The Elementary Particles

by Michel Houellebecq

You know, if he had an accident on his motorbike and was killed, I’d be sad, but I think I’d probably feel relieved.”

Her cardlessness towards her son constrasts w Brunos love for his own.

was an archetype of a particular sociological concept, which was all the more surprising in that it was the result not of some preestablished plan but the convergence of individual desires.

Individu v société

is tempting to suggest that this is a sexual ‘social democracy,’ especially as foreign visitors to the resort are principally German, Dutch and Scandinavian.”

the most magnificent mirror room in Languedoc-Roussillon.

was the perfect place to have a no-frills after-dinner drink with friends and for women to try out their daring new clothing in a supportive environment.

Famous Five.

It was nice to know there would be no problems, that all the sexual issues had been resolved; it was good to know that each of them would do their best to bring pleasure to the others.

course death, or the thought that one might die, could make one judgmental about such human pleasures.

humanist proposition: striving to maximize individual pleasure without causing unbearable moral suffering to anyone.

principally dependent on the sense of touch, in particular, on the deliberate stimulation of specific areas of the epidermis rich in Krause’s corpuscles.

(particularly in women) on love.

serve as the geographic medium for a return to a norm in which sex is based on the notion of goodwill. To be specific, in this space between the

the original couple, a wave of affection and sexual excitement will quickly ripple across the beach. Sexual passion begins to grow, and couples come together to indulge in group sex—though it must be stressed that each waits for acknowledgment or explicit consent. If a woman wishes to decline an unwanted caress, she indicates this with a simple shake of the head, and the man makes a formal—almost comic—apology.

Now and then the wind dies away and the silence is almost total, broken only by cries of pleasure.

In Cap d’Agde, as anywhere, the obese, the old and the ugly are condemned to solitary masturbation—the

the sole difference being that whereas masturbation is generally prohibited in public, here it is looked upon with kindly compassion.

In my opinion, this ‘sexual social democracy’ is an uncommon example of the qualities of discipline and respect for the social contract which allowed Germany to conduct two appallingly murderous wars a generation apart before building a powerful international economy from the ruins of their country.

This respectful and legalistic attitude, which pleasurably rewards those who fulfill the contract, is a powerful incentive, in that it can, even without a written code, easily be enforced on the multifarious minorities at the resort

At the end of his first week, Bruno stopped writing. What remained to be said was more tender, fragile and uncertain.

sunlight

What he felt was strange, very strange: his breathing was easier, and sometimes he found he could spend minutes at a time without thinking, without being so afraid.

think I’m happy.”

“I want to live with you,” he went on. “I think we’ve both had enough, that we’ve both been too miserable for too long. Later we’ll have to deal with sickness and infirmity and death, but I think we could be happy together right to the end. I’d like to try, anyway. I think I love you.”

For the first time in many years, something seemed feasible.

The following morning Bruno wrote a short, emotional letter to Michel. He declared himself happy, and regretted that they had never truly understood each other. He hoped that Michel, too, might find a measure of happiness. He signed the letter: Your brother, Bruno.

Normal behavior could therefore be seen as the elastic warping of the field and free will as a rupture within it; but in what topology?

he remarked that around the world, research centers were groping their way along in a senseless empiricism.

Individual consciousness seemed to emerge among animals for no apparent reason, and clearly predated the capacity for language.

That in itself did not make understanding human consciousness any easier.

implying the presence of both a central nervous system and something more.

Consciousness did not seem to depend on any single factor, whether anatomical, biochemical or cellular. It was all rather discouraging.

Now, more than ever, a new paradigm was essential.

which so accurately found an echo in his own heart.)

walked on, however, purposeful and unhurried; he knew that some way beneath his feet ran an underground river, and that his feet instinctively would follow its path.

Upon waking he felt joyful and alive, something he hadn’t felt in the two months since he left work.

He was alone, but no...

Working for a lifestyle magazine, informed about cultural trends, she would surely know how to fit in.

For years he had seen posters appear in the area, asking people to be vigilant and warning them about the National Front.

The fact that he had no opinion on such a subject one way or the other was already a worrying sign.

withdrawal from ordinary human concerns, generally manifests itself by a profound indifference to things which ...

Thus it is possible to imagine a depressed lover, while the idea of a depressed patriot s...

belief in the free and rational determination of individual political choices, probably resulted from a confusion between the concepts of freedom and unpredictability.

curtains

equations of chaos theory

their ubiquity meant that they applied as effectively to hydrodynamics as to meteorology, group sociology o...

equations of quantum mechanics made it possible to predict the behavior of microphysical systems with exceptional, even perfect precision if one was prepared to give up any hope of a return to a materialist ontology.

Here, from the immense atrium situated on the prow, you can stare out to sea as though you were watching it on a gigantic screen.”

the editor took issue with the notion that gastronomy and watching your weight were incompatible.

From Bruno’s letter, it was clear that he’d been doing rather more swimming and lovemaking. He recalculated, using these new parameters, and discovered he would require 2,700 calories a day.

As he passed the old houses and the canals on his way to the cemetery, he felt the sadness and confusion of anyone returning to his childhood home.