I read The Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq in early January. I've been reviewing books on my edublogs site instead of here for some time, and I didn't want to review this book there. As much as a quarter of the book is dedicated to sex scenes written in pornographic detail, though presented in a way that they are joyless and depressing. The whole book is joyless and depressing. The main characters are two brothers parented, well abandoned really, by a mother who fully embraced the "free love" lifestyle of the '60's. One brother is emotionally stunted to the point he cannot engage in any kind of meaningful human relation. The other brother values only sex. Anything meaningfully specific I could say about it beyond that would be a spoiler. I'll say this much, there's no long term happiness or redemption for anyone in this book. I would not be surprised if I ever read of a middle-aged man reading this book and then killing himself.
So, it is not appropriate for teens or anyone prone to depression or mental instability, but it is full of interesting though negatively-spun ideas and social/scientific commentary. And it is very short. **
Saturday, February 21, 2009
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