Walking Paris with Henry Miller

I do believe there isn’t a road or square in Paris that Miller’s name is associated with, and to come across this has been a surprise. It brings to mind a passage from one of his books (most probably Tropic of Cancer), where roaming the city’s streets he was amazed to find that there were no roads with poets names like Rimbaud’s affixed to them. I think it’s interesting though how yesterdays rebels in France are always posthumously remembered in one way or another. But I think Miller would have loved this tribute to his name, and where else but in the city that he loved.

It is pleasant surprise that the town of Clichy named this neighborhood center after Henry Miller. I would have assumed the more likely candidate to be Louis-Ferdinand Céline, who also lived nearby. I’m sure Miller would have been proud.

Also of note there is an allée Blaise Cendrars in Paris (basically a footpath through the park at Les Halles) that would have pleased Miller.

Im in Paris right now I think I will check this out

I’m of the opinion that places like this shouldn’t exist. What is there to celebrate about henry miller? No wonder why all the writers of today are such snoozers. Instead of living our own lifes like henry miller did we just act moronic and create little hang-outs with henry miller’s name on it and then sit on the table and drink coffee and say “yeah man this is so cool. henry miller man. dude, henry miller.” Fuck that shit. Forget about henry miller. Henry Miller is dead. Henry Miller didn’t go to places like this. He went to real places. Celebrating the artist or artistry is for suckers. Henry Miller celebrated life. Maybe these suckers should too. When I’m in paris I will shit on this place.

the only way to be like henry miller is to forget henry miller

Well, what can one say? Except it’s not everyday that one gets called a sucker, but it’s a free world we live in and everyone’s entitled to their opinion. But the only thing wrong with an opinion is when the person addressing it, uses the platform they have before them to solely vent their anger. According to this man (and I take it that it is a man) he would like to see a cultural centre torn down because he can’t stand somebody’s name. So it begs the question: what’s in a name? Well according to this sad guy everything that he can’t stand , but what it is he can’t stand is beyond him to answer. The weirdest thing though is after this he then proceeds to inform us that he’s a ‘moron’, that he ‘creates little hang outs for writers’, and that he then sits at tables to drink coffee talking about them. Well then the guy blows it big time, and backtracking on himself he makes himself look more of an idiot by remarking that the whole thing should be forgotten. Well one thing we all know is when someone is making themselves look an idiot, they should just clam up. But this guy is so frustrated by this time that he just loses it. Then he proceeds to tell us that Miller wouldn’t have gone to places like this. I mean what this bozo is trying to tell us, is that apart from the ethical reasons he imagines Miller wouldn’t have gone there for, he’s also trying to tell us that if the author’s friends Brassai or Hans Reichel had been exhibiting he still wouldn’t have gone there. His next comment though has got to rank as one of the most stupid I have ever heard. He then tells us that the subject in question only went to ‘real places,’ only what a real place is seems beyond him to clarify. Maybe he means bars, hotels and cinemas like most of us use, or maybe he was trying to use the word brothel. Who knows. Indeed who cares! But that this guy is obviously frustrated, and is using a platform to vent his sad ideals he makes more than plain. Well Mr blah if you do happen to read this, I have a bit of advice for you. If you want to divert your energy into something more positive, put it into that monosyllabic mate of yours by giving him some spelling and grammatical lessons.

Louis Ferdinand Céline was a fine writer but a notorious racist and anti-Semite who turned in not only Jews during WWII fascist Vichy France but progressive Frenchmen of all backgrounds and stripes.

He made a cottage industry of his vile denunciatory newspaper
articles during the German Nazi occupation.

Robert Desnos, the illustrious surrealist French poet, who worked for the Resistance, was turned in to the Gestapo by Céline. Desnos died of exhaustion in a Nazi concentration camp.

No, I don’t think Henry Miller, who had many Jewish friends, literary colleagues and acquaintances would have appreciated Céline’s name on the “Espace” instead of his own.