Black Spring

Rating:
Summary: Madness, Streams of Consciousness, and Miller's Cosmos...
Review: "I am dazzled by the glorious collapse of the world."

....some vignettes here start out pretty innocent here but once Henry Miller gets a figurative and literal bug up his-- he waxes and waxes and waxes poetically (a lot of times in alliteration) about life, death and the cosmos. He and Bukowski are my favorite derelict writers, I feel I always get something from them although their story-telling is not always linear. And I love to read them both aloud. Why, when Henry really starts these tirades, sometimes its best to have an unabridged dictionary on hand. All the previous reviewers seem to like the recounting of Henry in the pissoire. My favorite piece is the hilarious and poignant "Jabberwhorl ("But it must be in the key of C") Crondstadt" who turns out to have a refugee sanctuary and who's own illness (abated by cognac and cayenne) exposes to Henry something about madness and art and creation. It simply must be read aloud for appreciation. Henry Miller is not evvybody's glass of absinthe, but for me, he is great...like he says, "What is not in the open street is false, that is derived, that is, literature" I have not been everywhere he has, but I have been where he has been a lot and most of his writings, even those which are way too funky to decipher are fun and enjoyable to read in my opinion. Most of his writing may be just too, too real for anyone who is not willing to take up the challenge...

Rating:
Summary: The Horse in The Pissoire
Review: Black Spring is one of Miller's earlier efforts belonging to the Paris-written era of The Tropic's of Cancer and Capricorn. Whilst hilarious and enjoyable to read it suffers from too much Capricorn-esque angst-ridden soul rimming. A great book to read, but I would recommend Quiet Days In Clinchy as Miller's best French novel. It is equally humourous and has no extra pussyfooting around.

Rating:
Summary: Masterful
Review: Black Spring is the antithesis of the "small talk" which defines commercial literature. And henceforth, if you should choose to be so morbid, if you acknowledge the loneliness of our age of instant communication you realize that Miller is the antithesis of our neighbors as well. In this stellar performance Miller plays friend and educator. He manages an astounding approachability for such scholarly work. You'll get the feeling early on that much like his beat cousins honesty is his game. But Miller's honesty seems to be more interested in its absorption into the common public denominator. This Book finds Miller at his best do what he does better than anyone else...Writing fine & insightful literature in a style, which accomplishes confession devoid of the triteness of ego

Rating:
Summary: Masterful
Review: Black Spring is the antithesis of the "small talk" which defines commercial literature. And henceforth, if you should choose to be so morbid, if you acknowledge the loneliness of our age of instant communication you realize that Miller is the antithesis of our neighbors as well. In this stellar performance Miller plays friend and educator. He manages an astounding approachability for such scholarly work. You'll get the feeling early on that much like his beat cousins honesty is his game. But Miller's honesty seems to be more interested in its absorption into the common public denominator. This Book finds Miller at his best do what he does better than anyone else...Writing fine & insightful literature in a style, which accomplishes confession devoid of the triteness of ego

Rating:
Summary: TOPPING Henry Miller's "Must Read" List
Review: The "Paris books" are by far the best work Henry Miller produced and Black Spring, a collection of shorter pieces that followed Tropic of Cancer should rank at the top. If I had to make a list: Black Spring, Tropic of Capricorn, Tropic of Cancer, Quiet Days in Clichy. Black Spring contains some of his best work and displays his dazzling use of language and the exhilarating build-up of detail. This book contains some his most energetic writing. My favorite is the first piece in the book, his depiction of his Brooklyn days, which stands as classic "memoir" writing. Speaking of which, in Henry Miller's day, there were very few people writing fiction disguised as "memoir." Now take a look around and that's all you'll see! Imagine the world without Henry Miller! No Jack Kerouac, no Frederick Exley, no Dave Eggers. Black Spring is a MUST-READ for anyone interested in this kind of writing. Another recommendation for younger readers: The Losers' Club by Richard Perez

Rating:
Summary: I don't need a title....
Review: This, like any of Mr. Millers' other works, is essential to only a handful amongst us. Not that there is not much to be learned from this great artist. But my point is..... it is essential to any aspiring writer, because it itches that urge in us to write. To struggle with it, and fail, and move on. No other author has done such for me. None has pushed me forward more than Henry (and yes, I am on a first name basis, he's like the best friend I could only dream of having) He is the most important writer that has ever lived in the fact that no other writer has ever made the art of writing seem more wonderful than he.

I got my great understanding of the workings of the mind and pathological states, of good and evil, and where our choices inevitably lead us from Dostoyevsky. I received my understanding of the divine from Dante. From Mr. Miller..... I got what every writer needs.....

To know that all that is needed is the urge, the desire to write. Who gives a damn if it's all gibberish, who cares if no one understands? That's not the point to it. Let the critics with no talent rip your work to shreds, let the intellectually elite thumb their noses at you. Creation is all. Nothing else matters. We may have to die one thousand deaths (emotionally so) and sink to the lowest levels a human can sink. But if even one paragraph is created, all was worth it.

I think this is the best place to start with Mr. Miller. Just because of how drunk he gets on his own words (or so it seems) But, it's still just a taste. It's best to tease first, then work up a gnawing hunger.