Tropic of Cancer

By: Henry Miller

Narrated by: Campbell Scott

Length: 10 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Now hailed as an American classic, Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller's masterpiece, was banned as obscene in this country for 27 years after its first publication in Paris in 1943. Only a historic court ruling that changed American censorship standards, ushering in a new era of freedom and frankness in modern literature, permitted the publication of this first volume of Miller's famed mixture of memoir and fiction, which chronicles with unapologetic gusto, the bawdy adventures of a young expatriate writer, his friends, and the characters they meet in Paris in the 1930s. Tropic of Cancer is now considered, as Norman Mailer said, "one of the 10 or 20 great novels of our century".

©1961 Grove Press, Inc. (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

outstanding outstanding outstanding

What an incredible book! Henry Miller was brilliant. His mixture of filth and fantasy was perfect. I'll never be the same. I recommend this 100%.

Profane but compelling

Much has been written about Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller's semi-autobiographical novel, documenting his time as a struggling American writer in France. It is as vulgar, misogynistic and racist as imagined. It is also extremely engaging and beautifully written.

Moving to Paris in 1930 after the lesbian lover of his second wife died and having left his wife in New York, he lived the life of the quintessential starving writer in Paris for a year before being hired by the Paris bureau of the Chicago Tribune as a proofreader. His lecherous, hard partying life with fellow Ex-pats served as much of the framework of Tropic of Cancer. Greatly Inspired by James Joyce, he employed a stream of consciousness style. But he carried it to a new level, unabashedly and in great detail recounting the highly charged sexual lifestyle into which he wallowed while in France. His writing style and persona attracted the attention of French-Cuban-American writer and essayist Anais Min, who along with her husband Hugh Guiler, provided much of the funding for Miller's Paris decade.

As well as becoming one of his countless sexual partners, she was also his editor and arranged for Tropic of Cancer to be published in France in 1934. It was immediately branded as pornographic and banned from importation into the United States by the Customs Service. This ban stood for 30 years and numerous legal challenges, inevitably becoming a landmark 1964 Supreme Court case that determined it was not pornographic. This allowed legal importation, though countless tens of thousands of copies had been smuggled into American throughout the decades.

Having recently endured a couple of novels by D.H. Lawrence as part of the Modern Library's Top 100 books of the 20th Century, it was refreshing to have Tropic of Cancer come up on my list. Personally, I found Lawrence more annoying rather than titillating. In Miller, his brand of literary sexuality, though more pointed and brutal, also felt more honest. Candor, as well as captivating prose, elevates Miller head and shoulder above Lawrence.

Tropic of Capricorn will be coming up on my list soon.

Oh Henry

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Too bad all of Henry Millers books are not audiobooks. Definitely one of the best writers I have come in contact with. Although there are massive ramblings, there are also very focused rants that hit a cord.

What does Campbell Scott bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Campbell is a good reader but I thought he could have been a bit scruffier to match the drunken nature of the character.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, there is too much to think about, I actually wanted to roll back the audio and revisit passages; not so easy in audio format.

Any additional comments?

I read this in book format years ago and this audio version really intrigued me to go back and read all of the Henry Miller books again.

Awesome

This is the same narrator for many audiobooks I've purchased. Initially, his voice sounds very monotone and boring but after a while it flows. I think this one is very well done. I tried to read this book several times in my life, but the audiobook makes it much easier to digest, listening to it 30 minutes here... 30 minutes there. on the way to work, while going to bed, etc. Great book.

Joyce-Like with desperation instead of magic

This has much of the feel of James Joyce, but lacks a magic I always get from Joyce. Here the character expresses a desire to unmake modern capitalistic society, but has no idea what to do instead. The book is permeated with an unstated fear of death, and worse, complete non-existence. There is a lot of crude language (mostly C#&T, but a lot of S#&T and F#&K), which many may find crude and uninteresting, if not offensive.

Some reviews seem to think this is a book is a celebration of life, instead it seemed to me a desperate striving for somethinness as the alternative is too fearful to consider. Others (including the protagonist) believe this is expressing the true essence of actual life. I get that essence from Joyce and Whitman but here the striving and the crudeness and the isolation and the immorality, seemed only a mask for fear. Fear is a reality, but it is not the only reality. I suppose that is the fundamental weakness I found in this novel, it was not multidimensional. Joyce and Whitman are frank, and sometimes dark, yet wonderfully multidimensional.

While I would recommend any Joyce and novels like A Clockwork Orange to my (adult) daughter or my wife, I would not recommend this one. I am quite glad I read it, and understand why it is considered important (particularly for the time) but I don't think reading it improved me or my life.

The narration was excellent expressing the dry striving of the protagonist.

A truly frank depiction of his times

The think I have to appreciate about this book is that it tells a really honest picture of the world in the time it was written. Literature (at least in the English-speaking world) up to this time had generally circumscribed certain areas of life from being openly depicted. I suppose it's debatable whether Miller qualifies as literature. I often felt like he was merely publishing his personal journal, though whether many people were that frank even in their own journals is up for question. The point is that our impressions of those times are colored by the literature that has come down to us, and gets reinforced by the films made about those times. Miller reminds us that people then were pretty much like people now. I'd like to quote what he said in the movie Reds about that but I'm pretty sure that would violate community standards at Audible.com. Clearly, the grungy part of the world Miller inhabited at that time was not the whole world, but it was there and he documented it. I also have to appreciate that he never attempted to justify his lifestyle. He simply wrote it down and left it to other people to decide if it was worth reading. Regardless of your opinion of him or his books, there is no denying he brings a vivid energy to the page you will not find in most other authors. One other thing I have to comment on is that in this book, as in a number of other novels from that era, the real story is only vaguely alluded to and only becomes clear at the end. Those who are distracted by the narrator's language and exploits are likely to miss the point. Whether the point is worth being dragged through Paris's demimonde is up to the reader to decide.

perfect for our current time

Hunter S Thompson, thanks to you and Henry Miller and Bukowskis for enlightening the public about the degenerates that hold the world together.

Cutting Edge for 1930's!!

this isn't a book nor a regular or typical autobiography that one is used to. This is encounters of Henry Millers life which he has written down when he exiled himself from the state and moved to London or the UK whichever way.
The interesting facts about the book - was even through the high statistic rate of STDs, in specific, syphilis ... they were still very, very much promiscuous in that time - in that part of the world.
It definitely opens your eyes to the variances of sexual aptitude, characters and achievements, not just only of himself but what he notices from the people he has encountered and befriended through the years which in itself is interesting. As it is however interesting, it is also kind of boring to a degree.
If you're looking to understand a little more of sex in history that comes from the states into the UK and Back Again this is a great start but you really have to want to listen to it or be curious enough to make it through the whole book. The language is vulgar in this context but perfect for the book and a view of the slang and the thought process of male to women - women to male points of views of the time.
My most favorite part is when he talks about going to a brothel with an Indian man and .....
Well if you listen to it.... you'll know what happens!! Very funny moment!

A book full of great quotes

I wasn't sure what to expect of this book, but in listening a great courses book it was mentioned as a classic. Never able to read as a kid, the mention of classic means to me I need to find the audio book and listen. It is, to my mind, an interior conversation with all the words a person may not use with others. The author's conversation is amazing - poetic, but as with any audio book the narrator either brings the author's writing to life or not. Campell Scott is incredible and the experience of a genius author with a brilliant narrator makes this a book I will listen to again.

masterpiece

Henry has accomplished a true work of art..the honest genius and frankness is a breath of fresh air when compared to those whom tow the line of PC..