The creation of the first being, the first member of the new intelligent species made by man “in his own image,” took place on 27 March 2029, twenty years to the day after Michel Djerzinski’s disappearance. In homage to Djerzinski, and though no French nationals were on the team, this synthesis took place at the Institute of Molecular Biology in Palaiseau. The worldwide broadcast of the event reached a huge audience—dwarfing that, almost sixty years earlier in July 1969, of man’s first steps on the moon. Hubczejak prefaced the broadcast with a short speech in which, with typical directness, he declared that humanity should be honored to be “the first species in the universe to develop the conditions for its own replacement.”
Today, some fifty years later, reality has largely confirmed the prophetic tone of Hubczejak’s speech—more so than perhaps even he envisaged. There remain some humans of the old species, particularly in areas long dominated by religious doctrine. Their reproductive levels fall year by year, however, and at present their extinction seems inevitable. Contrary to the doomsayers, this extinction is taking place peaceably, despite occasional acts of violence, which also continue to decline. It has been surprising to note the meekness, resignation, perhaps even secret relief with which humans have consented to their own passing.
Having broken the filial chain that linked us to humanity, we live on. Men consider us to be happy; it is certainly true that we have succeeded in overcoming the forces of egotism, cruelty and anger which they could not. We live very different lives. Science and art are still a part of our society; but without the stimulus of personal vanity, the pursuit of Truth and Beauty has taken on a less urgent aspect. To humans of the old species, our world seems a paradise. We have even been known to refer to ourselves—with a certain humor—by the name they so long dreamed of: gods.
History exists; it is elemental, it dominates, its rule is inexorable. Yet outside the strict confines of history, the ultimate ambition of this book is to salute the brave and unfortunate species which created us. This vile, unhappy race, barely different from the apes, which nevertheless carried within it such noble aspirations. Tortured, contradictory, individualistic, quarrelsome and infinitely selfish, it was sometimes capable of extraordinary explosions of violence, but never quite abandoned its belief in love. This species which, for the first time in history, was able to envision the possibility of its succession and, some years later, proved capable of bringing it about. As the last members of this race are extinguished, we think it just to render this last tribute to humanity, an homage which itself will one day disappear, buried beneath the sands of time. It is necessary that this tribute be made, if only once. This book is dedicated to mankind.
ALSO BY MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ
Whatever
THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Translation copyright © 2000 by Frank Wynne
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York.
www.aaknopf.com
Originally published in France as Les particules élémentaires by Flammarion, Paris, in 1998. Copyright © 1998 by Flammarion, Paris. This translation was first published in the United Kingdom under the title Atomised by William Heinemann, an imprint of The Random House Group Limited, London.
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
The publisher wishes to thank Asya Muchnick for her comprehensive assistance in translating and editing this text.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Houellebecq, Michel.
[Particules élémentaires. English]
The elementary particles / Michel Houellebecq ; translated by Frank Wynne.
p. cm.
I. Wynne, Frank. II. Title.
PQ2668.077 P3713 2000
843'.914—dc21 00-040568
eISBN: 978-0-375-41264-6
v3.0
Michel Houellebecq, The Elementary Particles
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