Harper Perennial Modern Classics - Tropic of Cancer
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Product Description
Review
‘A ranting, randy book carried along by a deep, sensual enjoyment of living.’ Sunday Times
‘Tropic of Cancer is a great prophetic book, a warning of what deadens life, an affirmation that it can yet be lived in an age whose sterile non-cultures seek to thwart all mainsprings of fertility. Miller reveals himself as a battered faun, a crafty innocent, a lonely, lazy, sometimes fearful, always steadfast, worshipper of life’
Spectator
Product Description
Miller’s groundbreaking first novel, banned in Britain for almost thirty years, now reinvigorated in a new Harper Perennial Modern Classics edition.
A penniless and as yet unpublished writer, Henry Miller arrived in Paris in 1930. Leaving behind a disintegrating marriage and an unhappy career in America, he threw himself into the low-life of bohemian Paris with unwavering gusto. A fictional account of Miller’s adventures amongst the prostitutes and pimps, the penniless painters and writers of Montparnasse, Tropic of Cancer is an extravagant and rhapsodic hymn to a world of unrivalled eroticism and freedom.
Tropic of Cancer’s 1934 publication in France was hailed by Samuel Beckett as ‘a momentous event in the history of modern writing’. The novel was subsequently banned in the UK and the USA and not released for publication for a further thirty years.
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First Sentence
I am living at the Villa Borghese. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
I am living at the Villa Borghese. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Henry Miller's most famous book-one presumes- is a sort of autobiography. The plot (if indeed the book has a plot) tells of the life of a destitute writer and his hungry and marginal existence in post World War One Paris. Notorious for being banned upon publication back in 1934 the book has acquired (and retained) its cult status among several generations of readers. The book is most commonly read as some sort of erotic classic: certainly, the book abounds with graphic descriptions of all manner of sexual encounters but the book is also a fine vehicle for Mr Miller's prose style which- nearly eighty years on-I greatly enjoyed. Miller is clearly much more than a mere pornographer and he was obviously influential upon many later American writers (Jack Kerouac, perhaps).
It is worth noting that George Orwell was a huge fan of this book going so far as to call it 'one of the most important books of the 1930s' and certainly it is not difficult to see parallels with this book and many passages in Orwell's own 'Paris and London' in that both books deal with the lives of the destitute and penniless. Miller also appears to share Orwell's love of ironic detail such as the episode where a pious young Hindu- sent Europe with funds to spread the message of Gandhi- uses the money to run amok in a whorehouse!
Certainly since the so called 'sexual revolution' of the 1960s it is possible to read this book as some sort of herald of more enlightened attitudes towards sexuality. To some extent it is. Miller writes with a frankness that even many modern writers would think twice about. However, it would be interesting to read a good feminist analysis of this book as so much of its content is about what men do to (often powerless) women such as Elsa, the repeatedly seduced German maid. The book is often described as being a sort of 'ode to sexual freedom' but is seems to be a freedom bought almost entirely at the expense of women. Maybe the book should be read in conjunction with some Andrea Dworkin or even something by Miller's own lover Anais Nin to balance things out. In summary, this book is something of a shibboleth. Definitely something for both men and women to discuss.
It is worth noting that George Orwell was a huge fan of this book going so far as to call it 'one of the most important books of the 1930s' and certainly it is not difficult to see parallels with this book and many passages in Orwell's own 'Paris and London' in that both books deal with the lives of the destitute and penniless. Miller also appears to share Orwell's love of ironic detail such as the episode where a pious young Hindu- sent Europe with funds to spread the message of Gandhi- uses the money to run amok in a whorehouse!
Certainly since the so called 'sexual revolution' of the 1960s it is possible to read this book as some sort of herald of more enlightened attitudes towards sexuality. To some extent it is. Miller writes with a frankness that even many modern writers would think twice about. However, it would be interesting to read a good feminist analysis of this book as so much of its content is about what men do to (often powerless) women such as Elsa, the repeatedly seduced German maid. The book is often described as being a sort of 'ode to sexual freedom' but is seems to be a freedom bought almost entirely at the expense of women. Maybe the book should be read in conjunction with some Andrea Dworkin or even something by Miller's own lover Anais Nin to balance things out. In summary, this book is something of a shibboleth. Definitely something for both men and women to discuss.
40 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an amazing book. If you're young, confused, full of energy yet not sure how to use it or express yourself, this book is a bible. Miller shows how the essential core of human self-belief can guide you through any adversity. Self-awareness, love of life and acceptance of the fact that anything is possible with sheer faith are at the heart of this book; on the surface is an intensely funny and readable picaresque odyssey full of earth and sex. You can read it and re-read it and it will always make you feel that life is worth it.
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
the first henry miller book i read and still the best (mind you i've only managed three so far). to put it lightly, he was a very intense chap. you get the feeling he wrote it all as fast as he could. it's about when he lived in paris, the friends he made, the hunger he experienced and the near-endless stream of whores he dipped into. it's brilliant because he's so passionate, dark but funny in places. like nothing i'd ever read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very Bohemian, Very Honest and Very Different From Anything Else!
This book is like nothing I have ever read. It isn't an easy read that's for sure and it's a very uneven piece of literature yet there is something rugged about it that makes it... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Nathan Strange
A Song for us All
Miller takes the rag and bone shop of the human heart and makes music out of it. His prose is deceptively simple or rhapsodically elevated. Read more
Published 18 months ago by dylanT
I seem to have missed something
The Tropic of Cancer is often described as shocking, it might well be, but to be frank I did not get far enough to find out. Read more
Published 21 months ago by flapdoodle dame
some great writing here
Tropic of Cancer is a fictionalised (though pretty biographical) account of Henry Miller's stay in Paris in the 1930's and his frequenting of prostitutes, drifting through the... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr. Robert Marsland
Love or Hate
I have often heard it commented that Miller is an author you'll either love or hate... Tropic of Cancer is gritty, sometimes crude, but always honest. Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2001
Sexually provocative,not one for the prudes
Some of the most descriptive writing that I have ever had the privilege to read. An extremely erotic look at human sexuality with no holds barred. Read more
Published on 24 Sep 1999
on the root of rebirth
It was so painfull and yet neccecery to get to this book. Like blood coming out of your mouth and reading it still. Blood was on the papers of this book and Mr. Read more
Published on 24 Oct 1998
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