Tropic of Cancer (1934)

Listening in audio and only on disc 2 of 10 so far. I really can't stand this book! Torn on whether I should finish it (allows me to cross this off the 1001 list and there must be some reason why people like this book) or spend my time doing something less painful ... like income taxes. Yikes - so tempting to skip a few tracks...

I decided not to finish this. In general I don't like these 'train of thought' meandering books and this author seems to be incredibly conceited and hates women. After I deleted this off my ipod I noticed that it's on many other lists of 'must read books'. I might pick it up later when I feel particularly masochistic...

I hated this book so fucking much. It's like A Moveable Feast -- told in the first-person, published 1932, a Usan male writer in Paris -- and unlike A Moveable Feast in that the narrator and the book have no claim to any merit whatsoever. He is not interesting in any way; in fact, he's hateful. He likes his sexual partners compliant and varied (like Hemingway); unlike Hemingway, he does not recognize, let alone appreciate, them as people, but instead refers to them only by the only attribute that matters to him, their sexual organs. Well, he might prefer the wealthy ones, because then he can satisfy his stomach as well as his penis. He is anti-semitic, homophobic, misogynistic, and lazy, and he contributes absolutely nothing to literary, social, or cultural thinking or to Franco-American relations. No insight into writing practice, no appreciation of others' writing, not even any porn. What a waste of space (him) and time (mine).

Yes, I read this just to mark it off a list. Next up, goddamn Henry James, whom I find tedious but not despicable.

Just to clarify, it is not the worst book I ever read, only the most worthless. Faux Jane Austen from vanity presses is often worse on many scales and but not worthless because amusing. Pudgy, a Puppy to Love was bad, bad, bad, but the kids I read it to didn't seem to mind, so it wasn't worthless. But I won't be reading Tropic of Capricorn any time soon

Expatriates. Yaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwn. ( )

Here a cunt, there a cunt, everywhere a cunt cunt

""Art consists in going the full length. If you start with the drums you have to end with dynamite."

But if you begin with masturbation, you don't necessarily end with sex.

Here's a guy who exemplifies the stream-of-consciousness mode of writing; he joins in the most-modern movement and he refuses to let anything be too dirty for him to explain - one time I heard someone ask of Star Wars, "But when does anyone go to the bathroom?" Here is a novel that covers when people go to the bathroom. I appreciate what he's doing. Unfortunately he does it very badly.

There are books you have to read at a certain age. There are others that are ageless, and those are better. This should be read when you're young and stupid. Are you young and stupid now? Read this and hate me. Are you older? Then don't.

It's not a very good book. Neither is On The Road. Rebellion is wonderful, and there have been some great rebel books. This is bullshit. It's self-indulgent. It's not good writing. Fuck it all.

Read this years ago. Didn't see what all the fuss was about. ( )