May 30, Friday afternoon -- Reading Henry Miller

Selling photographs at Post and Grant, at an intersection between Chinatown, Union Square and the Financial District. Other days he can be found down by the Embarcadero--he has two kids, age 20 and 17, to put through college! Photographs are from his travels around Europe, Cuba, Thailand, Mexico, India.

Reading Henry Miller on Writing, by (I'm guessing here) Henry Miller.

For the past four months he's been writing a novel, sending it to a friend in Berlin for feedback and, during that time, he's been reading voraciously. The novel is about politics, women, and travel. Throughout there will be photographs, like of a gypsy camp in Mexico. His friend advises, write for yourself. It's hard, he said, and went on to say that it's difficult to write about what you got away with.

When he was in his twenties Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer really shook him.

Authors he wrote down for me: Ivan Klima, Lawrence Durrell for Justine (a book that inspired his daughter's name), and Joseph Roth for Hotel Savoy--it has just 120 pages, he said....I stopped at the Mission District library on the way home, but it was closed, cerrado.

What has he been reading voraciously? The Power and the Glory, by Graham Greene; Great Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoevsky; Lovers for a Day, by Ivan Klima.

Next to him, on a stack of photographs, to read interchangeably with Henry Miller on Writing, Love and Garbage, by Ivan Klima.

He doesn't read contemporary fiction, he said. There are too many good classics.

Again, I feel compelled to pack a suitcase of books and move to a desert island for a year. Where would your island be? Mine might just be the coffee shop down the street.

6 Comments:

Anne-Marie said...

My island would be: a remote little beach on the east coast [of New Zealand] that very few people outside the area know of. A tiny half-moon of gold sand hemmed in by high cliffs. I once was stuck here for a couple of days without electricity during a very rare snowstorm. I had brought with me The Lord Of The Rings trilogy which I'd never read before. I read it by the light of my torch, snuggled down in my sleeping-bag. Perfect!

Great blog, by the way.

Roxanne said...

I'd have a hard time picking one island. Anne'Marie's island sounds lovely though ... maybe a cabin by a pond, a la Walden (like Thoreau) or perhaps a grass hut by an ocean, with a hammock. Yes, the hammock is a must. The gentleman in this latest posting sounds fascinating.

Darci said...

Any island with out bugs, and whinny customers.. I would totally content :D

Ronnica said...

An island and a suitcase of books to read...yes, that sounds wonderful. I agree with him about the classics, they're so great!

Anonymous said...

My island? A field of beautiful sunflowers.

Barb said...

The Ithaca Bakery with coffee and time to read and look at people. What an island of luxury that would be!

Unfortunately, I have a hard time reading on the beach: too much to look at, listen to and the sun to enjoy.

My island is on my retirement list of places to hang at!