The Elementary Particles (Magill’s Literary Annual 2001)
At a glance:
- Author: Michel Houellebecq
- First Published: 2000
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: Late twenty-first century, with flashbacks to the late twentieth century
- Setting: France
- Principal Characters: Michel, Bruno, Janine
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: Mothers, Parents and children, France or French people, Sex or sexuality, Twentieth century, Future, Science or scientists, Twenty-first century, Bioengineering or biotechnology, Genetics, Clones or cloning
- Locales: France
This second novel by Houellebecq (pronounced WELL-beck), a native of France who now lives in Ireland, is by its very nature a challenge for readers and reviewers alike. Perhaps the chief difficulty is in separating the double identity of The Elementary Particles as a work of fiction and as a social phenomenon that has generated much controversy, first in France, the United Kingdom, and Europe, and more recently in United States literary circles.
Some reviewers ecstatically compare the novel to the work and traditions of major European literary figures of the past two...
[The entire page is 2312 words long]
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