The French are in the shadow of their north-eastern neighbours, he says. “They have an inferiority complex towards the Germans. They’re very impressed by serious German music and by German philosophy. It sort of ruined their own writing. The French were always known for their clarity, until the mid-20th century. Then, they came under the fatal spell of Heidegger. They became much more obscure in their writing. Michel Foucault, who was a friend of mine, once said to me that people looked down on his later writing, because it was too clear.”

¶ 2:08 AM