Atomised

The novel parallels the lives of two protagonists Michel and Bruno two half brothers of a promiscous mother who left them in the care of their respective paternal grandparents when they were very youg. Thus they grew up without knowledge of each other and barely any knowledge of their uncaring parents.

Emotionally stunted they fail to develope any lasting emotional connections. Bruno becomes an insatiable sex adict while Michel a brilliant but cold biogeneticist. Michel eventually invents a new form of human that is asexual and immortal thus superceding the human race.

The novel is a misanthropic comment on modern day youth culture, with their youth and brilliance fading neither find they have anything to live for.

The prose style is, perhaps deliberately, crude. There are several sexual passages recounted in a cold and clinical style. Many people have described them as pornographic but they are untitillating as a cold shower. Very similar in ways to Lous-Ferdinand Celine in it's misanthropy but with more of a political (neo-Marxist) agenda. Disturbing and very French.