|
Cross-posted from the Quit Being a loving Child thread -- When I was in college, I read a 1941 or 1947 edition of Henry Miller's The Wisdom of the Heart, which included a bizarre, stream-of-consciousness prose-poem-type thing called "Finale". Interestingly, "Finale" does not appear in any later editions of this work. Proof it existed: a screengrab of a page from Henry Miller; an informal bibliography, 1924-1960 by Esta Lou Riley:  Proof it is no longer included: Table of Contents from 1960 edition and all later editions. Now, fortunately, I discovered this mysterious absence from later editions while I still was an undergrad, so in the interest of being able to read it again later in life, I copied out "Finale" in one of my notebooks, which I found today.  Here's the first page or so --quote:Eye to eye, fire to fire, blood-red ice and black perfume, moon goddess and moon fire, the smoke of vanished kisses, harp bleeding its green music, poppies floating in a cold sea. The roundness of the beginning, the end like a navel; craters flowing with blood-red ice, hemispheres of warm milk, swan’s down and meat of olives. [I've transcribed the whole thing, but I don't know if it's still under copyright. I can quote more of it if anyone's interested.] I'm dying to know: A) why it was excised from later editions, and 2) what...what it's all about? What does it mean, what inspired Miller to write it, what is it alluding to, etc.? But what's even weirder than "Finale" is, is the fact that I can't find any reference to "Finale"'s existence anywhere other than the bibliography above. I've searched using Google and Google Scholar, and I've searched in all the academic research databases my university subscribes to -- no dice. I can't find any mention of it anywhere -- no criticism or commentary on it, no citations, nothing.  Have any of you ever read it? Do any of you know of any Henry Miller resources (scholars, etc.) who might be able to answer my questions?
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2015 17:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 5, 2024 12:45 |
|
|
I feel really bad that noone has responded, so Ima say hi. How'd your day go? I'm studying at 3 in the morning because time is a construct, and I suck at managing my time.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2015 07:53
|
|
|
It's a fragment from a novel called "Crazy Cock." Here's Kirkus' take on it:quote:Early Henry Miller fighting the hydra of English. In the late 20's Miller was living in Greenwich Village, writing Crazy Cock and being housed and fed by his wife June. He kept revising Crazy Cock but later in Paris set it aside to write Tropic of Cancer--a wise choice, since the first three paragraphs of Cancer are worth Crazy Cock entire.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2015 12:16
|
|
