CHRISTIAN LORENTZEN'S DIARY

Share this post

User's avatar
CHRISTIAN LORENTZEN'S DIARY
NO EXIT

NO EXIT

Houellebecq's incels

Christian Lorentzen
Feb 24, 2023
∙ Paid
13

Share this post

User's avatar
CHRISTIAN LORENTZEN'S DIARY
NO EXIT
Share

I missed Guillaume Nicloux’s film The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq on its release in 2014. What a mistake—it’s a real hoot! Nicloux’s deadpan mock thriller tacks from a rumor that the author had been kidnapped “by Al-Qaeda (or aliens)” during the book tour for his 2010 novel The Map and the Territory. (I watched it on Google Play, which mislabels it a “documentary”—much of it does seem to be improvised, and Houellebecq does seem to be speaking as himself, but credit Nicloux for the devious scenario and execution.) We see Houellebecq’s routine—smoking on the street and bumping into friends, smoking in the park and finding old coins, smoking by the window of his high-rise apartment and composing poetry, smoking at the piano with friends, smoking and drinking wine while dissing Mozart—until it’s interrupted by three thugs who put duct tape over his mouth, pack him into a green metal box, and take him to a small house in the hinterland surrounded by old cars and trucks and assorted junk.

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Christian Lorentzen
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share