The Elementary Particles contains these themes as well, but it touches on other things: it deals with themes of love and loss, of adulthood not meeting with the expectations of youth, it deals with how failed parenting can impact a child for the rest of that child’s life, it deals with the 1970s hippie and New Age movements. Houellebecq’s estranged mother read the novel and thought that the horrifically irresponsible mother in it was modeled after her. In press interviews, she promised that "if he has the misfortune of sticking my name on anything again he'll get my walking stick in his face and that'll knock his teeth out." Great mom there.

It was a bit hard to tell the half-brother protagonists apart for awhile, as both were abandoned by their parents and raised by grandparents, and both had trouble connecting with women and both had kind of amorphous personalities. Houellebecq is a bit like George R. R. Martin in his approach in that he likes to undermine his characters in tragic ways to inspire feelings on the part of the reader. For example, in an interview Houellebecq stated that he had the love interest leave the main character in Submission even though that approach represented a failure to him as an author (because it didn’t create emotion on the reader) as he wanted to use a particular phrase and he could only use it if the separation happened with her leaving the main character. Here, both of the love interests meet a tragic fate which kind of felt artificial/manipulative, and both main characters subsequently have semi-tragic ends as well. Whether manipulative or not, it did inspire feelings on my part in reaction to the tragedies so I think Houellebecq was successful.

I note that the novel was full of strong sexual descriptions. I understand the French are generally much more open and accepting of their sexuality than Americans, but I’m not familiar enough yet with French authors to know how much of this is a Houellebecq obsession vs. French in general.

The Elementary Particles was very well received by the public and critics and it put him firmly on the literary map, which I think is well deserved. I’m relieved that even though the themes from his other novels are repeated, there is enough new topics and material to keep his work feeling at least somewhat fresh. I will continue reading him.

I gave Whatever a 6.5/10 and Submission, although unranked, was a 9.0. I would put this one at an 8/10.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5605593&forum_id=2\u0026mark_id=5307129",#48157870)