Michel Houellebecq begins speaking about his childhood, about what kind of a child he was, and how he started writing because he nurtured an early love of reading, particularly Hans Christian Andersen and Jules Verne. He admits that he was "devastated" by reading the 'Little Match Girl'. "Even animals, they learn through imitation. And I think there is a sense of imitation in writing at the beginning."
Reading, he feels, is a vital necessity because we need to be able to live parallel lives: "Humans generally have too complex a brain for the life they live. A large part of their brain capacity isn't used. And one life isn't enough. You need to have parallel lives or you can't resist." Writing, however, requires a belief that you have something to add: "You need to have a certain megalomania to publish."