Tournier, Michel
(born on December 19, 1924 in Paris)
Michel Tournier studied philosophy and wrote a doctoral thesis on Plato in 1945,
at the Sorbonne. After his studies, he became a translator and then a writer. His
second novel, Le roi des aulnes (The Erl-King), won the Prix Goncourt in 1970.
His work consists of nine novels, six tales and 17 philosophical essays. To
summarise his philosophical angle, in his novel Vendredi ou les Limbes du
Pacifique (Friday, or, The Other Island), the castaway accuses rationalism and
chooses nature against culture. The strength of myth is revealed in his work, and
therefore great myths are often explored and reinterpreted.