Syd A
10-23-2010, 08:40 PM
I just finished reading Michel Houellebecq’s The Elementary Particles (published as “Atomised” in the UK), and had some mixed feelings about it.
On the one hand, Houellebecq seems to have a lot of talent and I liked the way he mixes science with philosophy. On the other hand, half the books filled with graphic details of sexual adventures in orgiastic communes. I have nothing against erotica, but when it’s gratuitous and repetitive, it damages the book and makes me wonder whether the author has anything to say at all.
Furthermore, his ventures into science (and science fiction) are interesting, but sometimes he just rambles endlessly using what appears to be random scientific terms he picked up from a journal. The book also contains two major errors (which may be due to inattention or to bad translation), which make me wonder whether he knows anything at all about science: at some point he says that two half-brothers share half their genetic code (one quarter, actually), and at another point he refers to a two-week old embryo as a fetus (this could simply a dumb translator’s error).
What do other people think of Houellebecq? Did anyone find any science or philosophy worth reading in some of his other works? Did he put his potential to good use in another novel I should read?
On the one hand, Houellebecq seems to have a lot of talent and I liked the way he mixes science with philosophy. On the other hand, half the books filled with graphic details of sexual adventures in orgiastic communes. I have nothing against erotica, but when it’s gratuitous and repetitive, it damages the book and makes me wonder whether the author has anything to say at all.
Furthermore, his ventures into science (and science fiction) are interesting, but sometimes he just rambles endlessly using what appears to be random scientific terms he picked up from a journal. The book also contains two major errors (which may be due to inattention or to bad translation), which make me wonder whether he knows anything at all about science: at some point he says that two half-brothers share half their genetic code (one quarter, actually), and at another point he refers to a two-week old embryo as a fetus (this could simply a dumb translator’s error).
What do other people think of Houellebecq? Did anyone find any science or philosophy worth reading in some of his other works? Did he put his potential to good use in another novel I should read?