Édouard Louis (born in 1992), a writer known as a prodigy of modern French literature, in his debut novel "Eddy's End" (En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule, 2014) depicts the life of a teenager in a working-class family in a French province in the style of documentary fiction. Eddie is constantly bullied at school, often bullied for his psychophysics (which is why he is nicknamed "pyderu"). Eddie's father uses violence against his son because he himself experienced it as a child from his own parents. In his pursuit of a deeper relationship with his mother, Eddie gets her to confess the traumas of her youth and her disappointment in him as a son. The novel also depicts other members of Eddie's family and relatives, all of whom have experienced unfulfilled expectations and been traumatized. Now they make teenage Eddie hostage to their injuries. Trying to escape from the grip of his family and school, Eddie strives to become "strong" and "normal", but his efforts are in vain when he begins to realize his true nature and decides to run away...
The painful experiences of childhood and adolescence, spent growing up in a working-class family in an extremely conservative French province, became the basis of the writer's debut novel "Eddie's End". This work brought great success to the literary debutante: at the age of just 22, É. Louis earned his first nomination for the prestigious Prix Goncourt, the book was published in a circulation of more than 300 thousand copies and translated into 25 foreign languages. in 2022 in February and March, 29-year-old É. The entire international Brandhaarden festival in the Netherlands has been dedicated to Louis' work and stage interpretations of his works.
E. Louis' works are not only widely read all over the world, but are also seized by the most solid European theaters and interpreted by the most famous directors: memorable performances based on the writer's texts have been staged by such directors as Thomas Ostermeier, Ivo van Hove, Milo Rau, Anna Smolar, German, British, French directors of different generations , directors from Norway, Poland and other countries.
Literature É. Louis perceives it as a political project that can, in his opinion, achieve more than politics itself. According to the writer, the purpose of political speech is not to reveal reality, but to hide it, so when writing books, he hopes to show readers what they do not want to see. In this confrontation, he sees the meaning of autobiographical writing. According to É. Louis, “autobiography begins by asking oneself what is impossible to talk about, what is too private, and what is too difficult. Then people start to recognize themselves in the texts you write."
