Henry Miller: Tropic of Marvelous

Henry Miller, you marvelous fellow ...you've had a place in my heart for many years now...and, so you always shall. It's got your name, just like a parking spot at some fancy Hollywood studio. Ryan Seacrest, Simon Cowell, Henry Miller. Okay, getting off track. And, not making complete sense, which isn't totally unusual for me.

I first encountered Henry Miller in a lower Manhattan apartment. My sister had the books, which I read. And, I think she had darn near all the Henry Miller titles, even the slightly obscure Smile at the Foot of the Ladder. And, initially, I didn't like you Henry Miller! I thought you were a lousy, thesaurus-abuser out for cheap, salacious shocks. But, you grew on me.

Henry Miller wasn't so impressed with formal education. His university was planet earth, and he spent a lot of time overseas, though, of course, the term overseas depends upon where you're standing. Just like much of our racial lexicon depends upon you not understanding history. Once again, getting off track, but not really! That's the thing about Miller: he'll influence your brain in this manner. Henry Miller's all about tangents, running like bejabbers down their murky paths, only to discover that the tangent had a necessary fundamental buried in it all along. Oh yeah.

A good starting point for a Henry Miller neophyte is Tropic of Cancer. This book is a kick! You want to lose yourself? This book beats gin, ice cream abuse, and reality television. Oh, it's true. Relive those nutty Paris days during the early 20th century.

Over the years, I've read most of Henry Miller's work (in many cases reading certain books repeatedly.) My favorite is Colossus of Marousi, which documents his time in Greece shortly before the onset of WW II. This Brooklyn boy had a lot to say! He always reinforces his conviction that life is huge, sacred, and mysterious.

I also like a lesser known work called To Paint Is To Love Again. Miller examines his love for watercolor painting, and, see ...because of this book I started painting in watercolor on a regular basis. I had been taking an inventory of my life: deciding what elements to retain and what to forsake. It was one of those times. And, someone, somewhere told me (I don't recall who...maybe on the radio) that when you remove a negative, you must replace it with a positive, if you are going to successfully change an aspect of your life. Next day, I stumble across Miller's book at the public library: the pieces fit together, and I picked up my Windsor Newton starter kit, and I've been painting ever since, though, these days I lean a little bit more towards digital painting, which is almost an obsession.

You know how people talk about the "quality of life." Well, I don't care much for that expression, though, I don't have a better one per se, which exemplifies a situation I find myself in perhaps too frequently. LOL. Okay, the point: I couldn't imagine not painting; that's how much I love it. Thank you Henry Milller.

All right. I'm getting a little crazy. But that's the thing about Miller. He makes you happy. He's always there to remind that life, despite all negatives, is wonderful and worth it. Kemal Faruquee.