Main Edition
US
FR
Michel Houellebecq has been accused of many things: pornography (of both the literary and the literal kind), misogyny, Islamophobia, and — most damagingly for him, perhaps — banality. Now the French writer has revealed another stick with which his critics can beat him: Ukraine realism.
Michel Houellebecq: ‘People who have humanitarian ideas are a catastrophe’ https://t.co/yfLkkRmqgE
— Financial Times (@FT) September 13, 2024
In a new interview with the Financial Times, the author of Atomised and Submission also reaffirmed the support for Donald Trump he previously expressed in a 2019 essay. “Trump won’t start wars,” Houellebecq told the FT, adding that it would be “good” if the Republican candidate stopped supporting Ukraine once in office. “What do I care?” he responded when told that Ukrainians want to liberate their own territory. “At the start of the war, I was surprised because I thought Ukraine was Russian. It’s better for nature to take its course.” This is followed by a Houellebecquian bon mot: “People who have humanitarian ideas are a catastrophe.” Nihilistic as ever…
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
SubscribeThe people who don’t want to fund an endless Slavic blood feud are the nihilists now?