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MYSTERIOUS: Michel houellebecq - You Need To See This

Meet the man whose groundbreaking book is being devoured by the left

Anton Jäger has been lauded for his exceptional ability to make sense of these strange political times – and he’s only 32. The writer and academic explains why we’re living in an age of hyperpolitics

The Guardian - UK

The die isn’t cast: France is pessimistic, but not doomed to far-right rule

Apocalyptic forecasts are a national sport. But while polls point to a National Rally president in 2027, it’s still all to play for, says Foreign Policy Research Institue fellow Joseph de Weck

The Guardian - UK

‘It wasn’t my intention to shock!’ Jean-Claude Vannier on working with Serge Gainsbourg and setting his new album in the gutter

He has influenced everyone from Beck to De La Soul to Arctic Monkeys. As the great musical ‘disruptor’ unveils his new murder-and-mandolins epic, he looks back on his most famous collaboration

The Guardian - UK

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Welcome to the incel age of fiction: misogynistic, murderous and... sympathetic?

THE READING LIST: Once confined to a dark, dusty corner of the internet, incels are becoming increasingly mainstream as harrowing news stories about murder sprees and manifestos shine a light on a disturbing, sometimes violent, movement. These days, it is proving fertile ground for fiction writers whose protagonists are denied…

The Independent UK

Orgies, vampires and jewel-laden tortoises: it’s time we buried the myths of decadence in art

Is western civilisation being destroyed by its own decadence? Was the Roman empire? And does a preference for Lord of the Rings over The Matrix indicate that we are all doomed? Our critic tries to sift fact from fiction …

The Guardian - UK

Free speech ‘prophet’ Michel Houellebecq is a fan of Trump and Brexit. His satirical final novel predicts political chaos

A few months ago, the president of prestigious French publishing house Gallimard reported that Meta’s generative AI tool had refused requests to write in the distinctive style of Michel Houellebecq, France’s most famous living novelist. It was deemed too offensive and discriminatory.

The Conversation

Annihilation by Michel Houellebecq review: he has nailed the malaise of our day... again

annihilation is prophetic about the times, as ever

Evening Standard

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From a new Murakami to a memoir by Cher: the best books of the autumn

Cosy crime, eco-thrillers, political memoirs, YA fantasy: there’s something for everyone in our pick of the books to look out for in the months ahead

The Guardian - UK

Annihilation by Michel Houellebecq review – the failure of politics

The chaos element of the populist right disrupts France’s weary liberal regime, in a novel of sadness and eerie serenity that marks a new direction

The Guardian - UK

Annihilation by Michel Houellebecq review – deepfakes, sex acts and cyber-attacks

In his sometimes enjoyable longest novel yet, the author’s obsession with sex and desire competes for attention with his usual grandstanding and an intricate, Dan Brown-like pulp mystery

The Guardian - UK

French Writer Michel Houellebecq Deemed Too Offensive By AI

The world's favourite French misanthrope writer Michel Houellebecq is too controversial for the world's new AI tools, which find his views so offensive that they cannot be repeated.

International Business Times

The shadow of Raymond Chandler looms in Call Me Marlowe, an international tale seeking humanity in the darkness

Catherine de Saint Phalle lived alone for many years in the country in France, where she published five novels and toured with controversial author Michel Houellebecq.

The Conversation

Non, minister. Spare us the derriere sex scenes and stick to politics

Bruno Le Maire isn’t the only politician to try his hand at an erotic novel, but one passage has been singled out for attention

The Guardian - UK

French minister’s steamy novel turns up heat on Macron

Sex scene in Bruno Le Maire’s book provokes ridicule and anger among opposition politicians

The Guardian - UK

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The Guardian - UK

Michel Houellebecq sex film to be released despite attempt to stop it

Amsterdam court dismisses French author’s complaint against film that shows him having sex with young women

Radio France Internationale

Paris mosque drops complaint against French writer Michel Houellebecq

The rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris has confirmed that he has decided to drop his complaint against award-winning French writer Michel Houellebecq over "violent comments" targeting Muslims made during a recent interview.

The Guardian - UK

Phoenix: ‘Every political cycle France has an existential crisis’

The Parisian pop maestros discuss getting their groove back, recording in the Louvre and the debate raging over their homeland’s cultural identity

The Guardian - UK

Involuntary celibacy is a genuine problem, but a ‘right to sex’ is not the answer

The defining argument of incels should be consigned to history, not used as a solution for this problem, says Guardian columnist Zoe Williams

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The Hindu

The storyline in the race for the French presidency

The campaign has been the most far-right in France’s modern history, with a close race between Macron and Le Pen

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