"Quiet Days In Clichy" - Henry Miller (1956)
"Απίθωσε τα χρήματα στο κομοδίνο, δίχως να τα μετρήσει και, σκύβοντας πάνω μου, με φίλησε στο κούτελο. «Σπαθί είσαι» είπε. Έμεινε έτσι, σκυμμένη πάνω μου, κοιτώντας με κατάματα με βουβή, καταπνιγμένη ευγνωμοσύνη, και μετά με φίλησε στο στόμα, δίχως πάθος μα με απίστευτη ηδύτητα, αργά, αβίαστα, σάμπως για να μου κοινωνήσει την τρυφεράδα της που δεν κατάφερνε με λέξεις να μεταδώσει και που ήτανε τόσο ντελικάτη ώστε δεν ήθελε να την εκφράσει προσφέροντάς μου το κορμί της".
Στην αυτοβιογραφική αυτή αφήγηση, που αποτελεί ίσως την καλύτερη εισαγωγή στο magnum opus του Χένρι Μίλερ, τον Τροπικό του Καρκίνου, θίγονται όλα τα θέματα που απασχόλησαν τη ζωή και τη σκέψη του μεγάλου αμερικανού συγγραφέα. Έτσι στις σελίδες του διαβάζουμε για τη φιλία μεταξύ δύο ανδρών και τις ατέρμονες συζητήσεις τους, που όσο ξαλαφρώνουν την ψυχή άλλο τόσο τροφοδοτούν το πνεύμα· την άσκοπη περιπλάνηση στο πανέμορφο Παρίσι, κατά την ένδοξη δεκαετία του '30, στην καλύτερη στιγμή του, όταν τα πιο συναρπαστικά πνεύματα του δυτικού κόσμου βρίσκονταν εκεί· την αγάπη και την ερωτική πράξη, δοσμένες με τον μοναδικό τρόπο που ο Χένρι Μίλερ σχεδόν εκ του μηδενός δημιούργησε και εξαίσια χρησιμοποίησε· την τεμπελιά και την ποίηση της καθημερινής ζωής· τις γυναίκες: τις φίλες και τις άγνωστες, τις παλαβές και τις απελπισμένες, τις πόρνες και τις σερβιτόρες, τις επικίνδυνες και τις αγαπημένες· την πράξη της συγγραφής και τη γόνιμη συγγραφική απραξία· την ελευθερία και την πιο αδιαπραγμάτευτη χρήση της, το μέγιστον μάθημα.
*Δυο διηγήματα, το "Ήσυχες μέρες στο Κλισί" και το "Μάρα-Μαρινιάν", που γράφτηκαν στη Νέα Υόρκη στα 1940, ξαναγράφτηκαν στα 1956 στο Μπιγκ Σουρ της Καλιφόρνια, για να κυκλοφορήσουν στη λογοτεχνική αγορά, από τον σπουδαίο αμερικανό συγγραφέα Χένρι Μίλερ. Εμπειρίες του, από τη περίοδο της διαμονής του στο Παρίσι(1931-9), τότε όπου έγραψε τα περίφημα βιβλία "Ο Τροπικός του Καρκίνου", "Μαύρη Άνοιξη", "Ο Τροπικός του Αιγόκερω". Πρώτα, στα 1986 από τις Εκδόσεις Μπακόδημος, και πλέον, στα 2005, από τις Εκδόσεις Μεταίχμιο, σε μια εξαιρετική μετάφραση-επίμετρο του συγγραφέα και ποιητή Γιώργου-Ίκαρου Μπαμπασάκη, απολαμβάνουμε στα ελληνικά τις ασωτείες, τα μεθύσια και τα γαμήσια αυτού του απίστευτου λογοτέχνη του 20ου αιώνα.
Σημ. Πρώτα, στα 1970, ο δανός ζωγράφος και σκηνοθέτης Jens Jorgen Thorsen, μεταφέρει στο σινεμά, την ομώνυμη νουβέλα του Χένρι Μίλερ, μια πειραματική, αδόμητη ταινία, με ερασιτέχνες ηθοποιούς - Ύστερα, στα 1990, ο μεγάλος γάλλος σκηνοθέτης Claude Chabrol, πραγματοποιεί μια κακή μεταφορά του εν λόγω διηγήματος.
Βιογραφικό Χένρι Μίλερ
(από την αμερικανική βικι-παιδεία)
Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American writer and painter. He is known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of "novel" that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is distinctly always about and expressive of the real-life Henry Miller and yet is also fictional. His most characteristic works of this kind are Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, and Black Spring. He also wrote travel memoirs and essays of literary criticism and analysis.
Miller was born to tailor Heinrich Miller and Louise Marie Neiting, in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, New York City, of German Catholic heritage. As a child he lived at 662 Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As a young man, he was active with the Socialist Party (his "quondam idol" was the Black Socialist Hubert Harrison), he tried a variety of jobs and briefly attended the City College of New York. In both 1928 and 1929, he spent several months in Paris with his second wife, June Edith Smith (June Miller). He moved to Paris the next year unaccompanied, where he lived until the outbreak of World War II. He lived an impecunious lifestyle that depended on the benevolence of friends, such as Anaïs Nin, who became his lover and financed the first printing of Tropic of Cancer in 1934.
In the fall of 1931, Miller got a job with the Chicago Tribune (Paris edition) as a proofreader, thanks to his friend Alfred Perlès who worked there. Miller took the opportunity to submit some of his articles under Perlès name, since only the editorial staff were permitted to publish in the paper in 1934.
His works contain detailed accounts of sexual experiences, and his books did much to free the discussion of sexual subjects in American writing from both legal and social restrictions. He continued to write novels that were banned in the United States on grounds of obscenity. Along with Tropic of Cancer, his Black Spring (1936), and Tropic of Capricorn (1939), were smuggled into his native country, building Miller an underground reputation. One of the first acknowledgments of Henry Miller as a major modern writer was by George Orwell in his 1940 essay Inside the Whale.
In the fall of 1931, Miller got a job with the Chicago Tribune (Paris edition) as a proofreader, thanks to his friend Alfred Perlès who worked there. Miller took the opportunity to submit some of his articles under Perlès name, since only the editorial staff were permitted to publish in the paper in 1934.
His works contain detailed accounts of sexual experiences, and his books did much to free the discussion of sexual subjects in American writing from both legal and social restrictions. He continued to write novels that were banned in the United States on grounds of obscenity. Along with Tropic of Cancer, his Black Spring (1936), and Tropic of Capricorn (1939), were smuggled into his native country, building Miller an underground reputation. One of the first acknowledgments of Henry Miller as a major modern writer was by George Orwell in his 1940 essay Inside the Whale.
In 1940, he returned to the United States, settling in Big Sur, California, and continued to produce his vividly written works that challenged contemporary American cultural values and moral attitudes. He spent the last years of his life in Pacific Palisades.
The publication of Miller's Tropic of Cancer in the United States in 1961 led to a series of obscenity trials that tested American laws on pornography. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Grove Press, Inc., v. Gerstein, citing Jacobellis v. Ohio (which was decided the same day in 1964), overruled the state court findings of obscenity and declared the book a work of literature; it was one of the notable events in what has come to be known as the sexual revolution. Elmer Gertz, the lawyer who successfully argued the initial case for the novel's publication in Illinois, became a lifelong friend of Miller's. Volumes of their correspondence have been published.
In addition to his literary abilities, Miller was a painter and wrote books about his painting. He was a close friend of the French painter Grégoire Michonze. He was also an amateur pianist.
Before his death, Miller filmed with Warren Beatty for his film Reds. He spoke of his remembrances of Jack Reed and Louise Bryant as part of a series of cameos or witnesses. The film was released a year and a half after Miller's death.
Miller died in Pacific Palisades. After his death, he was cremated and his ashes scattered off Big Sur.
Miller's papers were donated to the UCLA Young Research Library Department of Special Collections. The Henry Miller Art Museum at Coast Gallery in Big Sur, the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, and UCLA all hold a selection of Miller's watercolours, as The Henry Miller Museum of Art in Omachi City in Nagano, Japan, did before closing in 2003.
The publication of Miller's Tropic of Cancer in the United States in 1961 led to a series of obscenity trials that tested American laws on pornography. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Grove Press, Inc., v. Gerstein, citing Jacobellis v. Ohio (which was decided the same day in 1964), overruled the state court findings of obscenity and declared the book a work of literature; it was one of the notable events in what has come to be known as the sexual revolution. Elmer Gertz, the lawyer who successfully argued the initial case for the novel's publication in Illinois, became a lifelong friend of Miller's. Volumes of their correspondence have been published.
In addition to his literary abilities, Miller was a painter and wrote books about his painting. He was a close friend of the French painter Grégoire Michonze. He was also an amateur pianist.
Before his death, Miller filmed with Warren Beatty for his film Reds. He spoke of his remembrances of Jack Reed and Louise Bryant as part of a series of cameos or witnesses. The film was released a year and a half after Miller's death.
Miller died in Pacific Palisades. After his death, he was cremated and his ashes scattered off Big Sur.
Miller's papers were donated to the UCLA Young Research Library Department of Special Collections. The Henry Miller Art Museum at Coast Gallery in Big Sur, the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, and UCLA all hold a selection of Miller's watercolours, as The Henry Miller Museum of Art in Omachi City in Nagano, Japan, did before closing in 2003.
Works
- Tropic of Cancer, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1934.
- What Are You Going to Do about Alf?, Paris: Printed at author's expense, 1935.
- Aller Retour New York, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1935.
- Black Spring, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1936.
- Max and the White Phagocytes, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1938.
- Tropic of Capricorn, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1939.
- Henry Miller's Hamlet Letters, Vol. I, with Michael Fraenkel, Santurce, Puerto Rico: Carrefour, 1939.
- Vol. II, with Michael Fraenkel, New York: Carrefour, 1941.
- Vol. I complete New York: Carrefour, 1943.
- The Cosmological Eye, New York: New Directions, 1939.
- The World of Sex, Chicago: Ben Abramson, Argus Book Shop, 1940.
- The Colossus of Maroussi, San Francisco: Colt Press, 1941.
- The Wisdom of the Heart, New York: New Directions, 1941.
- Sunday after the War, New York: New Directions, 1944.
- Semblance of a Devoted Past, Berkeley, Calif.: Bern Porter, 1944.
- The Plight of the Creative Artist in the United States of America, Houlton, Me.: Bern Porter, 1944.
- Echolalia, Berkeley, Calif.: Bern Porter, 1945.
- Henry Miller Miscellanea, San Mateo, Calif.: Bern Porter, 1945.
- Why Abstract?, with Hilaire Hiller and William Saroyan, New York: New Directions, 1945.
- What Are You Going to Do about Alf?, Paris: Printed at author's expense, 1935.
- Aller Retour New York, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1935.
- Black Spring, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1936.
- Max and the White Phagocytes, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1938.
- Tropic of Capricorn, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1939.
- Henry Miller's Hamlet Letters, Vol. I, with Michael Fraenkel, Santurce, Puerto Rico: Carrefour, 1939.
- Vol. II, with Michael Fraenkel, New York: Carrefour, 1941.
- Vol. I complete New York: Carrefour, 1943.
- The Cosmological Eye, New York: New Directions, 1939.
- The World of Sex, Chicago: Ben Abramson, Argus Book Shop, 1940.
- The Colossus of Maroussi, San Francisco: Colt Press, 1941.
- The Wisdom of the Heart, New York: New Directions, 1941.
- Sunday after the War, New York: New Directions, 1944.
- Semblance of a Devoted Past, Berkeley, Calif.: Bern Porter, 1944.
- The Plight of the Creative Artist in the United States of America, Houlton, Me.: Bern Porter, 1944.
- Echolalia, Berkeley, Calif.: Bern Porter, 1945.
- Henry Miller Miscellanea, San Mateo, Calif.: Bern Porter, 1945.
- Why Abstract?, with Hilaire Hiller and William Saroyan, New York: New Directions, 1945.
- The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, New York: New Directions, 1945.
- Maurizius Forever, San Francisco: Colt Press, 1946.
- Remember to Remember, New York: New Directions, 1947.
- Maurizius Forever, San Francisco: Colt Press, 1946.
- Remember to Remember, New York: New Directions, 1947.
- Into the Night Life, privately published 1947
- The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder, New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1948.
- Sexus (Book One of The Rosy Crucifixion), Paris: Obelisk Press, 1949.
- The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder, New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1948.
- Sexus (Book One of The Rosy Crucifixion), Paris: Obelisk Press, 1949.
- The Waters Reglitterized, San Jose, Calif.: John Kidis, 1950.
- The Books in My Life, New York: New Directions, 1952.
- The Books in My Life, New York: New Directions, 1952.
- Plexus (Book Two of The Rosy Crucifixion), Paris: Olympia Press, 1953.
- Quiet Days in Clichy, Paris: Olympia Press, 1956.
- Quiet Days in Clichy, Paris: Olympia Press, 1956.
-The Time of the Assassins: A Study of Rimbaud, New York: New Directions, 1956.
- Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch, New York: New Directions, 1957.
- The Red Notebook, Highlands, N.C.: Jonathan Williams, 1958.
- Reunion in Barcelona, Northwood, England: Scorpion Press, 1959.
- Nexus (Book Three of The Rosy Crucifixion), Paris: Obelisk Press, 1960.
- Reunion in Barcelona, Northwood, England: Scorpion Press, 1959.
- Nexus (Book Three of The Rosy Crucifixion), Paris: Obelisk Press, 1960.
- To Paint Is to Love Again, Alhambra, Calif.: Cambria Books, 1960.
- Watercolors, Drawings, and His Essay "The Angel Is My Watermark," Abrams, 1962.
- Stand Still Like the Hummingbird, New York: New Directions, 1962.
- Watercolors, Drawings, and His Essay "The Angel Is My Watermark," Abrams, 1962.
- Stand Still Like the Hummingbird, New York: New Directions, 1962.
- Just Wild about Harry, New York: New Directions, 1963.
- Greece (with drawings by Anne Poor), New York: Viking Press, 1964.
- Opus Pistorum, New York: Grove Press, 1983.
- Greece (with drawings by Anne Poor), New York: Viking Press, 1964.
- Opus Pistorum, New York: Grove Press, 1983.
- Insomnia or The Devil at Large, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1974. * N.Ι.Π.
