Elemental Particles

The ascent of Michel Houellebecq to global fame began a quarter of a century ago with the release of the novel “Elemental Particles”. This was followed by planetary bestsellers “Platform”, “The Possibility of an Island”, “Submission”, “Serotonin”, “Destroy”, the Goncourt Prize, and the Order of the Legion of Honor. At the center of the sensational novel is the fate of two brothers. Both, each in their own way, are persistently seeking happiness in the surrounding world, which is inherently not designed for happiness. One of them, a biologist, speculates about the possibility of radical changes in human genes, resulting in the emergence of a new species of “happy” people. These thinking beings, immune to human weaknesses and delusions, are given by Houellebecq to judge the lives of our contemporaries and he managed to do what few have succeeded in: he truly shocked the public. The novel was nominated for the Goncourt Prize but did not receive it; however, it was awarded a sort of “anti-Goncourt” – the “November” Prize – and was recognized by the authoritative magazine Lire as the Best Book of the Year. It is published in a new translation by Maria Zolina.