Spring in Fialta
A malign star kept him
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934) - Miller's first, and from what I've read of his, his best. One of my favorite works. Funnily enough considering all the censorship this book had to go through, there is no way in hell this book would ever get published in 2020, in an era where legal censorship, especially in art, is essentially non-existent. No, this book would suffer from commercial censorship. 2020 editors and entire boards would probably resign in protest if a publisher wanted to go through with this - and without any credentials, as Miller had none, at the time of publication? There's one masterpiece never read. God knows how many others there are throughout the past couple of centuries, unseen for a variety of internal and external factors. Probably enough to make one weep and hate the world for forbidding them to us.
Tropic of Cancer is a harsh, funny and distinct work. Just as Miller had desired before starting on the book (I start tommorow on the Paris book : First person, uncensored, formless - f*** everything!), the structure of it appears to me without any direct reference to other works, movements or schools of thoughts. It's completely untrained and the long, unconscious ramble of a sturdy, if not bitter, man who keeps looking for a few moments of rapture in a world he has long decided is, for lack of a better word, a gigantic turd with humanity as its maggots who feast upon it without joy, originality or reflection. None are cared for by Miller, even those he respects are described callously, which makes for funny descriptions, monologues and reflections. His lyrical digressions (which, to his credit, he stays in control of in his first novel, whereas, from my experience, he overdoes to the point of boredom in later works. I should read it again, but I remember Tropic of Capricorn bludgeons one with its flights of fancy) are a welcomed and skillful contrast compared to his somewhat more public house banter that soaks large portions of his plotless conveyances. Also, for all the talk of its eroticism, I didn't find the word that erotic, at least, not in any sort of consequential way, even if my favorite passage of the book is Miller discussing the virtue of prostitutes who aren't shy about letting themselves be watched as they wash in a bidet. He talks of sex and women in usually insulting words and even his desires for longing (sexual or emotional) are usually as fleeting as a dog's erection. He's quite open about it - a woman with a great mind is fine, sometimes great, but a woman who can offer or feign a passionate lay is much more rewarding and worthy. I suppose that's where my manhood and love of words and craft comes in. I just can't bring myself to feel offended over something written so long ago, in such an era, about what amounts to props in a fictionalized work of literature. Some would - Henry Miller would get Me too'd faster today than I can finish this sentence. And I can sympathize with the offense. Would I speak the same way if we were discussing slavery or racism (and Jews aren't spared in this book)? Probably not, I'll admit that. Nor do I know how to justify it. I guess the lack of direct/overt violence/abuse in Miller's words permits one to continue on. It's mostly shameless stereotyping.
Regardless of his solipsism - or likely because - the book is an entirely private work whose voice could not be confused with another's, which is all (and the best) we can ask of an artist, whether we enjoy the work or not. It is equally important to enjoy oneself, but rude and impossible to order it of one, singular voice. This is one that works for me.
Even typing this...I find myself shaking my head, chuckling at the lunacy of it. Henry Miller was certainly fortunate he was born in 1891 instead of 1991. Although, of course, his opinions wouldn't necessarily have been the same if he had come of age in a different era, a different world, with different expectations and social manners. How that would have affected his work is a entertaining thought to hold. Usually, I would note that it is the mark of an irresponsible and immature to reader to confuse the opinion of a character with that of its author, but when that character is named Henry Miller and the author puts an emphasis on the autobiographical nature of the work, well...
Tropic of Cancer is a harsh, funny and distinct work. Just as Miller had desired before starting on the book (I start tommorow on the Paris book : First person, uncensored, formless - f*** everything!), the structure of it appears to me without any direct reference to other works, movements or schools of thoughts. It's completely untrained and the long, unconscious ramble of a sturdy, if not bitter, man who keeps looking for a few moments of rapture in a world he has long decided is, for lack of a better word, a gigantic turd with humanity as its maggots who feast upon it without joy, originality or reflection. None are cared for by Miller, even those he respects are described callously, which makes for funny descriptions, monologues and reflections. His lyrical digressions (which, to his credit, he stays in control of in his first novel, whereas, from my experience, he overdoes to the point of boredom in later works. I should read it again, but I remember Tropic of Capricorn bludgeons one with its flights of fancy) are a welcomed and skillful contrast compared to his somewhat more public house banter that soaks large portions of his plotless conveyances. Also, for all the talk of its eroticism, I didn't find the word that erotic, at least, not in any sort of consequential way, even if my favorite passage of the book is Miller discussing the virtue of prostitutes who aren't shy about letting themselves be watched as they wash in a bidet. He talks of sex and women in usually insulting words and even his desires for longing (sexual or emotional) are usually as fleeting as a dog's erection. He's quite open about it - a woman with a great mind is fine, sometimes great, but a woman who can offer or feign a passionate lay is much more rewarding and worthy. I suppose that's where my manhood and love of words and craft comes in. I just can't bring myself to feel offended over something written so long ago, in such an era, about what amounts to props in a fictionalized work of literature. Some would - Henry Miller would get Me too'd faster today than I can finish this sentence. And I can sympathize with the offense. Would I speak the same way if we were discussing slavery or racism (and Jews aren't spared in this book)? Probably not, I'll admit that. Nor do I know how to justify it. I guess the lack of direct/overt violence/abuse in Miller's words permits one to continue on. It's mostly shameless stereotyping.
Regardless of his solipsism - or likely because - the book is an entirely private work whose voice could not be confused with another's, which is all (and the best) we can ask of an artist, whether we enjoy the work or not. It is equally important to enjoy oneself, but rude and impossible to order it of one, singular voice. This is one that works for me.
Whereas Claude - well, with Claude there was always a certain delicacy, even when she got under the sheets with you. And her delicacy offended. Who wants a delicate whore! Claude would even ask you to turn your face away when she squatted over the bidet. All wrong! A man, when he's burning up with passion, wants to see things; he wants to see everything, even how they make water. And while it's all very nice to know that a woman has a mind, literature coming from the cold corpse of a whore is the last thing to be served in bed. Germaine had the right idea: she was ignorant and lusty, she put her heart and soul into her work. She was a whore all the way through - and that was her virtue!
Even typing this...I find myself shaking my head, chuckling at the lunacy of it. Henry Miller was certainly fortunate he was born in 1891 instead of 1991. Although, of course, his opinions wouldn't necessarily have been the same if he had come of age in a different era, a different world, with different expectations and social manners. How that would have affected his work is a entertaining thought to hold. Usually, I would note that it is the mark of an irresponsible and immature to reader to confuse the opinion of a character with that of its author, but when that character is named Henry Miller and the author puts an emphasis on the autobiographical nature of the work, well...
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