No, not that Welbeck. I'm on about Michel Houellebecq - pronounced “Welbeck” - who was described by his own mother as "an evil, stupid little bastard". She also wrote "This individual, who alas came from my womb, is a liar, an imposter, a parasite and above all a petit arriviste ready to do absolutely anything for money and fame". Houellebecq had described her as a disgusting old hippy who ruined his life.

I'm only mentioning Houellebecq on here because Mike asked me. Even though he knows most of you on are as thick as pig shit he thinks a few literary posts might raise the tone of the site.

I think Mike is wrong. The only people who think ordinary people are interested in books are writers. Julian Barnes, a Hampstead literary figure and a Commandeur of L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres wrote the following in The London Review of Books :

"The day after the vote, I was walking in my local park when a man cycled towards me straight over a no cycling sign. I gave him a routine, unthinking glare, to which he responded with a shout of ‘Oi, Flaubert, where are you now?’ A rare North London cry of Brexiteering triumphalism."

https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n08/julian-barnes/diary

Really? About 300 people in the world would recognise Julian Barnes but some random lout on a bike recognises him and has read at least one of his books.

Sorry Mike but posts about literature will not work on here. This post is about grown ups who still blame their misfortunes on their parents. Houellebecq is a prime example. His parents let his grandparents bring him up while they went off enjoying a free sex lifestyle all around the world. His mother saw it differently and there is a fascinating interview with her here :

https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...drelationships

In my opinion you become a mature adult when you stop blaming your parents for whatever you think they did to you. I know people in their 70s who are still blaming their parents for not loving them enough or some rubbish like that. Just get over it and get on with it.

Are you still blaming your parents?