Given it up as a bad book.

[mundungus42]

Ari and Bluey, you were right. I continued reading "Tropic of Cancer" on the bus ride home yesterday because I didn't have anything else to read. I have come to the conclusion it's simply awful writing that's achieved piggyback success thanks to far better banned books like "Ulysses." Clearly, Miller intends to elevate the squalor of his setting

Comments

[palegreenthings]

Hey so I havent read any of the books you mention, but I was thinking, couldn't it be that Miller was GOING for vulgar, tawdry, and cheaply provocative?

A thought!

[mundungus42]

There have been great books written about vulgar, tawdry, cheaply provocative characters. "Ulysses" is one. "Catcher in the Rye," is another. "Tropic of Cancer" is just a shitty book that begs to be taken seriously. Miller fooled me by having a good opening paragraph, but it was pointless wallowing in the cesspool of intellectual mediocrity thereafter. This is the first book that I've actually stopped reading, and I read "Ulysses" from cover to cover. I'm not judging the book for its frankness, I'm judging it for its inability to say anything frankly that's remotely original, profound, or interesting in any way.

[deeble]

Yeah, skip Norman Mailer. I found his Armies of the Night boring and pretentious. Not sure what the Pulitzer Prize board was thinking.