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Summary: Reading The Books In My Life is like seeing a man made.
Review: THE BOOKS IN MY LIFE is simply outstanding. Reading it was like glimpsing the making of a man. I own another book of Miller's in which he wrote an essay about, and entitled, ON TURNING 80. This was a work by the end product, Henry Miller, the man reflecting on life. He was a very different man than the cocky, young, expatriate who wrote TROPIC OF CANCER. Both of these Henry Millers wrote beautiful and insightful prose.The thing that is so unique about THE BOOKS IN MY LIFE is that the reader is allowed to see the influences that were involved in the shaping of the man. Hearing him speak of the books he read as a child, SHE and AYESHA and ROBINSON CRUSOE, conjure the very essence of childhood. Miller was nurtured by these books and when he became a man and read Celine and Dostoievsky and Walt Whitman, he continued to be nurtured and subsequently, to grow. Miller was brilliant because when he wrote about a subject, he touched it. He knew how to truly make contact with it. THE BOOKS IN MY LIFE, like everything he ever wrote, I think, is extraordinary
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Summary: A Major Influence on Me
Review: There are many books that have held enormous influence over me. Different books come along at different times and when the timing is right, there is magic. My literary education is an ongoing process. But there is one unique book that stands out among all these books. I couldn't call it the best book I ever read. I wouldn't call it my favorite book. It is simply a book that has provided a guiding hand for close to two decades.
The book in question is The Books In My Life by Henry Miller. This is a book that I originally purchased back in my high school years. I had already begun reading many literary figures. I had discovered the Beats like Kerouac and Ginsberg. I found the French Symbolists like Rimbaud. I was tuned in to Whitman, Blake and Nietzche.
As I continued to seek out new literary heroes, I stumbled upon Henry Miller. I immediately sought out Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. I was struck by the sheer force and passion of Miller's writing. I was willing to overlook his many flaws because he was so exuberant. It also intrigued me that he was so open about his influences. Karl Shapiro wrote a coda to Tropic of Cancer with all kinds of strange names of people I had never read. I learned of a book by Miller that reveals his reading habit.
So that led me to The Books In My Life. This is a book where Miller attempts to provide the reader with his evolution as a reader. He runs through many of the great writers that held enormous influence over him. He also discusses some of the people in his life that impacted his reading and literary development. In his preface, he writes that he wants to round out his life story and includes books as vital experience. He quickly states that this is not criticism and shouldn't be used as a program for self education.
The book includes 14 chapters and an all important appendix of 100 influential books and "books he still intends to read." The chapter order is not really all that important. This is not a book that needs to be read from page one to conclusion. I vaguely remember actually reading it from start to finish about 18 years ago. I have referred to it hundreds of times since then. In fact, I think it is more beneficial to use this book as a reference book.
I use it to seek out names of writers that I have yet to discover. The list of writers I discovered through Henry Miller and this book is staggering: Blaise Cendrars, John Cowper Powys, Knut Hamsum, Jean Giono, Madame Blavatsky, Maurice Maeterlinck, Marie Corelli. This is just a few of the names that I sought out because of this book.
Miller discusses early reading such as Rider Haggard, G.K. Chesterton, and G.A. Henty. He grew up on many of these adventure writers. He retained an affection for Haggard's novel She throughout his life. Haggard is one of four writers to have an entire chapter dedicated to him. Giono, Cendrars and Krishnamurti are the others. He reveled in a book like Alice In Wonderland. He writes of the joy of reading Mark Twain as a youth. He also writes of the overwhelming excitement of reading books like Hamsun's Mysteries or Nietzche's The Birth of Tragedy for the first time.
What I like is that he reveals how certain authors maintained their magic over him while others were dramatic disappointments when he reread them. He clearly disavows any intention of "ever tackling Spenser's Faerie Queen anew." He writes of having few pleasant memories of Dickens. He wrote that he wouldn't care if never read Jack London or Kipling again. He is also honest about many classics that he never managed to read. How many learned individuals would admit that they never read Homer or Aristotle or Robert Browning.
There is a chapter devoted to what he dubs as living books. This includes personal friends as well as writers he met. Lou Jacobs was a friend who provided him with books. He met such luminaries as W.E.B. Dubois, Emma Goldman John Cowper Powys and Blaise Cendrars. This includes some good autobiographical passages. He maintained an intellectual curiosity throughout his life.
The Books In My Life is a unique book. I can think of no other book I have read that is solely about all the different literary influences of a lifetime. Many writers try to hide their influences to make it appear as if they have fallen from space or something. Miller applies his legendary enthusiasm and frankness to the task of recounting his literary development. I have discovered more literature through this book than any other resource I have encountered. And I remain certain that I will probably discover even more in the coming years.
This is an invaluable reference guide to anyone who wants to explore great literature as well as philosophy and spiritual development. (Miller writes of Ramakrishna, Lao-Tse, Jacob Boehme, St Francis of Assisi among other religious giants.) Most readers will discover treasures they never heard of before. They may also find inspiration to seek out famous names like Dostoevsky and Boccaccio if they read this book. Miller's ebullience comes shining through in the prose of this book. And contrary to Miller's insistence, it has been an invaluable tool in literary self-education. Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Miller, but very much on my mind since I purchased it off Amazon is "The Losers' Club" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.
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Summary: One Of My All-Time Favorite Books!
Review: This wonderful book has had a tremendous impact on my reading and on my life, mainly because of the list Henry put at the end almost as an afterthought: "The Hundred Books That Influenced Me Most". I have been slowly buying and reading these books, many of which I had never heard of (and/or never heard of the authors). In every single instance, they have been remarkable, incredible, mind-blowing, life-changing, and stupendous. The book itself is great fun, and written with Miller's usual masterful command of language, however I must caution prudes to stay away. His storytelling muse it at the height of its powers here, as he recounts his encounters with books, authors, bookshops and women, not necessarily in that order. It is compelling to hear of how Miller's love affair with books began, gained momentum and turned into a lifelong obsession. I recommend this book to you with the greatest possible enthusiasm. Have fun with it!
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Summary: Endures
Review: Tropic of Capricorn soars... when read at the appropriate age (it is deconstructionism served with a deep joy of life). Of Miller's books, The Books in My Life seems to endure longest through my stages of maturation. Miller added Denisen/Blixen (Out of Africa) to his list in Big Sur (also giving honorable mention to AA), and personally, I believe that he would have included Gabriel Garcia Marquez, if he had encountered his work (One Hundred Years of Solitutde, and Love in the Time of Cholera). I also recommend Miller's, The Colossus of Maroussi. But yes, read The Books in My Life (he puts Van Gogh's letters at the top of his list...Dear Theo).
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