Recent events in France have seemed inexplicable to observers outside the country. The rise of the “gilets jaunes” movement has proved difficult to define or understand, partly because of the shocking violence it has unleashed, and partly because no one outside France can quite work out whether this is a revolt of the left or the right, or something else altogether. The mysteriously opaque politics of the gilets jaunes is matched in the cultural domain by the remarkable success of Michel Houellebecq, whose seventh novel, Sérotonine, sold 90,000 copies within the first three days of its publication on 4 January.
These figures are hard to imagine for a literary writer in Britain: it’s as if Julian Barnes were to be suddenly propelled to the status of JK Rowling. During the first few days of the book’s publication, Houellebecq’s gaunt and petulant face was everywhere: on television, in newspaper stands and bookshops. At the same time, it was announced that he had been awarded the Légion d’Honneur by Emmanuel Macron. This is France’s highest civilian honour and is recognition that over the past two decades Houellebecq has written powerful and prescient books – most notably Atomised (published in the UK in 2000) and Platform (2002) – which have not only reshaped French literature but changed the way French people think about themselves. It also places him at the heart of the French establishment, a long way from his original rebel status. In recent photographs he cuts a professorial figure, a long way too from the scruffy drunk, fag in hand, which has been his enduring public image until now.
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