Black Spring

I just finished reading BLACK SPRING. It blew me away. Henry Miller's storytelling style is so personal, it's kind of like taking an unexpected medium punch in the gut. The geography becomes local, the imagery is rough, obscene and poetic, and goes on for pages at a time. Miller becomes larger than life, powerful through his honesty and vulnerability. I am amazed with his unique ability to effortlessly paint such vivid pictures, wander aimlessly through haunting nightmares, and relive pleasure and passion. From sitting around in the Parisian home of friend Jabberewohl Crondstadt celebrating each other's conquests and madness, to wandering the dark bum-piss hooker-lined streets of forbidden America, I found myself constantly stopping, re-reading and wondering how he took me there. Eventually I stopped raising my hand to ask questions, and just sat back and listened.

The "Paris books" are by far the best work Henry Miller produced and Black Spring, a collection of shorter pieces that followed Tropic of Cancer should rank at the top. If I had to make a list: Black Spring, Tropic of Capricorn, Tropic of Cancer, Quiet Days in Clichy. Black Spring contains some of his best work and displays his dazzling use of language and the exhilarating build-up of detail. This book contains some his most energetic writing. My favorite is the first piece in the book, his depiction of his Brooklyn days, which stands as classic "memoir" writing. Speaking of which, in Henry Miller's day, there were very few people writing fiction disguised as "memoir." Now take a look around and that's all you'll see! Imagine the world without Henry Miller! No Jack Kerouac, no Frederick Exley, no Dave Eggers. Black Spring is a MUST-READ for anyone interested in this kind of writing. Another recommendation for younger readers: The Losers' Club by Richard Perez

Black Spring is one of Miller's earlier efforts belonging to the Paris-written era of The Tropic's of Cancer and Capricorn. Whilst hilarious and enjoyable to read it suffers from too much Capricorn-esque angst-ridden soul rimming. A great book to read, but I would recommend Quiet Days In Clinchy as Miller's best French novel. It is equally humourous and has no extra pussyfooting around.

These stories have in my view some of the best English language prose that was written in the 20th century. A "voice" runs through them, that takes words and carefully crafts them into meaning, so beautifully written it is almost painful. Of course the quality of the stories is somewhat uneven, two or three really stand out, but I find it a marvellous collection overall. An unexpected must-read!

Excuse me for my bad English: I'm Italian and I don't speak English. I have found Black Spring completely different from Tropics of Cancer: this is blood, sex and hunger, without thinking (so appear, naturally), that is remember and philosophy, a wondereful mix. Miller is a hard man, and like all the hard men, he is also an hopeless romantic.