INTERVIEW
Of Michel Houellebecq, one essentially knows his work, but his life and his personality remain largely unknown. An episode of Complément d'investigation, broadcast Thursday night on France 2, tries to unravel the mystery surrounding the famous writer, whose latest novel Sérotonine is a huge success.
"He has an incredible career, he did not grow up among the elites, but with his grandmother because his parents refused to raise him.His mother, who was a doctor in Reunion, felt that she did not There is no time to take care of him, this distance with his mother is the wound of his life ", explains Clément Castex, journalist and author of the documentary, questioned Thursday on Europe 1.
"His mother wrote a book to complain about him"
Michel Houellebecq went so far as to make his mother one of the main characters in his novel Les particles élémentaires . "His mother even wrote a book to complain that Michel Houellebecq has made a character in his novel Elementary particles, " says Clément Castex.
"It was his childhood and his education that made him the writer, his mother abandoned him and never asked him for forgiveness, the only time she spoke publicly was to ask her to apologize for the elementary particles ", abounds Nicolas Carreau, literary journalist at Europe 1.
"We do not know much about his career"
However, few elements of Michel Houellebecq's life have filtered. "We do not know much about his career, when it is the French author who sells the most books abroad.I met him twice, he refused to talk to me, as he done with all the media for two years, "says Clément Castex.
Because Michel Houellebecq has an obsession, which he has been cultivating for years: controlling his image. "He does not like biographies very much, there was one that was released in 2005, and he broke the bridges with all his friends who agreed to speak, even those who said good of him."