die Schuld für ihre Probleme (sexuelle Frustration, Einsamkeit, Alkoholismus) bei Frauen, dem Kapitalismus, dem Neoliberalismus, der EU oder einem anderen Sündenbock ihrer Wahl suchen, anstatt bei sich selbst
November 28, 2010
I’ve only ever tried to read one novel by Houellebecq before this and I didn’t get very far. He does seem to be something of a Bovril-writer – your either love him or loathe him. I’m still undecided to be honest. I didn’t hate his novel – it simply bored me. His poetry is fairly undemanding stuff which only hints at the kind of material that has contributed to his infamy as a novelist. My biggest gripe was with the translation. We do have the benefit of seeing the original French verse which makes you wonder on a few occasions why the translators made the choices they did.
You can read my full review on my blog here.
You can read my full review on my blog here.
May 31, 2014
Bila kau buka peti ais, yang tersisa hanya ada sekotak susu yang bertarikh luput 11 hari dari sekarang. Sedih atau tak, kau tetap minum.
Kau duduk dan baca buku sajak M.H. Masa itu kau dah berada 3/4 halaman. BFM dendangkan lagu daripada Mogwai.
M.H mamat yang melankolik. Penyajak mana yang tak melankolik? Cuba kau bagitau? Perkataan-perkataan yang dipilih (?) mungkin mereka berasa bersyukur kerana tak dizalimi.
Pengalaman membaca M.H menerusi buku ini memang berbaloi. Terima kasih, Tra.
Nak cakap tulis banyak tak guna. M.H yakinkan kau yang semua orang fragile. Jangan berlagak. Impian kanak-kanak yang dah tak penting (?). Jangan baca buku ini kalau cepat terasa. Jarum-jarum kecil menucuk terus di semua kapilari darah.
Ah baca sendiri. 3 bintang pun berbaloi baca, boi.
Kau duduk dan baca buku sajak M.H. Masa itu kau dah berada 3/4 halaman. BFM dendangkan lagu daripada Mogwai.
M.H mamat yang melankolik. Penyajak mana yang tak melankolik? Cuba kau bagitau? Perkataan-perkataan yang dipilih (?) mungkin mereka berasa bersyukur kerana tak dizalimi.
Pengalaman membaca M.H menerusi buku ini memang berbaloi. Terima kasih, Tra.
Nak cakap tulis banyak tak guna. M.H yakinkan kau yang semua orang fragile. Jangan berlagak. Impian kanak-kanak yang dah tak penting (?). Jangan baca buku ini kalau cepat terasa. Jarum-jarum kecil menucuk terus di semua kapilari darah.
Ah baca sendiri. 3 bintang pun berbaloi baca, boi.
July 31, 2014
What a surprise to open this book and find that MH was renowned for his poetry before he began publishing his fictions. Then to discover that the poetry is good, with the same mordant wit and acute observation that has beguiled me in spite of the lingering unease the work arouses in me.
We're a thing among things,..................... Chose entre les choses,
A thing more fragile than things................ Chose plus fragile que les choses
A very poor thing............................... Tres pauvre chose
Always waiting for love.........................Qui attend toujour l'amour
For love, or a metamorphosis.....................L'amour,ou la metamorphose.
p79
We're a thing among things,..................... Chose entre les choses,
A thing more fragile than things................ Chose plus fragile que les choses
A very poor thing............................... Tres pauvre chose
Always waiting for love.........................Qui attend toujour l'amour
For love, or a metamorphosis.....................L'amour,ou la metamorphose.
p79
August 10, 2015
Il sait faire contraster le trivial et le sublime. Je devrai y revenir.
May 28, 2023
A challenging yet rewarding read that is a departure from his typical narrative style, and I believe a 3-star rating is most fitting for this piece of work.
In this collection, Houellebecq combines poetry, prose, and photography to create a fragmented narrative about struggle and survival. The title itself is a clear indication of the themes explored throughout the book, as Houellebecq delves into personal struggles, existential crises, and the nature of art itself.
The book’s strengths lie in Houellebecq's ability to articulate complex emotions and thoughts, often with a sense of melancholy and raw honesty. He touches on the struggle of existence, the loneliness of the modern age, and the difficulty of finding meaning in a seemingly indifferent universe.
His poetry, though sparse and minimalistic, often hits with a profound resonance. His raw, almost nihilistic tone underscores the themes of the book, offering moments of quiet contemplation amidst the melancholic musings. The accompanying photography adds another layer to the narrative, creating a visual dialogue with the text that enhances the overall reading experience.
However, "The Art of Struggle" does have its challenges. It requires patience and a willingness to embrace its disjointed and fragmented style. Some readers may find the mix of poetry, prose, and photography disjointing, and Houellebecq's often pessimistic worldview can be overwhelming.
Moreover, it lacks the narrative cohesion and character development found in his novels, making it less accessible to those unfamiliar with his work. Some of the themes and ideas explored in the book can feel somewhat repetitive, and it may not resonate as deeply with those looking for a more traditionally structured piece of literature.
In conclusion, "The Art of Struggle" is a unique and thought-provoking work that showcases Houellebecq's talent as a poet and a photographer. While it may not be to everyone's taste, it offers a fascinating exploration of struggle and existence that fans of Houellebecq's work will likely appreciate. Hence, it gets a solid 3-star rating from me.
In this collection, Houellebecq combines poetry, prose, and photography to create a fragmented narrative about struggle and survival. The title itself is a clear indication of the themes explored throughout the book, as Houellebecq delves into personal struggles, existential crises, and the nature of art itself.
The book’s strengths lie in Houellebecq's ability to articulate complex emotions and thoughts, often with a sense of melancholy and raw honesty. He touches on the struggle of existence, the loneliness of the modern age, and the difficulty of finding meaning in a seemingly indifferent universe.
His poetry, though sparse and minimalistic, often hits with a profound resonance. His raw, almost nihilistic tone underscores the themes of the book, offering moments of quiet contemplation amidst the melancholic musings. The accompanying photography adds another layer to the narrative, creating a visual dialogue with the text that enhances the overall reading experience.
However, "The Art of Struggle" does have its challenges. It requires patience and a willingness to embrace its disjointed and fragmented style. Some readers may find the mix of poetry, prose, and photography disjointing, and Houellebecq's often pessimistic worldview can be overwhelming.
Moreover, it lacks the narrative cohesion and character development found in his novels, making it less accessible to those unfamiliar with his work. Some of the themes and ideas explored in the book can feel somewhat repetitive, and it may not resonate as deeply with those looking for a more traditionally structured piece of literature.
In conclusion, "The Art of Struggle" is a unique and thought-provoking work that showcases Houellebecq's talent as a poet and a photographer. While it may not be to everyone's taste, it offers a fascinating exploration of struggle and existence that fans of Houellebecq's work will likely appreciate. Hence, it gets a solid 3-star rating from me.
July 16, 2018
thematisch einzigartig innerhalb meiner Sammlung, formal konservativ, bei der Übersetzung nur auf den Inhalt geachtet
March 20, 2022
Le vittime dell'amore sono inizialmente vittime felici
December 5, 2023
I laughed out loud many times - but it IS an insanely depressing book.
September 30, 2024
gross, sad. raw and depressed
July 25, 2011
A collection of Hoellebecq's poetry, all of the typical elements of Hoellebecq's prose are here: misanthropy, wry dark humor, criticisms of capitalism and the emptiness of materialism, a desire for love in a world that has perhaps rendered that a meaningless concept. Still, I do not believe these poems translated to English very well. Many of the original poems rhyme in French and the translators did not attempt to do so in English, trying instead to capture the same descriptive tone. Which results in some stilted language and awkward phrasing and I suspect loses something from the original French. Nevertheless there are some interesting things here and there in this collection.
September 13, 2012
I love Michel Houellebecq's prose novels, but not that crazy about the poetry. And its hard for me to tell if its the poetry itself or the translation of that poetry. The good thing is that the book is bilingual, so one can read the poems in its original language. And to be fair I would imagine it will be difficult to translate his style into English.
But on the other hand this is a very handsome object to hold in your hand. French flaps, nice fonts, and small size. It suits me to a 'T' and the design work is simple and elegant.
But on the other hand this is a very handsome object to hold in your hand. French flaps, nice fonts, and small size. It suits me to a 'T' and the design work is simple and elegant.
March 26, 2014
Si ya admiro a Houellebecq como narrador, como poeta lo encuentro incluso más interesante. Este hombre, en quien parece estar toda la amargura de un siglo, nos muestra también una faceta más sincera y conmovedora en sus versos, que alternan el soneto, la composición en alejandrinos, en heptasílabos con el verso libre y la prosa poética, en lo que es una muestra de su buen oficio de poeta. Cualquier lector de poesía debería, cuando menos, acercarse a la última sección de "El sentido de la lucha" (Le sens du combat).
November 26, 2010
This earns three stars mainly for the weak translation.
September 15, 2011
I don't think it translates well...I did enjoy some lines, but it's like his beginning notes/brain storming for novels that are excellent!
January 27, 2013
Aquí ya está todo lo que se viene en las novelas posteriores, buen punto de entrada para partir con una lectura "suave"
September 7, 2017
The poor translation ruined it.
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July 19, 2018I didn’t like all of the poems, but there were a few which stood out. I liked how the French and English were presented together so you could assess the translation yourself, as well as the introduction which talked about the difficulties of translating poetry and the different things they had to consider (rhyme and rhythm etc.).
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews