The Books in My Life

by Henry Miller

Book Overview

Some writers attempt to conceal the literary influences which have shaped their thinking--but not Henry Miller. In The Books in My Life he shares the thrills of discovery that many kinds of books have brought to a keenly curious and questioning mind. Some of Miller's favorite writers are the giants whom most of us revere--authors such as Dostoeyvsky, Boccaccio, Walt Whitman, James Joyce, Thomas Mann, Lao-Tse. To them he brings fresh and penetrating...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811201082
• ISBN13: 9780811201087
• Release Date: January 1969
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Some Great Thoughts on Life and Lit.

I find some of Henry Miller's books to be wonderful and some to be mediocre or downright boring ("Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch," for instance). This book, however, certainly ranks among the wonderful. Any bibliophile or Henry Miller fan (as I am) will find here a treasure of insight relating to books and Henry Miller and other important things. All of Miller's books are essentially about himself and his experience of life, and this one is no exception. As he states in the preface: "The purpose of this book...is to round out the story of my life. It deals with books as a vital experience." Miller seeks to revive the meaning of books which inspired him and his development as a writer. He goes back to his childhood and talks about his experiences with the Greek plays, "Robinson Crusoe," Rider Haggard, G.A. Henty, and to his youth and Paris years with his reading of Nietzsche, Doestoievsky, Whitman, Balzac, Celine, Cendrars, Rimbaud, Rabelais and others. He dedicates a chapter each to his two French contemporaries, Cendrars and Giono. Blaise Cendrars (born Frederic Sauser) is one of his great literary heros, a man who wrote tons of books of virile autobiographical prose (and poetry, unlike Miller) but seems still rather unknown. Jean Giono lived his whole life in the French provinces, was a pacifist, and wrote on themes concerning nature and humanity. Like Miller, he was only concerned with "la gloire d'etre vivant".Two other chapters are dedicated to Krishnamurti and Rider Haggard. The chapter on Krishnamurti reveals somewhat Miller's penchant towards the mystical and themes of emancipation and liberation. In the chapter on Rider Haggard Miller expresses the enthusiam and wonder he felt reading Haggard's mystical tale "She" as a boy. He then goes on to "speak of certain revelations concerning my own character and identity which are connected to it." Here Miller questions himself, "why the emphasis, in my works, on crude repetitious experience of life?" and associates Haggard's fictional heroine, Ayesha, with Miller's first wife and inspiration, June: "How very much there was of 'She' in 'Her'...Why, do we not sometimes ask ourselves, why the fatidical beauty in the great heroines of love throughout the ages? Why do they seem so logically and naturally surrounded by death, bolstered by crime, nourished by evil?".Miller also has much to say on philosophy, art, education, and simply on "how to read and why," to use the title of one of literary critic Harold Bloom's books. On at least one important point, though I suspect on very many points (including the whole idea of Bloom's "The Western Canon"), Miller would take issue with Bloom and his type; he writes: "And this leads me to say how woefully mistaken are those who believe that certain books, because they are universally acknowledged as 'masterpieces,' are the books which alone have power to inspire and nourish us. Every lover of books can name dozens of titles which

One Of My All-Time Favorite Books!

This wonderful book has had a tremendous impact on my reading and on my life, mainly because of the list Henry put at the end almost as an afterthought: "The Hundred Books That Influenced Me Most". I have been slowly buying and reading these books, many of which I had never heard of (and/or never heard of the authors). In every single instance, they have been remarkable, incredible, mind-blowing, life-changing, and stupendous. The book itself is great fun, and written with Miller's usual masterful command of language, however I must caution prudes to stay away. His storytelling muse it at the height of its powers here, as he recounts his encounters with books, authors, bookshops and women, not necessarily in that order. It is compelling to hear of how Miller's love affair with books began, gained momentum and turned into a lifelong obsession. I recommend this book to you with the greatest possible enthusiasm. Have fun with it!

Literary nurturing of a genius

Henry Miller may be the greatest American writer of the Twentieth Century. But there is always the question of who bore influence the genius. How many of us want to learn about the work that shaped the mind of the genius writer. Well, to find out, read this book. It will give you a great feel for where Miller was coming from. It touches on Millers entire reading career. You come away with an idea of how this literary genius came to develop and grow. This book is a phenomenal resource for anyone interested in literature and occult and religious writing. I have used this book as a remarkable resource for my own personal literary education. I have spent many hours in bookstores all over America looking for titles that Mr. Miller recommended in this book. I discovered Jean Giono and Blaise Cendrars and Madame Helena Blavatsky through this book. I also learned to put aside literary snobbism and enjoy the boy books by writers like H. Rider Haggard and G.K. Chesterton. Through Miller, I learned about obscure writers like Marie Corelli and John Cowper Powys. I read adventure books like The Unveiling of Timbuctoo. This book is a primer for anyone interested in literature of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. I would recommend this book for dedicated Millerites and literary-minded persons of all persuasions. Miller gave the world a wonderful gift in this book. If you are interested in literature then buy this book and begin the search for yourself.

A brilliant idea & a literary gem!

Have you ever wanted to sit down with one of your favorite authors and gab about books? While most of us can't do this, fans of Henry Miller do have this innovative work as a substitute. In it, Miller lists his favorite authors & books, then expounds on various authors, subjects & points in his reading life. Blaise Cendrars, Jean Giono, Krishnamurti, reading while in the john & more get their own chapters. Miller wanted to write more editions, including a list of over 50,000 titles he has read, but never got the chance to do so. That's okay. I'm very grateful for having this work available!

Reading The Books In My Life is like seeing a man made.

THE BOOKS IN MY LIFE is simply outstanding. Reading it was like glimpsing the making of a man. I own another book of Miller's in which he wrote an essay about, and entitled, ON TURNING 80. This was a work by the end product, Henry Miller, the man reflecting on life. He was a very different man than the cocky, young, expatriate who wrote TROPIC OF CANCER. Both of these Henry Millers wrote beautiful and insightful prose. The thing that is so unique about THE BOOKS IN MY LIFE is that the reader is allowed to see the influences that were involved in the shaping of the man. Hearing him speak of the books he read as a child, SHE and AYESHA and ROBINSON CRUSOE, conjure the very essence of childhood. Miller was nurtured by these books and when he became a man and read Celine and Dostoievsky and Walt Whitman, he continued to be nurtured and subsequently, to grow. Miller was brilliant because when he wrote about a subject, he touched it. He knew how to truly make contact with it. THE BOOKS IN MY LIFE, like everything he ever wrote, I think, is extraordinary