TROPIC OF CANCER: Amazon.ca: Henry Miller: Books

Product Description

From Amazon

No punches are pulled in Henry Miller's most famous work. Still pretty rough going for even our jaded sensibilities, but Tropic of Cancer is an unforgettable novel of self-confession. Maybe the most honest book ever written, this autobiographical fiction about Miller's life as an expatriate American in Paris was deemed obscene and banned from publication in this country for years. When you read this, you see immediately how much modern writers owe Miller. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Product Description

Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.

First Sentence
I am living at the Villa Borghese. Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

lolita(1)

nabokov(1)

nymphet(1)

vladimir nabokov(1)

aaron jennings(1)

book american psycho(1)

Customer Reviews

111 Reviews

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (111 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite books, May 22 2006

By

Garry W. (Vancouver) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tropic Of Cancer (Paperback)

Granted, this is not going to be everyone's cup-o-tea. The language is strong and the author is STILL ahead of his time, if you ask me, but TROPIC OF CANCER, and his TROPIC OF CAPRICORN are two must-read books. Yes, I did get a little tired of the "C" word bantered about every word or so, but after a while you get used to it. Would also recommend Jackson T. McCrae's KATZENJAMMER which is a little less strongly worded, but a great romp nevertheless.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Henry Miller wrote a lot of books, Feb 13 2006

By A Customer

This review is from: Tropic Of Cancer (Paperback)

Henry Miller wrote a lot of books ... but they are all essentially the same, about Henry.
Like all Miller's novels, the book contains some brilliant passages, but you'll have to slog through a lot ... a lot ... of self-absorbed ramblings before you get to them. But it's worth it just for the section of Van Norden's wanting to write something completely original, and Henry's missing of his wife. These sections are profound and true and wonderful and beautifully rendered. There's other good stuff, too, here and there.

Now, the dangerous part. Henry Miller made it fashionable to think you can be a bum/borderline sociopath, make fun of friends off of whom you live for your daily bread, avoid responsibilities and duties, and then publish self-indulgent ridicule about your dissolute lifestyle and derision of others and call it art. Fortunately, Henry was honest and talented enough at times to pull it off. And at times his writing raises to the levels of greatness. But he kicked off a school of writing that has been the destruction of more than one good writer.

Another novel written at the same time, and covering much of the same material (indulgent, pleasure-seeking expatriate meeting up with all levels of a society in crisis), is Giorgio Kostantinos's ' The Quest '. (It's like, hey, Henry, did you even notice that at the time you were muttering about blowing up the world, the country next door was electing a madman who would try to do just that.) The difference is Giorgio is a masterful writer and artist, and manages to artfully play off his self-absorption so that the reader isn't immersed in it, like in Henry Miller. Giorgio also has class and just abit better.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tropic of Cancer, May 16 2004

By

Nick Kennedy (Reading, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tropic Of Cancer (Paperback)

Since closing this book i have had a burning desire to travel to Paris...but not the modern day Paris; the 1930's Paris. Miller describes vividly the vibrant and jubilant Parisian atmosphere with it's incredible melange of aspiring artists, authors, whores, philosophers and down-and-out nobodies. Tropic of Cancer is also a fascinating intro-respective piece of literature as Miller reveals his own feelings towards the city and the many extraverted characters with whom he associates. Though miserable at times, largely due to his eternal struggle for food, Miller seems to adore this depraved, humble existance and does not allow his distressing financial situation to affect his rapturous spirits.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 111 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 197 reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Too much for my taste
I understand that this is a classic--ground breaking and all that, but the "C" word was bantered about too much, and while the prose was at times elegant, I simply got lost in the... Read more

Published on Dec 9 2007 by J. Kress

1.0 out of 5 stars This is one of the best??
Crude and Artless

Published on Feb 20 2006