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 *
