The pursuit of happiness does not lead to Niort, at least according to Michel Houellebecq. The writer portrays a passage from his latest novel, Serotonin , in the city of deux-Sèvres. Florent-Claude Labrouste, the main character, is lagging behind the slow agony of his love. And says it is “one of the cities most ugly that it [has] been given to see.” The people upset by this comment replied to the blows of threats of boycott and of invectives against the physics of the writer. Ditto for the local branch of The New Republic
” READ ALSO – funny guerrilla of the inhabitants of Niort against Serotonin, the novel of Michel Houellebecq
The mayor Jérôme Baloge is now trying to appease the spirits by writing a letter to Flammarion, the publisher of the novelist. “Niort, what are the Niortais, who have heart and open mind, he says, to the writer in front of cameras BFMTV. They would be very happy to welcome Michel Houellebecq in the time who come to present us his book.” “I’m sure he would take a liking to the city of Niort and the happiness of living there,” says the elected official, member of the radical Movement, convinced that he can cure the greatest depression of France.
Jérôme Baloge prescribed to the writer for a cure”angélique”, a specialty of the city, which could replace the antidepressants that consumes its anti-hero, he entrusted to the AFP. The plant candied, eaten as candy or cakes with fruits, possesses “the virtue medicinal make them happy”. A blend of poetry and chemistry that do would probably not Michel Houellebecq.
” READ ALSO – Twenty French cheeses certified PDO to know absolutely
It is now waiting for acknowledgement from the Normans to the beautiful advertising that the writer made local products, livarot (cheese of cow that has nothing to envy to the pont-l’évêque and camembert), and calvados. An alcohol that his hero meets closely, and judge to be insufficiently emphasised in the large-scale distribution.
The municipal official niortais is in any case not the only one to take the little controversy to promote the wealth of the city. A resourceful internet user would see the sentence of Serotonin displayed on a sign at the entrance of the prefecture of the deux-Sèvres. A way to make the buzz and attract the tourists.
In terms of communication, we could call it the “SurPromesse reverse” 😉 It tries #Niort #Houellebecq #Serotonine pic.twitter.com/Pkcwawdwuq
DDduPWATOO (@dddupwatoo) January 3, 2019
Some fans of Pink Floyd, a group in which Michel Houellebecq is an admirer inveterate, revealed an error of the writer. Aymeric, a nobleman who can’t keep his cattle in the face of the requirements of the large distribution, is launching its speakers the album Ummagumma of 1969, which he describes as “drive a cow”, the “circumstance”. However, it is Atom Heart Mother , released the following year, which shows a ruminant on its cover, as pointed out by a bookseller in switzerland. The prix Goncourt in 2010, has readers well picky.
François Hollande and Michel Houellebecq
For his part, the comic book author Joann Sfar did not resist to imagine three scenes inspired by the novel. In the pages of his copy, he drew a François Hollande, the pink-cheeked, sipping a glass of wine. On the cover, the former head of State was surprised. “When I find Houellebecq funny, sentimental and optimistic, it is that everything is fucked up”, plays François Hollande. Before adding: “in 2022, vote!”
a Few pages later the novelist asks: “Who was I to have believed that I could change something with the movement of the world?” “It is when it’s written similar things that I say to myself that Houellebecq sharing secretly in my political vision,” says the former head of State cheering.
View this publication on Instagram
Go, happy new year!
In a final drawing, Joann Sfar is in the process of demonstrating “the potential of comedy” by Serotonin . “The guy who comes to you and cheer up, it’s Michel Houellebecq”, exclaimed he. His interlocutor on the phone seems to be packaged with the idea of entrusting the role of that comedy with Benoît Poelvoorde. Without a doubt, for his beautiful energy of despair…
View this publication on Instagram
#Hollande2022
