French writer Michel Houellebecq: biography, family, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Michel Houellebecq is a writer and poet, prose writer and essayist. The best-selling author in Europe. In France, he is considered a cult writer, awarded the nickname "Karl Marx of Sex". The books have been translated into 26 languages of the world. Winner of the Prix Goncourt, "Grand Prix" in Literature, as well as the Dublin Prize.

Writer's biography

Michel Houellebecq was born on February 26, 1958. Place of birth - an island in the Indian Ocean, which is called Reunion. This overseas territory belongs to France. Michel's real name is Tom. The writer claims that his mother, wanting to see him as a child prodigy, deliberately changed his date of birth to February 16, 1956.

After another child, a girl, appeared in the family of Michel Houellebecq, the parents actually stopped paying attention to him. The father, who worked as a mountain guide, and the mother, a medical worker, sent their son to be raised by relatives.

Choosing a pseudonym

First, Michel was in the family of his mother's parents in Algeria. Then, inat the age of six, he moves to live in France, with his grandmother, his father's mother. Her name was Henriette Houellebecq, she was an enthusiastic Communist Party activist. With her, the boy developed a close and trusting relationship, It was she who had a great influence on the future writer. It was her last name that he took as his literary pseudonym - Michel Houellebecq.

Get an education, start writing

Having reached the age of sixteen, the young man begins to show interest in literature and writing. Passionate about the works of science fiction writer Howard Lovecraft. He will not forget him - in twenty years he will write a book about his work.

To improve his knowledge, in order to enter the Paris-Grignon Institute (agronomic university), Michel Welbeck completes Chaptal's preparatory courses. They help in 1975 to enter the chosen educational institution.

The literary activity of the later famous French writer Michel Houellebecq begins at the Institute. Within its walls, he created a literary magazine, which he called "Karamazov" and wrote poems for him. Made an attempt to make an amateur film.

After receiving a diploma in environmental science in 1978, Michel continues to improve his knowledge in the creative field, enrolling in the school. Louis Lumiere, to the cinematography department. Her Houellebecq graduated in 1981. Being already married in the same year, he has a son, Etienne.

However, Michel's marriage did not work out well. He gets into a difficult life situation.associated with lack of work and income. This in no small measure contributed to the divorce from his wife and Houellebecq's plunge into a deep depression.

These events led to the fact that since 1983 Michel Houellebecq began to work in the field of computer services. For some time he worked as a system administrator in a well-known concern, then in the agricultural ministry, and finally, in the same capacity, in the National Assembly of France.

The arrival of success

In 1991-1992, Houellebecq published two collections of poems and a book dedicated to Lovecraft. However, the press and readers did not pay attention to these works.

In 1994, Michel Houellebecq's novel is published by Maurice Nadeau, which was called "Expansion of the Space of Struggle". Unexpectedly for critics and reviewers, this work has become very popular and discussed among readers, especially among young people. Subsequently, those who study the work and biography of Michel Houellebecq will come to the conclusion that with the publication of his first novel, he became the leader of a new generation of writers who study the life of modern people and try to understand the causes of their spiritual poverty.

This work was filmed twice - in 1999 and 2002.

The writer continued to reveal the problems of Western civilizations in his next novel "Elementary Particles", which was released in 1998. In this work, Michel Houellebecq examines the path that the West has traveled since the sexual revolution in the early 1960s. The writer's conclusion is that humanity is on the verge of collapse. The novel became very popular in the world and was awarded the prestigious November Prize in the field of literature. However, the founder of this award, M. Donnery, was outraged by the choice of the nominee and resigned, and the November award was the last one.

Houellebecq's next novel came out in 2005 under the title "Island's Possibility". In the same year, the work was awarded the Interalier Prize. Michel filmed it and showed it at the Locarno Festival (2008). However, the experience of filmmaking was unsuccessful. The film did not find support among the audience and was crushed by critics.

In 2010, Michel was accused of plagiarism. The French Internet publishing house Slate proved that Houellebecq inserted unedited articles from the French version of Wikipedia into his next work Map and Territory (awarded with the Goncourt Prize).

The next novel was published in 2015 under the title "Submission". This dystopian work examines the situation when a Muslim became the next president of France, with the advent of which changes in society began.

Michel Houellebecq's books are unpredictable. Each work is sure to become a bestseller.

Solitude, relationship with religion

In the late 90s, at the peak of his popularity, Houellebecq left France for Ireland. Settles in the sparsely populated area of County Cork. For himself, he acquires the building of an abandoned post office on the ocean, which he attaches to the house. Begins to hide from the press, almost no interviewsgives.

Many associate Michel Houellebecq's seclusion with litigation and threats against him from Islamic communities.

The writer, in addition to his "revolutionary" works, is also known for his negative attitude towards Muslims. So, he owns the statement that Islam is a dangerous religion and stupid. He argues that the Koran plunges into depression, and Muslim men, who are reserved people at home, when they come to Europe, turn out to be extremely sexually liberated.

At the same time, Michel claims that the Bible is a beautiful book, and the Jews are endowed with great literary talents.

Such remarks have given rise to several Islamic organizations to prosecute Michel Houellebecq, accusing him of inciting racial hatred and "Islamophobia".

Family life

There is practically no data on Michel Houellebecq's family. He currently lives alone. Periodically makes exhibitions of his work around the world. So, in 2016 in Tokyo, he organized a fairly popular exposition of his works called "Lost".

Until now, according to him, he falls in love with women and loves to photograph them.

However, for a person like Welbeck, whom society characterizes as a misanthrope and a cynic, constantly depressed, his dog Clement was the only close creature. Until now, he mourns her loss, declaring to others that the best couple is an old man and a dog. According to Michel, Klemen is a manifestationabsolute love.