--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a piece of writing, The Elementary…" description: "\"As a piece of writing, The Elementary Particles feels like a bad, self-conscious pastiche of Camus, Foucault and Bret Easton Ellis. And as a philosophi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/michiko-kakutani-22945_books_as-a-piece-of-writing-the-elementary-par_2594825.jpg" --- # As a piece of writing, The Elementary Particles feels like… ![“As a piece of writing, The Elementary Particles feels like a bad, self-conscious pastiche of Camus, Foucault and Bret Easton Ellis. And as a philosophical tract, it evinces a fiercely nihilistic, anti-humanistic vision built upon gross generalizations and ridiculously phony logic. It is a deeply…” quote by Michiko Kakutani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/michiko-kakutani-22945_books_as-a-piece-of-writing-the-elementary-par_2594825.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/michiko-kakutani-22945_books_as-a-piece-of-writing-the-elementary-par_2594825.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/michiko-kakutani-22945_books_as-a-piece-of-writing-the-elementary-par_2594825.jpg) > “As a piece of writing, The Elementary Particles feels like a bad, self-conscious pastiche of Camus, Foucault and Bret Easton Ellis. And as a philosophical tract, it evinces a fiercely nihilistic, anti-humanistic vision built upon gross generalizations and ridiculously phony logic. It is a deeply repugnant read.” [Michiko Kakutani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michiko-kakutani/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The novel is criticized as a forced imitation of existential and post‑modern thinkers, presenting a bleak, anti‑human view. **In simple terms:** The book feels like a shallow, nihilistic copy. Key Takeaway Beware of works that mimic without depth. Themes literature criticism nihilism authenticity Mood skeptical analytical Type critical review When to use this quote - reading choices - critical thinking - authorial intent Key Concepts philosophy post‑modernism literary analysis Questions to Reflect On - Is imitation always negative? - Can bleak visions have value? A Different Perspective The review may overstate negativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anti Humanistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anti-humanistic-1892913/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built/) [Conscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Fiercely Nihilistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiercely-nihilistic-1892916/) [Generalization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generalization/) [Generalizations Ridiculously](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generalizations-ridiculously-1892914/) [Gross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gross/) [Humanistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanistic/) [Logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logic/) [Nihilistic Anti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nihilistic-anti-1892915/) [Particles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/particles/) [Pastiche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pastiche/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Phony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phony/) [Pieces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pieces/) [Repugnant Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repugnant-read-1892912/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self conscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-conscious/) [Vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [The Marxist combination of materialism and determinism is fatally anti-humanistic. 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I used to keep books in my gas oven - until someone told me it was a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michiko-kakutani/i-m-not-much-of-a-cook-i-used-to-keep-books-in-my-gas-oven-until/) [Michiko Kakutani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michiko-kakutani/) > [My mother's family was among the 120,000 people of Japanese descent on the West Coast who were dispatched to internment camps during World War II.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michiko-kakutani/my-mother-s-family-was-among-the-120-000-people-of-japanese-descent/) [Michiko Kakutani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michiko-kakutani/) [Explore all 26 Michiko Kakutani quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michiko-kakutani/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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