*Serotonin* by Michel Houellebecq has been hailed as the most desperate and dark novel.
Author tells the story of Florent-Claude, who discovers that his partner betrayed him during film orgies (you don't want to know which ones). He leaves her, falls into depression and tries to exist thanks to regular use of Captorix, which causes the release of the happiness hormone, the title serotonin. Of course, the drug has a number of side effects, which has a destructive effect on the hero.

![60D8DE43-A474-4396-A5CC-AE9DB2859698.jpeg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmdM7ydULviHGUZ3wrjPaQGNbBP7WBocsCnWY7VocS6qgY/60D8DE43-A474-4396-A5CC-AE9DB2859698.jpeg)
[](https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/01/michel-houellebecqs-new-book-indictment-eu/580165/)

It was not nice and light reading. Virtually every side pours out a lot of depression, muck and rot. Everything is complemented by strong eroticism, even more pornography, which disgusts. The author tells stories in the spirit of nineteenth-century existential pessimism (so much Schopenhauer). Even when Houellebecq trying to give the hope to our hero, Florent can't get out of the swamp.

They say about the author that he is nihilist, decadent, old pervert. I realize that Houellebecq is an excellent observer who, without unnecessary smoothing, comments on human weaknesses, criticizes the behavior and activity of the individual in society. It shows a modern civilization in a very clear way, which on many levels, like the main character, falls into an impasse.

This is not book for everyone, at times I wanted to throw it in the corner and forget. It's hard to delve into this decadent world, but in the end I think it was worth it. But for me it is more a sociological and psychological dissertation than a novel.



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