Houellebecq rose and searched a bookshelf near at hand, retrieving a small, well-worn book. It was “Les Contes d’Andersen,” a French translation of the Danish fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen, No. 28 in “Lectures et Loisirs,” a series of books for children. This particular copy was published in 1960, four years after Houellebecq was born. On its cover, a little mermaid sat on a pink shell, weeping. An oyster, its pearl gleaming, lay open at her feet, and a blue fish with a pink tail and lush eyelashes looked at the mermaid with worry.