Michel Bataille (March 25, 1926February 28, 2008) was a French writer.
Biography
Bataille studied architecture at
École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, and took part in projects with
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
. Thirteen years later, he left architecture due to deafness problems, and devoted himself to writing. Living in Paris, and then in Saint Cloud, he ultimately chose Normandy to settle with his family, consisting of his wife, painter Marie Claude, and his children Frédéric, Eric, Emmanuelle, and Nicolas.
In 1947 he won the Stendhal Prize for his first novel, ''Patrick'', and in 1950, after the publication of ''La Marche du Soleil'' (written during a trip to Africa), he temporarily stopped writing.
His job as an architect inspired him to write ''A Pyramid on the Sea'' in 1965, and ''La ville des fous'' in 1966. He was a guest of Bernard Pivot and Jacques Chancel on several occasions. His novel ''
The Christmas Tree'' qualified in the first two rounds of the
Prix Goncourt, but was eliminated in the third round of voting. The book was later turned into a film by
Terence Young in 1969, with
Bourvil in the main role.
His novel ''Une anger Blanche'' is the story of a painter in all his creativity and suffering (Prize of the Four Juries). ''Cendres sur la mer'', went against the grain of the times by presenting abortion as a tragedy.
He also published books on
Jean Jaurès and
Gilles de Rais.
He was the nephew of
Georges Bataille
Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (; ; 10 September 1897 – 9 July 1962) was a French philosopher and intellectual working in philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, and history of art. His writing, which included essays, novels, ...
.
Works
* ''Patrick'' (winner of the
Prix Stendhal
Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, wh ...
in 1947)
* ''The Sun's Walk'' (1950)
* ''The Wild Cat'' (1960)
* ''Five Days of Autumn'' (1963), later adapted for television
* ''Sky Fire'' (1964)
* ''A Pyramid on the Sea'' (winner of the
Prix des Deux Magots The Prix des Deux Magots is a major French literary prize. It is presented to new works, and is generally awarded to works that are more off-beat and less conventional than those that receive the more mainstream Prix Goncourt.
The name derives from ...
in 1965)
* ''City of Fools'' (1966)
* ''
The Christmas Tree'' (1967)
* ''White Wrath'' (1969)
* ''The Scream in the Wall'' (winner of the Jean-Cocteau Prize in 1970)
* ''The Better Days'' (winner of the
Maison de la Presse Prize
The Prix Maison de la Presse is an annual French literary prize, established in 1970 by the Syndicat national des dépositaires de presse (SNDP) and Gabriel Cantin. Until 2005 it was known as Prix des Maisons de la Presse and given out in the two ...
in 1974)
* ''Ashes on the Sea'' (1975)
* ''Secret Sun'' (1975)
* ''Tomorrow Jaurès'' (1977)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bataille, Michel
20th-century French writers
1926 births
2008 deaths