French disconnection
‘I CAN IMAGINE A WORLD WITHOUT MUSIC,
BUT NOT POETRY' 1 i
The hugely controversial MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ smokes more cigarettes than he offers opinions. And, as Allan Radcliffe discovers, he has many, many opinions.
’d expected my audience with Michel Houellebecq
to be altogether trickier. The erstwhile enfant
terrible of contemporary letters is a notoriously awkward interviewee. offering monosyllabic responses and occasionally falling asleep should the interrogation fail to sufficiently engage his interest. It was therefore with a growing sense of unease that I approached the bar at the (ieorge Hotel. having been warned that Houellebecq had only just arrived in Iidinburgh and was likely to be feeling ‘very tired'.
The author. now in his mid-40s. was in the capital to promote his fifth novel The I’rrss‘i/ir'liry ufurr Island. whose protagonist is Daniel. a notorious stand-up comedian and filmmaker. Interspersed with his painful ageing process and despair at his loss of sexual desire is a commentary by Daniel's clones. writing some 2()()() years in the future when humans are at war with neo- humans. The book deals with themes (sex. relationships. science) familiar from Houellebecq’s two previous big sellers. {II()llll.S'(’(l coldly depicts the very different fates of two half-brothers while Platform suggests sexual tourism as a solution to third world economic struggles.
Boasting a huge following in his native France. the globally renowned author is also credited with reigniting worldwide interest in l‘rcnch literature. Yet Houellebecq sees himself pritnarily as a poet. ‘I can imagine a world without music. but not poetry.‘ he tells me. While popular. Houellebecq‘s pessimistic. inflammatory portrayal of human behaviour. coupled with his disdain for the media. have led to some outrageously hostile reviews.
30 THE LIST 1/ Nov 1 Dec 2005)
The author has been labelled racist. homophobic. reactionary. nihilistic. pornographic. repulsive as well as moving. funny and prophetic. ‘(‘ontroversy is a media creation. designed to sell tnore newspapers. I‘m not the one who invented that strategy. Unfortunately. now we are in a situation where there are more media than things to say.‘ I suggest this is somewhat disingenuous. The central character in Platform is provoked by the terrorist attack that kills his girlfriend to say some highly inflammable things about Muslims. Houellebecq shrugs. lights a cigarette. sucks on it so hard that the filter shrinks away to nothing. ‘The fact that a novel offers a sad. ugly image of the world is not a new phenomenon] is all he says.
Perhaps unsurprisineg. given the hostile reaction to his work at home. Houellebecq now lives and works between Ireland and Spain. ‘In a way. being out of France is a way of distancing myself from everything. Science fiction offers a more poetic. lighter view of the world. I use it to view reality from a distance. to distance myself from very moving situations.‘
In fact. the central relationship in Houellebecq‘s latest novel. between Daniel and I-istelle. is perhaps the most moving and compassionate the author has written. Houellebecq‘s response to this is typically enigmatic. ‘I enjoyed writing this book less because what was being written was very painful.’ He pauses. cigarette burning between nicotine-stained fingers. ‘Yes.‘ he utters. eventually. ‘I force myself to write painful things.‘
The Possibility of an Island is out now published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
. 4 =i< Michel Houllebecq The eclectic Gallic guy was recently over here for a convention devoted to him and his works. The Possibility of an Island shows us what the fuss is all about. See preview. left. Weidenfeld & Nico/son.
=i< Angela Carter She may have passed away 13 years ago, but her prolific output is still churning away. Her latest is a selection of some fairytales of the non-household name variety. See review. Virago.
=2< Lynne Truss Talk to the Hand does for bad manners what Eats, Shoots & Leaves does for sloppy punctuation. Not exactly for everyone but the pedants among us love the gal. See review. Profile.
:%< Harvey Pekar The streettighting pessimist par excellence publishes The Quitter, the tale of a troublesome Cleveland childhood which shows there's more to him than American Splendor. See review. Vertigo. =l= R Klkou Johnson The Hawaiian artist gives us Night Fisher, a fascinating take on the whole coming of age thing. See review. Fantagraphics.
=l= Sir David Attenborough Everyone's favourite natural historian (pictured) turns up to scribble his name upon copies of Life in the Undergrowth, his latest book and TV affair. Ottakar’s, Edinburgh, Thu 24 Nov.
:l= Bashabl Fraser The Edinburgh—based author checks into the most intriguing venue of the fortnight to read from A Meeting of Two Minds which explores the ancient relationship between India and Scotland through the correspondence of two visionaries. Bangalore Tandoori Restaurant, Edinburgh, Tue 29 Nov.