Starter med et Forord til HISTORIA CALAMITATUM (Mine trængslers historie) af Pierre Abélard. Overskriften "På den ovariske sportvogn". Valeska, Mara, fortælleren og hans kone. ???
Side 148: Mellemspil.Side 173 Stenbukken
??? ( )

Just that Sudden involuntary life, whether real or imaginary it didn't matter, gave me hope, gave me courage to keep the still round eye riveted on the spot (185) sometimes one comes across thought provoking passages such as this which make the reading of the book more rewarding but at other times the dreary existence of life that is supposed to be ugly and challenging just spiels on ( )

CLUB BRUGUERA

In certain respects this work supersedes that of Cancer. If Cancer is a work that revolves around fluids, around the Seine, around piss, spermatozoa etc. then Capricorn is one of solids. In Brooklyn we find ourselves forced to go toward the spiritual Land of Fuck, in the Southern States we are forced to contend with arid landscapes and racial tensions so tense that they could kill a man through a mere gaze.

The best way to describe the work is to highlight Miller’s own self described evolution from skater to swimmer to rock. Having broken through the futility of Dante’s ice, Miller quits the skating shtick and joyfully dives in to the freshly thawed oceans, before realising that one must become immutable at the very depths of the ocean. One must paradoxically be bone dry surrounded by the sea, a lighthouse that stands strong against the ensuing waves.

So yeah, this shit was pretty fucking good. Especially loved whenever he brought up Dostoevsky, Bergson or Nietzsche, it’s fun to see what he reads into them. ( )

A stream of narrative instead of stream of consciousness. It doesn't work for me. I found it tedious and self-absorbed instead of insightful. His writing is often trite instead of clever. No doubt his sexual episodes were revolutionary at the time. Now they seem routine and misogynistic; even reminiscent of the ravings of Trump. ( )

8432222143

I liked Tropic of the Cancer better. This one started out well and end well, just the middle got a little overwhelming for me. There is no plot with this book at all, just the middle part he started talking about all these various women he's had sex with and it was something I really didn't care about. The beginning and the end however have a ton of inspiring quotes and material though. You get more of Miller's philosophy in this book.

Unlike Cancer, Capricorn is set in New York City rather than Paris. Both books however focus on his inner thoughts towards various topics. These books are usually classified as erotica and yes the sex and langue can get very offensive. However, if you look at the soul of the book rather then the skin you will see why so many people, like me, have fallen in love with Miller's prose. This man could right some badass prose!

If you ever do decided to read Miller's Tropics (that is if you don't mind colorful offensive slang and graphic sex scenes) I suggest you read Cancer first. There really isn't an order to these books and you can read either one first, but makes more sense if you read them in order he published them. I rally like Miller's style, but he's definitely an acquired taste. ( )

8481301272

Henry Miller just tells it in a way you sense and feel about life like no other can. ( )

Si con «Trópico de Cáncer» Henry Miller se hizo un nombre, con «Trópico de Capricornio» consiguió un mayor logro narrativo, mas maduro y mejor estructurado, a partir de una creación ambiciosa que supone mucho mas que un desahogo personal.En «Trópico de Capricornio» encontramos la teoría y la practica de una escritura que emprende la ruta del «antiarte» con una hostilidad declarada hacia los conceptos tradicionales de belleza, orden y claridad.

Tras la fama que le reportó Trópico de Cáncer (1934), Henry Miller confirmó la valía de su propuesta literaria con esta novela, que le situó definitivamente entre las voces más recias y profundas del siglo XX.

Las experiencias sexuales, laborales y familiares de un empleado de la Western Union sirven de hilo conductor a una ficción autobiográfica de la que surge con una inusitada fuerza la crítica mirada de Miller hacia el mundo y los hombres que le rodean, sus disquisiciones filosóficas y su poderoso canto a la individualidad. Miller dio un paso realmente importante en la evolución de la literatura con su personal modo de enfocar el arte narrativo.

I had high hopes after the amazing experience of Tropic of Cancer, but while this book had flashes of brilliance, it also had long, rambling, pointless passages devoid of plot, setting, or character that were difficult to slog through. Tropic of Cancer also had a rambling structure, but it was grounded by the fact that it rambled from scene to scene. There was a sense of immediacy and place that's almost completely lacking from Tropic of Capricorn. There are still plenty of thought provoking sections, but I don't think my life would have been any poorer if I'd never read this. ( )

Yes, yes, I know; this is a classic, one of the 1001 books to read before you die, Henry Miller is a genius blah blah blah. But, my God, this was dull!! Either I'm just not intellectual enough to 'get' Miller (though I enjoyed Tropic of Cancer), or the people who pronounced this a classic wanted to be perceived as intellectuals.

Tropic of Capricorn starts off well. Miller comes across as a strangely self-aware narcissist, full of himself but also aware of his own shortcomings. He considers himself well-liked in his circles, though the character as written is, to me, wholly unlikeable. But the stories he tells, and the way he tells them, are good. The tales of his life at Western Union make for interesting, sometimes humorous, sometimes shocking, reading.

But halfway through, we move from the autobiographical tone to abstract, stream-of-consciousness stuff, which I have to say, I found thoroughly dull. It's like he's run out of interesting things to say about his life so thought he'd pad out the book with the contents of his alcohol-fuelled dreams. Some may find that style of writing a good read. But it's not for me.

So, having read both Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, my experience of Henry Miller is now at an end. ( )

CX 14

Desmesurado, torrencial, Trópico de Capricornio sigue «estando donde estaba»: entre las cumbres literarias de un tiempo excepcionalmente rico en libros y autores de primer orden. La vitalidad sincera y brutal de Henry Miller no repara en obstáculos; los tabúes y las convenciones se hacen añicos bajo el alud irresistible que estas páginas precipitan sobre el lector. A medio camino entre la autobiografía y la mitomanía, entre la invención desbocada y los hechos reales. Trópico de Capricornio fue un escándalo en su época. Tal vez no lo sea ya; en cambio, conserva intacta la virtud de indignar, de conmover, e incluso de divertir, en un grado que pocos autores han podido jamás transmitir a sus obras. Y es que, según dice el propio Miller, «cuando el sexo ríe, un terremoto sacude el mundo, estremece el edificio de la Bolsa, y derrumba sin remisión los templos».

Honest, Straight Forward and Profound... All at once! ( )

Classic Miller-his early life in new york before arriving in paris. ( )

There were parts of Henry Miller's "Tropic of Capricorn" that were absolutely brilliant (such as his detailed description of his days working for a telegram company) and parts that were extremely disturbing (particularly the rape of an Egyptian woman that Miller gleefully recalls as a great time.)

In this novel, Miller basically sets out to describe his early sexual escapades and his disillusionment with his marriage and American values, which eventually pushes him to become an ex-pat in Paris.

I can definitely see the influence this book had on other writers (especially in the Beatnik circle,) but it was a struggle to read as Miller treats nearly everyone in his world like garbage. I definitely thought "Tropic of Cancer" was the better novel of the pair. ( )

a bunch of dog vomit ( )

At the age of 23, this book was life-changing. I went on to read most of Miller's other books. He is not a sympathetic character, but what an amazing story-teller! ( )

Following on from recently finishing Tropic of Cancer, Mrs Arukiyomi picked this one out for me. I thought I was in for the same rollocking ride that Miller took me on through the streets of Paris and was looking forward to more of the same.

Things started out with promise as we encounter Miller (not necessarily the author) at his desk in the Dickensianly dysfunctional Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company. His job is in the HR department which stands less for Human Resources than it does for Hell Released. Before him traipses the last dregs of humanity none of whom, because of quotas, he can turn away and none of whom are in any way hire-worthy. This was thoroughly entertaining.

But as you see Miller languishing in the banality of a wife and kid life, kicking against the goads, you know that it’s only a matter of time until he leaps from domestic frying pan into immoral fire. Such is the case.

It thus begins with the same celebratory tirade for and against the human condition that marks out Cancer as such a groundbreaking work, and I was quite enjoying it until about halfway through where he abandoned form at the same rate that he adopted fornication.

From hereon out to the end, the reader is left to make what sense he can of writing that is, at times, entirely formless and nonsensical and yet continuously punctuated by sex – the incongruous literary lovechild of James Joyce and Leslie Thomas.

Although this definitely disappointed me, I think it’s the only logical way that Miller could have ended this pair of novels. After all, he started out, prior to Cancer by telling a friend, “I start tomorrow on the Paris book: First person, uncensored, formless – fuck everything!” If he didn’t quite achieve that with the first novel, he certainly did with Capricorn, but it’s not an achievement that did much for me. ( )

To be concise: A man who was abused in various ways in childhood objectifies women and can't find real fulfillment or lasting happiness, so he recommends either thwarting the system by taking advantage of other people's use of the system, or by killing one's self.

I do sympathize with being stuck in an unethical system over which one has no control, but find his solutions to be both hypocritical and unacceptable. ( )

10 out of 5 scale rating :) ( )

This book went from a sexual romp to mental masturbation. Very self-indulgent. I didn't care about Henry Miller before I read this and now I care even less. If everyone had his philosophy, the world would devolve into total anarchy. He simply didn't care about anyone or anything but himself and how he could manipulate those around him to get what he wanted. What a pig. ( )

Includes the most interesting autobiographic details of Henry Miller’s becoming a writer. From his period as a staff executive at Western Union Telegraph Company to the years in Paris. In the sixties, when I learned the book trade, this title was under lock and key because of its explicit sexual language. In a place called “Schweinkram-Vitrine” (smut cabinet). Today, beyond the many sophisticated perversions described in contemporaneous literature, Henry Miller’s protagonists making love appear somehow stuffy and greatly normal.