Henry Miller Forum

Henry Miller

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If i remember right, Henry miller is one of Philippe Djian's role models.

>>By N. Brews (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 12:56)

I don't know anything about Henry Millar, what book do you recommend?

>>By Corey (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 12:56)

Henry Miller is proof that even a sick fuck (like Bukowski) can employ powerfully sophisticated prose (unlike Bukowski, more like Thomas Wolfe).

>>By SeasonsBeatings (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 12:56)

Dear Corey,
Hi. I'm afraid I can only give you a very unoriginal but still honest answer to your question. I started on Tropic of Cancer and I would highly recommend the same to you. By the end of the first page...no, the first paragraph...you should be (for lack of a better term) "swept away". I move into the second page with my right hand pressed firm against my chest and taking in that quick gasp one get upon meeting someone worthwhile for the first time. Happy reading!

Dear SeasonsBeatings,

Yea, Charles Bukowski could be described, I suppose, as a "sick fuck"...but I am sincerly hoping that you named him such in a sort of first glance summary. I think that he's very much worth reading...while I attribute the term "sick fuck" to those more like Aristtle and thelike.

>>By iHeartSCUM (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 12:56)

I'm sorry about my poor English.
I think that if somebody comments that Mller is as sick as Bukowski, the sick is the reader and the sickness he has is that has reads Busowski and Miller with the same eyes. The same intention of reading sex, porn and all the things that make Busowski a sick being.
Miller is different, Miller knows that this world is sick. Is he as sick as this world just because he is so intelligent that accepts that? No.
So learn how to read good words or bigin to read Og Mandino or Corin Tellado.
Please.
Bye

>>By a Bolivian Miller's reader (Monday, 27 Jan 2003 21:48)

its interesting that you should cast your Jungian shadow by offering the moniker 'sick fuck' to either of these writers. They write about the Human Condition. Try to be brave and honest and READ them again.

>>By g77johns (Monday, 14 Apr 2003 02:27)

Henry Miller is brilliant and inspirational! He is a hero amongst those who's minds are still capable of creative activity and perhaps more importantly, he is a hero to those who are artists trapped in a humdrum life of boredom in modern society---he has a "way" about him that can break an artist free of the rust that stops creativity-- Miller is like a dose of WD-40 for anyone who has a creative block inside them. I would recommend a first reading of Big Sur and The Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch to a newcomer - and also Colossus of Maroussi.

>>By Royce (Sunday, 20 Apr 2003 04:43)

Correction---"delete who's minds are still capable" (I should have said "whose")--- and replace with--" those minds still capable"

Thanks, Royce

>>By Royce (Sunday, 20 Apr 2003 14:30)

Buk. was great like Dost., Celine and Kafka

>>By G. P. (Monday, 19 May 2003 12:28)

I picked up Tropic of Cancer randomly in the spring after I had quit college. I had only heard of him through the short story, Entropy, by Thomas Python (sp) and didn't really remember anything about that when I bought it. I live in the midwest/south where most people close their eyes to everything with religion and never realize that death is the propeller of life. Even now, I have been damaged enough by it that I can't even get out of my own ruts. I found in Henry Miller, someone who wasn't afraid to say what everyone else knows but is too brained washed by religion and the American stardard and way to realize it. And it's not like he's the greatest writer or anything like that. As he says, he must sing off-key for the world to listen. If there was ever a book that could change a person, to cause them to take a chance on themselves in whatever it is they love instead of staying in the ruts, this is it and will always be it. However, as Walt Whitman warned about his Leaves, it could also do just as much harm as good. I'll end by saying that he is the most influential artist I've ever read, perhaps, the only artist because most writers are writers, not artist. It took me at least 3 or 4 years before I could forget Henry enough to really pick up something else to read. I even prefer Capicorn to Cancer. Capicorn's first 10 or so pages are like a baseball bat to the head. I've never wanted to write before reading Henry but at the same time I think it may be a mirage for me because I know I could never lead a life like his. Just try to find another writer like him. No one is more hilarious or full of Keat's truth and beauty. Only Whitman knows what Henry knows and from what I've read Whitman knew it for the very opposite reason Henry did. Whitman could write it but he couldn't do it. Henry is a kinda fullfillment to Whitman, a figurtive reincarnation, if you will. With Henry it's not about skill, it's about substance, a substance so strong you will think he has skill. Anyway, this is my homage to Henry. May he wake you from wide awake slumber!

>>By K W (Wednesday, 25 Jun 2003 06:22)

Henry Miller ! Has there ever been a writer more dedicated to the truth? Towards thinking for yourself and making your own decision ? The happiest man alive he called himself and I believe that is a testament to the power of self direction . His writing runs the gamut of the important things in life-Beauty , love , philosophy . The things which nourish the soul .
And no one mentioned Kerouac as the third of the triumvirate of the 'sick fucks' . Yeah they were all sick . Sick of the pap we are forcefed , sick of slaving for the gain of others , sick of the hypochrisy and mediocrity which pass for truth in these times . The progenitors of first person personal . All three should be sainted .Long live the books of the 'sick fucks' for without them we'd be stuck with the post modernists and those writing the literature of exhaustion . Cuz what hasnt been said before is what its like to be a thinking and feeling human being in these days of industial dehumanization . Wrong to read them with the same eyes? If you have eyes at all , or a heart or mind to go with them the world will never be the same again after you have read any of the three .

>>By goddog (Saturday, 17 Jan 2004 09:16)

'Stand Still Like the Hummingbird' is one of the most lucid books ever written.

>>By GrinningGin (Saturday, 24 Jan 2004 22:29)

Sick Fucks only reside in the minds of the people
who read. Writers, great writers, create emotion;
If all you care about is the
regurgitated feel good crap that's out on the market
today, then stick to Judith Krantz. Writers should
make you FEEL. Good ,bad, vile, disgusted,
uplifted, whatever. By facing these feelings,it
defines who you are. Love it, hate it, it doesn't
matter, just as long as you form an opinion. It made
you THINK. That's the whole point.

>>By Faun (Tuesday, 27 Jan 2004 12:26)

Henry Miller is one of the greatest writers/authors/artists ever, and one of the boldest too. And whatever has been said about him not being up to par as far as writing skill is concerned is excrement. He's incredible. What more could be said?

>>By Van Norden (Thursday, 26 Feb 2004 13:17)

hank was one of the most verbose lovers of cunt this world has ever seen. standing out in his arsenal of wisdom is his appreciation for the spiritual undertones present even in the mundane moments of life- eating, shitting, loafing- they are all included, all are holy.cunt is the temple and the diety enshrined within- all else is lifeless and dead matter unless it is appropriated for the worship of cunt. henry was no materialist- far from it- here was a person who valued experience over money and who put failure on par with sucess. in the end did he figure out the ultimate answers? did he gain the holy ascension ? is he even now pillaging virgins with krishnamurti on the altar of heaven? who the fuck knows! but i do know this- he sure as hell rattled the bars of his cage enough- what a racket!

>>By firehorse157 (Sunday, 3 Oct 2004 05:34)

can someone help me please ? I have read many of this guys books and love 'em . Where did he write that bit about 'fear' ? He was making a point about people being afraid to live , and part of his prose humourously listed a great long list of complaints mostly medcal, - both real & imagined .

>>By BIGE (Wednesday, 20 Oct 2004 14:25)

if anybody can help please EMail clements_eric@hotmail.com. Ta everso.

>>By BIGE (Wednesday, 20 Oct 2004 14:27)

To read Miller at his best, or most tepid, is like mixing equal measures of Speed, Wisdom, Objectivity, Self Awareness, Humor, Self Reflection, Hair Shirts, Be Bop, Compassion, Paisley
Harlequins, Perpetual Motion Tongues, and 3 Double Bourbons, mixing well then mainlining the mix after dropping 20 micrograms of lab cooked window pane LSD... Reading and getting your head around Miller moves great sex into second place. If you don't like and see the value and role of Henry to the literary realm and to civilized humanity, you ain't gonna have fun or find peace in
this life cycle. Sorry. Now go away and keep your grumpy, shallow water ass off the Ferris Wheel,
and far, far from the Carnival - we are trying to enjoy ourselves, and each other here!
And don't get pissed, just go away...

>>By rltr (Monday, 16 Jun 2014 04:20)

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