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Author Michel Houellebecq has written a first-person text about the past few months

Photograph:

Guillaume Souvant / AFP

It has caused quite a stir in recent months. There were the statements in the right-wing populist magazine »Front Populaire«, which brought Michel Houellebecq the accusation of Islamophobia. And then there was the trailer of a pornographic short film in which Houellebecq is said to have sex with several prostitutes. The writer wanted to have the film banned. After a rebuff, he now achieved a partial success before a professional court. Nevertheless, even by Houellebecq standards, all this seemed to be in need of explanation. Probably also for himself. Now the French author has written an approximately 100-page first-person text about it.

The book »Quelques mois dans ma vie« (translated into German: »A few months in my life«) was initially published only in France. On the back of the book, the 65-year-old describes how he experienced the past: "For the first time in my life, I had the feeling that I was being treated like the object in an animal documentary. It's hard for me to forget." The cover: black like an obituary.

Statements are misunderstandings

He only briefly discusses the »Front Populaire« interview published in autumn. He calls his statements about Muslims "idiotic." They are a misunderstanding. He was not Islamophobic and regretted that he had not proofread the interview – after all, 45 pages. As early as 2001, Houellebecq caused a stir: At that time he had said that Islam was the stupidest religion.

Most of the pages in the book, however, are taken up by the sex film by Dutch director Stefan Ruitenbeek. Houellebecq contemptuously calls it "cafard" (cockroach). He does not deny that the short film is porn. "I wanted to make private videos with my wife. Experience has shown me that it's not easy," he says as the reason for filming with himself in the lead role. Long explanations follow, in which he explains his interest in amateur porn, which he discovered thanks to a young German. For him, sexuality is the greatest and most lasting joy in life.

Bad mood on set

The filming took place at the end of December, mainly in Amsterdam. According to Houellebecq's description, everything went wrong right from the start: bad mood and women who did not meet his expectations. In his book, he gives them the affectionate names Truie (sow) and Dinde (turkey), among others.

Houellebecq wanted to have the film banned after the fuss. In the first instance, courts rejected his lawsuit, arguing that he was depressed and drunk when he signed the contract. He has now achieved a partial success before a Dutch court of appeal: Ruitenbeek has to submit the finished film to him before publication.

»Small Peas«

Houellebecq began writing the text on the night of March 31. Some friends advised him against it and said that the fuss around him would subside. Perhaps the author of "Subjugation" and "Elementary Particles" would have done well to follow this advice. Because he has made a personal reckoning out of »Quelques mois dans ma vie«. He stylizes himself as a victim of the media, which he describes as pigs and bullies. He also sees himself as a victim of justice, calling judges "little peas".

In all this, the sense of tact leaves him, if he has any at all. And he crosses boundaries when he writes, for example: "At the thought that the film could be distributed against my will, I first had the feeling that women describe who have been raped."

evh/dpa