The Elementary Particles

gennaro recommended this 1 year, 8 months ago

marvellous

Dagaeff recommended this 1 year, 10 months ago

I recommend it in French - don't know about the translation. I love Houellebecq's writing, both style and content. It is generally said he is provocative. Yes, he is, but to me he mainly provokes a refreshing reflections about new topics. The point is I always found he has new, surprising, and righteous views on topics that other do not even consider tackling. For instance the "sexual misery"...

kuba recommended this 2 years ago

smart and sad

tom.bcn recommended this 2 years ago

Atomised, as it's called elsewhere, is a grandly provocative novel about the lonely, destructive power of individual liberty in modern Western society. That said, the author (whose other work I have read) is a deeply unpleasant man. Worth remembering.

ictus recommended this 2 years ago

If this novel won't provoke you, you're probably dead. A scathing look at soixante-huitards and the Western world they created.

lifemachine recommended this 2 years ago

A reactionary and poignant criticism of western society, at points it is a bit over intellectualized but it manages to maintain compassion toward his characters and keep them from becoming symbolic and empty.
Women in general and feminists in particular might find it hard to like this book given the deep misogyny of the main characters.