The Mirror of Ideas

Michel Édouard Tournier was born in Paris, France on December 19, 1924. He received a degree in philosophy and law from the Sorbonne and studied German philosophy at the University of Tübingen for four years. After failing the philosophy exam that would have certified him as a university teacher, he started producing radio and television programs and writing literary journalism. He was the press agent for a new radio station Europe 1 for four years. He then became the literary director of the publishing house Editions Plon.

His first novel, Friday, was published in 1967 and won the Grand Prix du Roman by the Académie Française. His second novel, Le Roi des Aulnes, which was also published as The Ogre and The Erl-King, won the Prix Goncourt, France's top literary prize, in 1970. His other works included Friday and Robinson: Life on Speranza Island, Gemini, The Woodcock, The Fetishist, The Motionless Wanderer, The Four Wise Men, Gilles and Jeanne, The Golden Droplet, Keys and Locks, The Flight of the Vampire, and Mount Tabor and Mount Sinai. He died on January 18, 2016 at the age of 91.

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