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Miller, Henry

(New York, N.Y. 1891-1980 Los Angeles) : Schriftsteller, Maler

Name Alternative(s)

Miller, Henry Valentine

Subjects

Index of Names : Occident / Literature : Occident : United States of America

Chronology Entries (3)

# Year Text Linked Data
1 1934 Miller, Henry. Tropic of cancer. (Paris : Obelisk Press, 1934).
"One never thinks of China, but it is there all the time on the tips of your fingers and it makes your nose itchy; and long afterward, when you have forgotten almost what a firecracker smells like, you wake up one day with gold leaf choking you and the broken pieces of punk waft back their pungent odor and the bright red wrappers give you a nostalgia for a people and a soil you have never known, but which is in your blood, mysteriously there in your blood, like the sense of time or space, a fugitive, constant value to which you turn more and more as you get old, which you try to seize with your mind, but ineffectually, because in everything Chinese there is wisdom and mystery and you can never grasp it with two hands or with your mind but you must let it rub off, let it stick to your fingers, let it slowly infiltrate your veins."
2 1936 Miller, Henry. Black spring. (Paris : Obelisk Press, 1936).
Walking up and down in China.
"In Paris, out of Paris, leaving Paris or coming back to Paris, it's always Paris and Paris is France and France is China. All that which is incomprehensible to me runs like a great wall over the hills and valleys through which I wander. Within this great wall I can live my Chinese life in peace and security.
I'm not a traveler, not an adventurer. This happen to me in my search for a way out. Up till now I had been working away in a blind tunnel, burrowing in the bowels of the earth for light and water. I could not believe, being a man of the American continent, that there was a place on earth where a man could be himself. By force of circumstance I became a Chinaman—a Chinaman in my own country! I took to the opium of dream in order to face the hideousness of a life in which I had no part. As quietly and naturally as a twig falling into the Mississippi I dropped out of the stream of American life. Everything that happened to me I remember, but I have no desire to recover the past, neither have I any longings or regrets. I am like a man who awakes from a long sleep to find that he is dreaming. A pre-natal condition—the born man living unborn, the unborn man dying born."
3 1977 Miller, Henry. Mother, China and the world beyond [ID D34784].
China.
Even as a boy the name China evoked strange sensations in me. It spelled everything that was vast, marvelous, magical, and incomprehensible. To say China was to stand things upside down.
How marvelous that this same China should stir in the old man who is writing these words the same strange, unbelievable thoughts and feelings.
One of the special remembrances I have of China is that it led the world in everything. Whether it be cuisine, pottery, painting, acting, architecture or literaure, China was always foremost.
A rather striking and absurd illustration of this is the fact, so I am told, that in Japan today the best restaurants are Chinese.
There is only one art which to me the Chinese have never developed and that is music. To my Western ear Chinese musk sounds horrendous. (Yet when I was living in Paris I had quite a collection of Chinese records left me by a returned traveler. Alter a time I became somewhat accustomed to this weird music but never infatuated with it.) I may be wrong but I doubt if China ever produced a Beethoven, a Bach, a Mozart, a Debussy or a Schumann.
Recently reading a biography of Genghis Khan I was surprised to discover that his army had penetrated the Chinese Wall (hack in the 1200's) just as the Germans circumvented the Maginot Line.
What may sound incredible to the Chinese of today is that, according to some scholars, the great Wall was built in two or three days! Every man, woman and child had been put to work, according to the account.
I heard a similarly astonishing story one day in the Egyptian room of the Louvre, The Frenchman who took me there to sec the ceiling of the Temple of Denderah pointed to the zodiac over oar heads which, he said, indicated that Egyptian history went back 40,000 years, not five thousand, as we are usually told.
We of the Western world are so very, very young, mete babes compared to the Hindus, the Chinese, the Egyptians, to mention only a few peoples. And, with our youth goes our ignorance, stupidity and arrogance. Worse, our intolerance, our failure to even try to understand other peoples' ways. We in America are perhaps the worst sinners.
Think, fas instance, that it was not out statesmen who succeeded in opening the door to China, but a handful of young, enthusiastic ping pong players!
When I was first told that I might write a piece for a Chinese magazine—on any subject I chose—I was virtually speechless. Then I became terrified. But finally what brought me back to my senses was the recollection that what I most loved about the Chinese was their humanness. The Roman saying applies to the Chinese even more than to the Romans—"nothing human is beneath me."
This human quality combined with a fine sense of humor are the saving attributes of a great people. 1 should also add the ability to stick it out, to hold out through thick and thin. In Hermann Hesse's famous book SiMaitka, he has his hero say—"I can think, I can wait, and I can do without." To me these qualities make a man invincible. Especially "to wait and to do without/' America knows neither the one nor the other. Perhaps that is why at the early age of 200 years she shows signs of tailing apart.
When I lived in Paris (1930-1940) I was dubbed by my friend Lawrence Durrell "a Chinese rock-bottom man." I have never received a greater compliment.
I always think it possible I have Oriental blood in my veins. And by that I mean either Mongolian or Chinese. Many people, on meeting me for the first time, ask if I do not have Asiatic blood. This always plea«« me immensely. I never want to be taken as a descendant of the Germans, which I am.
Eves in my writing I notice that I have an affinity with the Chinese. I tell what is, what was, what's happening, I do not go in for lengthy psychological analyses. I think the character's behavior should speak for itself. And yet the writer 1 most admire is the Russian Dostoievsky, Certainly no one could be further from the Chinese than Dostoievsky,
I wonder how the Chinese take to his work. Is he loved or shunned? To me without Dostoievsky's work there would be a deep, black hole in world literature. The loss of Shakespeare, who must seem like a wild man to the Chinese, would not be as great as losing Dostoievsky.
It is strange that the countries I most wanted to visit I have never seen—'India, Tibet, China, Japan, Iceland. But I have lived with them in my mind. Once I tried to persuade a British magazine editor to let me make a trip to Lhassa, Timbuetoo and Mecca without any stops in between. But I had no luck. All three cities seem like mysterious places, and live in my imagination.
I am aware that throughout this piece I have made no distinction between Communist China and the Republic of China. I have done so deliberately, as I am not interested in ideologies or politics, I find that people are people everywhere, even in darkest Africa. When I think of China I think of the Chinese as a whole, not of the things which divide them.
America tries to give to the world an image of a unified nation, "one and indivisible." Nothing could be farther from the truth. We are a people torn with strife, divided in many ways, not only regionally. Our population contains some of the poorest and most neglected people in the world. It probably also contains the most rich people of any country in the world. There is race prejudice to a great degree and inhumanity to man even among the dominant Caucasians. As I hinted earlier, America is rapidly going down the drain. The old countries, poor for the most part, I expect will take over in a very few years. And the people who invented the firecracker will outlive those who invented the deadly atom bomb. We Americans may one day reach all the planets and bring back from each small quantities of soil, but, we will .never reach the heart of the universe, which resides in the soul of even the poorest, the lowliest of human creatures.
I am afraid that the old adage., "Brothers under the skin," is no longer true, if ever it were. The Western nations are not to be trusted; no matter how democratic their governments may become. As long as the rich rule there will be chaos, wars, revolutions. The
leaden to look to are not in evidence. One has to hunt them out. One should remember, as Swainl Vivekananda once put it, that "before Gautama there were twenty-four other Buddhas."
Today we can no longer look for saviours. Every man must look to himself. As some great sage once said: "Don't look for miracles, you are the miracle."
  • Document: Miller, Henry. Mother, China and the world beyond. (Santa Barbara, Calif. : Capra Press, 1977). (Capra chapbook series ; no. 41). China (MillH9, Publication)

Bibliography (24)

# Year Bibliographical Data Type / Abbreviation Linked Data
1 1971 [Miller, Henry]. Meiguo di xia wen xue xuan. Mile deng zhuan ; Liang Bingjun yi. (Taibei : Huan yu, 1971). (Chang chun teng wen xue cong kan ; 1). [Übersetzung ausgewählter Texte von Miller].
美國地下文學選 		Publication / MillH4
2 1977 Miller, Henry. Mother, China and the world beyond. (Santa Barbara, Calif. : Capra Press, 1977). (Capra chapbook series ; no. 41). China Publication / MillH9
  • Cited by: Zentralbibliothek Zürich (ZB, Organisation)
3 1992 [Miller, Henry]. Bei hui gui xian. Hengli Mile zhu ; Li Sanchong yi. (Taibei : Shi bao wen hua, 1992). (Da shi ming zuo fang; 11). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. Tropic of cancer. (Paris : Obelisk Press, 1934).
北回歸線 		Publication / MillH1
4 1992 [Miller, Henry]. Di san qing. Hengli Mile zhu ; Chen Guanyue yi. (Taibei : Bu er, 1992). (Da zhong wen xue jing dian ming zhu ; 4). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. Quiet days in Clichy. (Paris : Olympia Press, 1956).
第三情 		Publication / MillH2
5 1995 [Miller, Henry]. Hei se de chun tian. Yang Hengda, Zhi Moli yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 1995/2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. Black spring. (Paris : Obelisk Press, 1936).
黑色的春天 		Publication / MillH12
6 1995 [Miller, Henry]. Kong tiao e meng. Jin Lei yi. Vol. 1-2. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 1995/2000). Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. The air-conditioned nightmare. (New York, N.Y. : New Directions, 1945).
空調惡夢 		Publication / MillH13
7 1995 [Miller, Henry]. Da Se'er. Sun Ping yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 1995/2000). (Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. Big Sur and the oranges of Hieronymus Bosch. (New York, N.Y. : New Directions, 1957).
大瑟爾 		Publication / MillH14
8 1995 [Miller, Henry]. Chun meng zhi jie. Hengli Mile zhu ; Lin Li, Lu Wei yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 1995/2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. Nexus. (Paris : Olympia Press, 1959).
春夢之結 		Publication / MillH15
9 1995 [Miller, Henry]. Yu zhou de yan jing. Pan Xiaosong yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 1995/2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. The cosmological eye. (Norfolk, Conn. : New Directions, 1939).
宇宙的眼睛 		Publication / MillH16
10 1995 [Miller, Henry]. Qing yu zhi wang. Hengli Mile zhu ; Dou Donghua, Zhou Bin, Wang Hongyu yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 1995/2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. Plexus. (Paris : Obelisk Press, 1949).
情欲之網 		Publication / MillH17
11 1995 [Miller, Henry]. Xing ai zhi lü. Liu Wanyong, Guo Haiyun yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 1995/2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. Sexus. (Paris : Obelisk Press, 1949).
性愛之旅 		Publication / MillH18
12 1995 [Miller, Henry]. Nan hui gui xian. Yang Hengda, Zhi Moli yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 1995/2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. Tropic of Capricorn. (Paris : Obelisk Press, 1938).
南回归线 		Publication / MillH19
13 1996 [Miller, Henry]. Hengli Mile de qing se shi jie. Chen Cangduo yi. (Taibei : San chong shi, 1996). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. The world of sex. (New York, N.Y. : Printed by J.H.N. for friends of Henry Miller, 1940). = (Chicago, Ill. : Ben Abramson, Argus Book Shop, 1940).
亨利米勒的情色世界 		Publication / MillH3
14 1997 [Miller, Henry]. Wo sheng ming zhong de shu. Henli Mile zhu ; Chen Cangduo yi. (Taibei : San chong shi, 1997). (Zhi biao wen ku ; 30). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. The books in my life. (Norfolk, Conn. : New Directions, 1952).
我生命中的書 		Publication / MilH6
15 1999 [Miller, Henry ; Belmont, George]. Mian dui yi wei chao qi de ming ren. Beiermeng zhu ; Chen Cangduo yi. (Taibei : San chong shi, 1999). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry ; Belmont, Georges. Face to face with Henry Miller : conversations with Georges Balmont. (London : Sidgwick & Jackson, 1971).
面對一位超奇的名人 		Publication / MillH5
16 2000 [Miller, Henry]. Hengli Mile quan ji. Vol. 1-18. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 2000). (Dang dai shi jie wen hao shu xi ; 2. Ju jiang cong shu). [Übersetzung der gesamten Werke von Henry Miller]. [S. Einzelbände].
亨利米勒全集 		Publication / MillH10
17 2000 [Miller, Henry]. Xin ling de zhi hui. Mile ; Yang Lingui yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. The world of sex. (New York, N.Y. : Printed by J.H.N. for friends of Henry Miller, 1940). = (Chicago, Ill. : Ben Abramson, Argus Book Shop, 1940).
心灵的智慧 		Publication / MillH11
18 2000 [Miller, Henry]. Bei hui gui xian. Yuan Honggeng yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. Tropic of cancer. (Paris : Obelisk Press, 1934).
北回归线 		Publication / MillH20
19 2000 [Miller, Henry]. Wo yi sheng zhong de shu. Mile ; Yang Hengda yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. The books in my life. (Norfolk, Conn. : New Directions, 1952).
我一生中的书 		Publication / MillH21
20 2000 [Miller, Henry]. Ke li xi de an ning sui yue. Mile ; Wang Xuesong yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. Quiet days in Clichy. (Paris : Olympia Press, 1956).
柯利希的安宁岁月 		Publication / MillH22
21 2000 [Miller, Henry]. Wen ru feng niao. Mile ; Lu Wei, Gao Mingle, Xie Xiaodong yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. Stand still like the hummingbird. (Norfolk, Conn. : New Directions, 1962).
稳如蜂鸟 		Publication / MillH23
22 2000 [Miller, Henry]. Te yi ji zhe. Mile ; Sun Ping yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. Remember to remember. (New York, N.Y. : New Directions, 1947).
特意记着 		Publication / MillH24
23 2000 [Miller, Henry]. Xing de shi jie. Mile ; Gao Mingle, Yang Lingui yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. The wisdom of the heart. (Norfolk, Conn. : New Directions, 1941).
性的世界 		Publication / MillH25
24 2000 [Miller, Henry]. Ma luo xi de da shi xiang. Mile ; Lin Li, Meng Qingtong yi. (Changchun : Shi dai wen yi chu ban she, 2000). (Hengli Mile quan ji). Übersetzung von Miller, Henry. The colossus of Maroussi. (San Francisco : Colt Press, 1941).
玛洛西的大石像 		Publication / MillH26

Secondary Literature (2)

# Year Bibliographical Data Type / Abbreviation Linked Data
1 1990 Ma, Mozhen ; Yang, Dawei. Hansi Mile. (Shenyang : Liaoning ren min chu ban she, 1990). [Abhandlung über Henry Miller].
汉斯米勒 		Publication / MilH7
2 1992 [Nin, Anaïs]. Hengli yu Jun'er. Annayisi Ning zhu ; Chen Cangduo yi. (Taibei : Bu er chu ban you xian gong si, 1992). (Da zhong wen xue jing dian ming zhu ; 3). Übersetzung von Nin, Anaïs. Henry and June : from the unexpurgated diary of Anaïs Nin. (San Diego : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986). [Henry Miller, June Miller].
亨利與君兒 		Publication / MilH8