The Censors Come for Michel Houellebecq

As is so often the case, Vahaken Mouradian is on the case. His disquisition on the French novelist ’s torment at the hands of censorial French authorities is as enlightening as it is righteous in its revulsion.

Blessedly, Mouradian and National Review are not alone in taking France to task over its harassment of the prolific author. The New York Post is on it. So, too, are the Daily Wire and the Washington Examiner. Unherd contributor Simon Heffer published a stirring condemnation of the ordeal to which Houellebecq has been consigned.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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As is so often the case, Vahaken Mouradian is on the case. His disquisition on the French novelist ’s torment at the hands of censorial French authorities is as enlightening as it is righteous in its revulsion.

Blessedly, Mouradian and National Review are not alone in taking France to task over its harassment of the prolific author. The New York Post is on it. So, too, are the Daily Wire and the Washington Examiner. Unherd contributor Simon Heffer published a stirring condemnation of the ordeal to which Houellebecq has been consigned.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.