Quiet Days in Clichy (Miller, Henry) by Henry Miller (PDF)

Description

This tender and nostalgic work dates from the same period as Tropic of Cancer (1934). It is a celebration of love, art, and the Bohemian life at a time when the world was simpler and slower, and Miller an obscure, penniless young writer in Paris. Whether discussing the early days of his long friendship with Alfred Perles or his escapades at the Club Melody brothel, in Quiet Days in Clichy Miller describes a period that would shape his entire life and oeuvre.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Much has been written about the interwar period in Paris, particularly by expats, who, of course, did not realize it would be a period between two world wars when they wrote. There was Hemingway’s book, referenced in the subject title, George Orwell, Gertrude Stein and many others, including Henry Miller. The `20’s were a more optimistic time, the `30’s far less so, due to the Depression, and the “gathering storm” of another war. Though he does not state it directly, by referencing the Spanish Civil War, this book is set in the late `30’s. Miller fled Paris when the war commenced, so this is a “swan song” for that era. The backdrop is the bohemian setting of Montmartre, and the bars around the Place de Clichy. Miller and his companion apparently lived in the small village of Clichy, just outside the old walls of Paris.This is my first reading of this book; but I first read Miller for the titillation value, shortly after his better known “Tropic of Cancer” was no longer formally banned in the United States, in the early `60’s. I was quite young at the time when I placed the book on the cashier’s counter. I felt she had given me a knowing look; guiltily I hastily blurted out that it was “for a school assignment,” to which she simply chuckled. For me, having grown up in a conservative suburban milieu, “Tropic” was a stunning view of another world, and at the time I wondered how much was sheer fantasy, or did real people actually live this way? With the perspective of life experience, post-suburb, I realize that people very much do live this way, even the women. And they are probably the poorer for it.The work is largely autobiographic; Miller is played by a character named Joey. At times he is so poor and hungry that he goes through the garbage searching for food. Trying to support oneself by writing is an arduous task, but checks from America arrive from time to time. Naturally there is much philandering, the Miller “trademark,” graphically described in words that would be banned in this review. There are affairs with prostitutes (Joey is the one who seems to have the “heart of gold”), underage kids (that would have resulted in jail sentences even in more permissive Paris), ménage a trois (er, ah, if you’ll excuse my French), and sad scenes with mothers.What is missing is the “why”? There really is no insight into the motivations to his actions, or should be assume we are dealing at a basic level of hierarchy of needs, like food and sex, and that is sufficient. And if there are not insights into the central characters, for sure, all the women are simply “props,” or, as more commonly described, they are indeed objectified. As Miller says: “Sometimes, out of sheer boredom, I would take one on, even though it left the taste of ashes.” Of all the sections, I found their brief trip to Luxembourg the most interesting, and his observation, true then, and probably more so now: “…the faces of the inhabitants were stamped with a sort of cow-like bliss.”Miller broke a particular shell of conventions with his books, and deserves much credit for that. Many others have followed in his steps, so his work now lacks the “shock” value that it did in an era where presidential and political affairs where kept hidden by the media. As another reviewer indicated though, I prefer “Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch.”

⭐The condition and readability of this book is awesome. Goodwill Industries outdid itself.

⭐I have enjoyed and related to Miller’s writing since I found a copy of Tropic of Cancer decades ago. Since then I have literally read everything he has written, no matter how difficult it was to find a copy. This book is one of my favorites because of the fly on the wall voyeurism Miller incorporates while, for me, I am there like an invisible participant. No other 20th Century writer, except Kerouac, documents the realism and actuality of the American nightmare that eats souls and of the occasional escapee from the asylum.

⭐I enjoyed the content of the book. The story was well written, but somewhere in the digital publishing of the book, the content got corrupted: Apostrophes were converted to strange characters which made it hard to read.

⭐The writing style is excellent. The author wrote his sex experience with implicit descriptions, unlike those in hardcore books. This is a good buy for those who want to start writing as a hobby.

⭐Great read, albeit a little short!

⭐Doesn’t have the cosmic wisdom of the Tropics or the volcanic gutter smut of Under the Roofs of Paris but a good clean read.

⭐I’m more than a bit biased on the subject of Henry Miller but typical of any of his books, I couldn’t put it down until the very end.

⭐The archetypal spoiled 20th century American male in Paris,it’s amazing how Miller manages to make such a sympatheticimpression on the (even me, a female) reader in spite of hisclearly rapacious libido. An atmospheric book, it won me overdespite the sexist attitude, clearly of its time. I would have likedto know more about the characters that appear in these pages.Did he ever bother to get to know them properly, I wonder. -or are his conquests just fantasies?

⭐The ‘inside story’ on Miller’s early days in Clichy, when he began work on the various Tropics et al.

⭐Not one of his great works but a good read all the same. Filled with evocative prose it provides an interesting view of the time, place and lifestyle.

⭐Miller brings a whole era to life in this look at his adventures in between the wars Paris.

⭐I bought this book in mistake for “Arch of Triumph”, by Erich Maria Remarque. (Must be a sign of my increasing age!). What a shock to the system it proved.Essentially it is the sorry tale of two complete “wastes of space” who seem to spend (or rather mis-spend) the whole of their time in pre-War Paris looking for either sex or food-in no particular order.I suppose that in the era in which this book was first published, such graphic descriptions of carnal acts would have been of huge titillation value. But, in 2012, when ANYTHING is available on the internet at the click of a mouse, the whole thing appears completely passé.What I also found extremely distasteful was the author’s attitude to women-obviously just hunks of flesh without feelings and hopes and characters.I’m sure “Arch of Triumph” will not turn out to be such a disappointment.

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