French ‘ Nouveau Roman’ writer Michel Butor dies aged 89: family

French writer Michel Butor, one of the leading figures of the experimental 1950s “Nouveau Roman” literary movement, died on Wednesday aged 89, his family told Le Monde newspaper.

A prolific author who tested the boundaries of traditional narrative structures, Butor was best known for his 1957 book La Modification ( Second Thoughts), a staple of French literature classes.

The story chronicles the thoughts of a man on a train journey from Paris to Rome to see his mistress. The twist is that the tale is written in the second person, referring to the main character as “you.”

The book won Butor the prestigious Renaudot Prize.

Butor died at the Contamine- sur- Arve hospital in western France, near the Swiss border, Le Monde said.

His death was confirmed by publishing house Gallimard.

Born in 1926 near the northern French city of Lille, Butor studied philosophy and literature before becoming a teacher, working mainly abroad in Egypt, England and Greece.

He returned to Paris in 1958 and went on to build up a multi- faceted, unclassifiable body of work that included books as well as essays and poems, often drawing inspiration from his overseas travels.

He was linked to the post- World War II “Nouveau Roman” ( New Novel) group, which challenged conventional ideas about plot, chronology and characterization.