The place is just plastered with cunt and fuck and that’s why I’m reasonably sure to find my old friend MacGregor here.” (104) “In to each and every one of them as I shuffle about, I throw an imaginary fuck. It’s just too bad that there are passages such as these two which overshadow all the beauty he does write, I even have a quote from him in my sidebar! Definitely read a few below, especially the 60-61 quote, his ability to personify people and their actions is outstanding. There were passages that struck me with their beauty. The saddest part about this book and Miller’s writing in general is that he is an excellent writer. I don’t believe in book banning or censorship, but this really tested my limits.

It’s no wonder the book was banned in America (Wikipedia link) for 30 years. When you add in the stream-of-consciousness I’m surprised I even got through the book. I can’t even pretend it’s hard to say why I didn’t like this book, it really was just too much sex, misogyny, sexual assault and crass language. It also counts toward my Classics Club list so yay for that too! The only thing I can truly say I’m grateful for is that I got it off my shelf where it’s languished since the 2010 Boston Book Festival (it was the last one!). The amount of raunchy sleazy descriptions in Tropic of Capricorn, if possible out weight those in the first novel. Seriously, I was in no way a fan of this book. I didn’t think it was possible, but I liked this one even less than Tropic of Cancer.

Tropic of capricorn henry miller review