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Tropic of Cancer

Tropic of Cancer

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This? From the author of Death of a Salesman?
Review: I just didn't get it. When I read Death of a Salesman, I hardly saw any profanity. It was very American in spirit and it was a well-constructed tragedy. Now when I read Tropic of Cancer, imagine my surprise when I found out that every other word was the "C" word (that's sort of his nickname for women)! Boy, I tell you! "C" this, and "C" that! It took some getting used to. Also instead of American as apple pie (in the tragic sense - ha ha!), it's very "anti-American. I mean Tropic of Cancer is "anti-American". Not Death of a Salesman. And it was strange to me that he was just kind of wandering around. Nothing happens. He just has sex with prostitutes and talks about other writers. Death of a Salesman is a much more compelling story. So is The Crucible. But anyway, Henry Miller sure seemed to be a real misogynist. He must have changed his feelings about women when he married MARILYN MONROE - that is until she dumped him for that Kennedy character. And didn't she leave Joe Dimaggio in order to start dating Henry Miller? She got around, boy. I think Lee Strasburg introduced them at an Actor's Studio Christmas party. I know what you're all thinking: What's Lee Strasburg doing holding a CHRISTMAS party? He's Jewish isn't he? Well, not anymore. He's dead. But when he was alive, wasn't he Jewish? And throwing a Christmas party? Maybe it was because he thought Jesus was just "a good rabbi".

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Genius + Unconventionality + Struggle > My Imagination
Review: Henry Miller is pure New Invention. This Autobiography is more imagination, than any story weaver could conjure. This and Tropic of Capricorn are pure MAGIC. Best to read this at age 17, next best to read this while you're still alive! Buy as many books as you can find, and give them to everyone. It will challenge a lot of people.... who cares!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Vulgar Conflagration
Review: When I tell you that the spiritual climax of the book occurs on pages 246-258 (of a total of 318), and that it involves Miller's apocalyptic vision of the universe gained while staring down the barrel of some whore's genitalia, you're going to know instantly whether this book is for you. Endlessly imitated, never duplicated, Miller's "classic" resists being for the many. The self-absorbed protagonist, a horrid little man (-- Can you hear Maggie Smith saying that? --) spends his life descending into the maelstrom of his existence to hone his own sense of nihilism. As his unwitting and unwilling observer, I was not thrilled (titillated? Don't make me laugh). But, hey, if you like this stuff... Tell you what: Read the first three pages. Stop and decide whether you can buy in to Miller's perspective. If not, stop there. It doesn't get any better. Well, perhaps the vision...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I really enjoyed this novel.
Review: Miller's no holds barred book "Tropic Of Cancer" really suprised me. I liked the way Miller told the story of his life not holding back details. I appreciate his use of clear English language that I can understand clearly. All and all a very good literature text writing.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Entertaining
Review: Entertaining-Yes, Profane-Yes, Worthy of inclusion in the 100 best list?-Sadly No

If you are interested in a mindless romp, you may want to consider On the Road by Jack Kerouac instead.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: MOST AMAZING NOVEL!
Review: I found this book to be far more interesting than simply for its explicit content. We read about Miller's "down and out" days in 1930s Paris. He writes excellent prose and has been a major influence on writers.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Good Read
Review: Miller rants in a rare infectious dribbling of honesty. At times brilliant, at times a drag, but "a beau jeu beau retour," so I kept reading. We find an entertaining fill of whores and half-wits, garnished with frozen stools, the clap, and seasoned with strangely welcomed and altogether fitting mad nonsense. Writing armed with rhythm, the mind's ear can almost hear "Parlez-Moi d'Amour" spilling from a Parisian brothel gramophone. We find sex and despair, the human condition, an artist's hunger and constipation... fitting subjects spoken in appropriate voice. All in all, a decent read.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: yes you should read it!
Review: When a person reads Henry Miller, they are drawn into a world where personality and desire clash directly with social acceptance and morality. You are privy to his innermost thoughts, you see the world through his eyes, and you come away having lived a different life in the span of a couple hundred pages. He does not so much tell a story as invite you to live. His words are power, he uses images and concepts to awake the reader, to jolt the reader, and to encourage the reader. The resulting effect is to be forever changed by the words, which is the mark of a true writer. He invites you, through his style and his passion, to join him in the act of writing, to through off the preconcived notions of what a writer should be, and take up a pen, throw ink at a page, and revel in the act of writing itself. Because of his passion, because of his power, he becomes a mentor to a struggling writer, merely through the baring of his own soul. I also recommend the movie Henry & June.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: wowzers
Review: A gorgeous, daring, revelatory book. Miller was a writer well ahead of his time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Keys for the Caged Heart
Review: This book opened the door to a new way of thinking or me. Discovered at a trying time in my life, it changed my view of life for showing me the resiliency of the heart, the unending newness of the world, and, through it all, the humor of living. Some have Jesus and need him. At one time, Miller was my savior and I feel for him still, long after reading him for the last time. He is Everest, the Deep Blue Sea, the Depth and Beauty of the Night, my soul's salvation. Nothing compares. No one comes close to his gentle, soaring spirit.


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