tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post2515381180850535512..comments2023-12-30T17:31:11.883+00:00Comments on The Solitary Walker: Henry Miller: The Nature Of The MiraculousThe Solitary Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-37877710131971078312013-09-24T21:51:17.850+01:002013-09-24T21:51:17.850+01:00I recently reread some of Miller's essays in S...I recently reread some of Miller's essays in Stand still...when a translator friend asked me about them. I gave him an enthusiastic report. I hope that he will pass it on and have these essays translated into French by the publishing company he works for and if so, I will feel personally very proud to have had a part in this...dritanjehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16025213970107184429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-46417340053194184992013-09-20T17:20:28.456+01:002013-09-20T17:20:28.456+01:00I think that's the only book by Fowles I haven...I think that's the only book by Fowles I haven't read, DD. 'Mantissa' I found challenging, but the novels I devoured — 'The Collector' and 'The Magus' unputdownable, 'Daniel Martin' less so. His text to 'The Tree' from Aurum Press I also loved — it gave me an urgent desire to visit Dartmoor's Wistman's Wood. A desire I still haven't fulfilled...The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-80812661123690107882013-09-18T18:36:48.400+01:002013-09-18T18:36:48.400+01:00I've always liked Fowles. I can recommend his ...I've always liked Fowles. I can recommend his collection of aphorisms, The Aristos.Danish doghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08020527943859347043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-10488768253898952192013-09-17T19:57:39.313+01:002013-09-17T19:57:39.313+01:00Yes, I read the Isherwood too! And lots of Orwell....Yes, I read the Isherwood too! And lots of Orwell... who remains one of my literary heroes. That impressionable and intense time of your life lives vividly again in your mind, doesn't it, if you recall the books you were reading... And what about John Fowles and 'The Magus'? Funnily enough, I'm rereading the latter, and find it just as impressive (whereas other 'adolescent' books can often be disappointing if you return to them later in life).The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-47778105429903022672013-09-17T16:39:26.566+01:002013-09-17T16:39:26.566+01:00I can add Christopher Isherwood to that list. His...I can add Christopher Isherwood to that list. His two Berlin novels, along with Kerouac, and Orwell's Catalonia were the books that inspired my first vagabond trips around Europe in the early 80s. <br /><br />This is why it's so important that kids grow up loving books, they change your life for ever.Martinhttp://www.martinblack.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-59130610997027181902013-09-17T10:24:27.711+01:002013-09-17T10:24:27.711+01:00Thanks Rubye for your comments and Martin for your...Thanks Rubye for your comments and Martin for your extra comment.<br /><br />Yes, I also remember 'Fear of Flying', and I'd really like to read Jong's book about Miller. It was great she came to his defence after he received such a pounding from the feminist critics of the day. I remember too having to defend him (and Lawrence and Norman Mailer) as best I could before some ultra-feminist teachers in a German school where I was a Foreign language Assistant at the time. I came out of the debate scorched... but still alive! Not that I am anti-feminist in the slightest — I was very much pro-feminist and read de Beauvoir like the rest of us — but some of the extreme feminists hit on some male authors with a narrow-minded prejudice which was out of all proportion. It was as if, say with Lawrence, all they saw in his books was male sexual domination. Since then, of course, feminism calmed down to a more balanced view.<br /><br />I agree that books read between the ages of 15 and 25 can make a deep impression and have a lasting effect — even more than people. I was massively influenced by writers like Salinger, Hesse, Lawrence, Gide, Sartre, Miller, Kerouac and the Beats, Krishnamurti, Vonnegut, Duhamel, Kafka and others. The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-84883407993758241222013-09-17T04:43:52.168+01:002013-09-17T04:43:52.168+01:00"Fear of Flying" was one of my favorites..."Fear of Flying" was one of my favorites also. It's interesting how these books were so instrumental in helping to shape who I am today. For me, it was these books more than the people in my life.<br />I remember Jong talking about being more lonely in a relationship than when alone. Next thing I knew I was divorced. Ha. Rubye Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02511953177053448513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-73561653004625219772013-09-16T11:12:07.371+01:002013-09-16T11:12:07.371+01:00Eric Jong wrote a great book in defence of Henry M...Eric Jong wrote a great book in defence of Henry Miller called 'The Devil at Large', worth checking out if you can.<br /><br />Here's an article about Eric and Henry:<br /><br />http://goo.gl/wCAhvd<br /><br />Actually, Erica Jong's 'Fear of Flying' was another fav novel of my 20s, must read it again sometime.martinhttp://www.martinblack.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-27225595237132393902013-09-16T06:28:50.882+01:002013-09-16T06:28:50.882+01:00I've read everything of Miller's - except ...I've read everything of Miller's - except for this essay collection. I will find it tomorrow though because reading Miller for me is like having someone put all my thoughts and emotions into words I could never formulate for myself. He extends me way past my seeming limits. Same with Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, Kerouac.<br />Funny, I just started reading Kerouac's "The Town and the City" tonight. Loving it of course. :)Rubye Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02511953177053448513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-53007453216839827932013-09-16T05:36:06.223+01:002013-09-16T05:36:06.223+01:00Thanks for your visit, Martin and Am.
Am — Miller...Thanks for your visit, Martin and Am.<br /><br />Am — Miller's own favourite among his works was 'The Colossus of Maroussi'. Thanks for the links to his paintings. There are also two short essays on painting in 'Stand Still Like the Hummingbird': 'The Angel Is My Watermark' and 'An Open Letter to All and Sundry'. <br /><br />'The important thing which I learned, through making water colours, was not to worry, not to care too much. We don't have to turn out a masterpiece every day. To paint is the thing, not to make masterpieces. Even the Creator, when he made this perfect universe, had to learn not to care too much. Certainly when he created Man he gave himself a prolonged headache.' The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-83814696509443761732013-09-15T23:48:49.198+01:002013-09-15T23:48:49.198+01:00I haven't read many of Henry Miller's book...I haven't read many of Henry Miller's books -- only The Colossus of Maroussi, The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder, and Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymous Bosch, and a tiny book with what I remember as something poetic illustrated with line drawings which was given to me by my mother long ago -- but I am fond of his painting and drawings:<br /><br />http://www.henrymiller.info/gallery/henrymiller.php<br /><br />http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/press/releases/2001/nr_portraits.html<br /><br />http://www.art-of-the-day.info/a06225-writers-drawings-the-collection-of-pierre-and-franca-belfond.html<br /><br />and his three essays on painting, "Paint as You Like and Die Happy," "To Paint Is to Love Again," "The Painting Lesson," and "The Waters Reglitterized."<br /><br />In 1960, Henry Miller wrote "to paint is to love again and to love is to live to the fullest."<br /><br />I've visited the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur. A splendid place:<br /><br />http://www.henrymiller.org/about/henry-miller-memorial-library/amhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09212213177713917828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-11123370672455272212013-09-15T22:24:20.412+01:002013-09-15T22:24:20.412+01:00Hah, we read the same books in our 20! The time i...Hah, we read the same books in our 20! The time is so right for the Henry Miller revival. Martinhttp://www.martinblack.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-56837032820760970382013-09-15T19:31:05.962+01:002013-09-15T19:31:05.962+01:00Well, George, such enthusiastic praise, and so won...Well, George, such enthusiastic praise, and so wonderfully expressed, I can add no more except to say: thank you, and I agree with every word you say!The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-34296665850780659912013-09-15T15:41:58.111+01:002013-09-15T15:41:58.111+01:00As you know, Robert, I cherish almost everything M...As you know, Robert, I cherish almost everything Miller ever wrote, the overwrought as much as the trenchant. In every respect, he was — and remains — a liberator. His writing continues to inspire me. When I am depressed over the general condition of the world or my own life, I can usually find more relief in a Miller essay than anything else I can imagine. From a religious or philosophical standpoint, he had a greater understanding of true Christianity than the majority of those who claim this badge of faith. He understood the roots of Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Confucianism, the Perennial Philosophy — and he knew that beneath all of these manufactured divisions, there was a call to abandon our illusions and wake up to the fullness of life, with all its myriad and diverse experiences, the tragic no less than the glorious. <br /><br />Lest I let my enthusiasm run completely away, I will simply thank you for this excellent post. Your own description of Miller is spot on. Let us all live in accordance with Miller's lifelong motto: "Always merry and bright."Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03959953035812596907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-37739448501856632702013-09-15T14:33:39.027+01:002013-09-15T14:33:39.027+01:00I've altered the post slightly to reflect this...I've altered the post slightly to reflect this greater accuracy, DD...<br /><br /><br />... and Nick, some of his writing may be considered 'self-conscious', whatever that really means, and I'm not too sure — perhaps an example is the essay 'Money and How It Gets That Way' in 'Stand Still Like the Hummingbird' — but most of his stuff seems to have poured out of him in a rather Lawrentian way (though artistically and rhetorically crafted, it goes without saying). I loved him as soon as I started to read him, and that was that. Yes, he relishes the shock value, and, yes, he could play the manipulative artist role at times. But his enthusiasm is irresistible to me, and his 'worldly mysticism' never more relevant than now. And I would stick by 'childlike' rather than 'childish'. The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-72286927702986570472013-09-15T14:15:19.929+01:002013-09-15T14:15:19.929+01:00Yes, casting my mind back more accurately, I was c...Yes, casting my mind back more accurately, I was certainly reading Hesse, Dosteyevsky, Lawrence, Krishnamurti and other Miller heroes in my late teens and early twenties, and came to Miller himself a few years later. So it would be more accurate to say that he reignited my passion for these revolutionary writers, plus pointing me towards new ones, such as Jean Giono. (Interestingly, I've got around to Giono only recently. 'The Man Who Planted Trees' is a short but brilliant masterpiece.)The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-1120828198403341722013-09-15T14:14:33.413+01:002013-09-15T14:14:33.413+01:00An interesting view. I can't say I share your ...An interesting view. I can't say I share your enthusiasm for Mr Miller. His writing is too self-conscious for my taste, and his 'relishing the doom' is a little too childish (as opposed to childlike) for me. But he undeniably has power as a writer, as evidenced by the influence he has apparently had on so many people, including - evidently - you.Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16112462990202280587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-86641185427224851392013-09-15T11:51:52.366+01:002013-09-15T11:51:52.366+01:00I was 21 when I sat up one night to read Henry Mil...I was 21 when I sat up one night to read Henry Miller's collection of essays The Cosmological Eye (1939).<br /> <br />Although I'd already read and enjoyed loads of Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Lawrence, Hesse et al. - and yes On the Road too - it was this book that really spoke to my anarchic artist within.Danish doghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08020527943859347043noreply@blogger.com