Plexus

Blurber Norman Mailer opines that when Miller gets going, there's some great writing going on--which is true. It's also true that his famous verbosity is in full fruit here, and I found that reading this doorstop was often an unenviable chore. The plot, such as it is, concerns an aspiring novelist and his kooky wife and their attempts to live by their wits whilst circulating among New York's Bohemians during the interwar period. The book's core, though, is much more about the intellectual content of the group's discussions about their reading, often in philosophy of history and literature. The book can be amusing, as when the narrator opens a speakeasy and the clientele turns the novel towards being a sort of Duffy's Tavern for show more eggheads. The logorrhea here is real, and painful, but there's some very interesting and thought-provoking prose as well. show less

Maybe Miller's best book, loaded with lovely meditations on becoming a writer, crazy dream sequences and a pulpy vision of Brooklyn in the 1920s.

QUOTE: "I glanced at one manuscript after another, reading only a few lines at a time. Finally I came to my notes. They were as fresh and inspiring as when I had jotted them down. Some of them, which I had already made use of, were so provocative that I wanted to write the stories all over again, write them from a fresh, new angle. The more I unearthed, the more feverish I became. It was as though a huge wheel inside me had begun to revolve. I pushed everything aside and lit a cigarette. I gave myself up to a delicious reverie. All that I had wanted to write these past fall months was now show more writing; itself out. It oozed out like milk from a cocoanut. I had nothing to do with it. Someone else was in charge. I was merely the receiving station transmitting it to the blue." show less

It took me forever to read this second installment of the Rosy Crucifixion Trilogy. I felt no lack of motivation. On the contrary, the pandemic, the presidential election, and moving from California to New Mexico created significant distractions. Henry Miller continues his mostly autobiographical treatise with his absolutely brilliant prose and fascinating, if also convoluted and decadent life path. Miller seeks to bring his anticipated literary brilliance to fruition. I am definitely looking forward to the 3rd and final volume!

Limited First Edition, No. 1483 of 2000 copies, same number in both volumes; 12mos, brown paper covers; good (spines creased; edges and spine ends bumped and worn; eps toned; several breaks to both volumes until p96; loose; light rubbed area on cover of v2); 342 348pp.

Limited First Edition, No. 1483 of 2000 copies, same number in both volumes; 12mos, brown paper covers; good (spines creased; edges and spine ends bumped and worn; eps toned; several breaks to both volumes until p96; loose; light rubbed area on cover of v2); 342 348pp.

Plexus est le deuxième volet de la célèbre autobiographie d'Henry Miller : « La Crucifixion en rose », comprenant Sexus et Nexus. Il y raconte ses années d'enfance dans le pittoresque 14e arrondissement de New York, ses aventures de jeune homme que torture le démon de l'écriture et qui, afin de le satisfaire, finit par briser une à une toutes les chaînes qui le rivent à la vie quotidienne de ses compatriotes, son combat difficile pour devenir un artiste. Il connaît la misère, les rebuffades, les vexations de toutes sortes, l'orgueil solitaire de celui qui croit à son génie et parviendra à le faire triompher. Dans cette lutte, sa nouvelle compagne, Mona, pousse le dévouement au-delà des limites communes. Les aventures show more que vit Henry Miller, les personnages qu'il rencontre, innombrables et curieux, les réflexions que lui inspirent les uns et les autres, composent un récit d'une liberté, d'un naturel, d'un humour et d'une audace inouïs. show less

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