Scottish interests et autres idioties

1. Football
2. Beer
3. Rugby
4. Crisps
5. Golf
6. Whisky
7. Pipe
8. Soup
   

Balzac

His was an extreme ambition. I'm sorry to have to say it, but I don't think there's been a real revolution in the art of the novel since. I think that Balzac defined it for good. And anyway Balzac is very useful to me. It's not a good idea to be too humble. So I try to be a bit of a megalomaniac, to tell myself that I am the best. But it's good to have a little fit of humility every now and then, so I think about Balzac and hey presto, I feel very humble.

Femme (Woman)

My problems with women are not going to get any better. Women often find it difficult to accept pure negativity, and the fact that I have more and more female readers creates an insidious pressure to be more positive. Rather disconsolate women often ask me: "Do you really find life that disappointing?" I have to reply that I do, I don't like life, I don't like the way it's organised. The fact that a heartbreaking read can be deeply heartening is an argument that women sometimes come to understand but not always. Sometimes they want something simpler.

Morality

I never stop making moral judgments in life. In the framework of a novel, it's harder because you start finding excuses. Describing a character as a complete bastard is not feasible for more than a few pages. The novel is really not a moral genre. Everyone ends up more or less becoming moderately nice and moderately nasty.

Q / Cul (Sex)

People often say there's too much sex in my books. I don't feel there is. I've tried to understand why people get this impression. It's probably because in my books sex is treated or happens in an inappropriate way. The jump-cut style gives this impression: there's no preparation, sex happens a bit suddenly. But I think it's the fact that it's unsuccessful sex that has shocked people a lot. The impression of obscenity is much stronger with a scene of unsuccessful sex. And even so, I haven't gone that far: a few inadequate erections, but no scenes of real vaginal dryness. I could have made it even more unsuccessful. I could describe it in a totally disastrous way if I wanted to. And if people annoy me, I will!.

Houellebecq, interview dans The Guardian