Tropic of Cancer
by Henry Miller · first published 1934
33% recommend67% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Frank, vivid autobiographical fiction about Paris bohemian life and hunger, with a fierce, lyrical voice. Readers praise its candor and sense of freedom. Suits readers in their twenties and thirties.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A stream-of-consciousness story of a poverty-stricken young American, living in Paris.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2023–2026This Book is Gay
Juno Dawson
0 recommend · 6 mentioned0 recommend · 6 mention0 recommend · 60 recommend
2012–2025My Ántonia
Willa Cather
Recommended by 11 · mentioned by 1411 recommend · 14 mention11 recommend · 1411 recommend
2015–2025Wild Sheep Chase
H. MURAKAMI
Recommended by 17 · mentioned by 2117 recommend · 21 mention17 recommend · 2117 recommend
Camp of the Saints
Jean Raspail, Norman R. Shapiro
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 262 recommend · 26 mention2 recommend · 262 recommend
2008–2026Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov
Recommended by 41 · mentioned by 11741 recommend · 117 mention41 recommend · 11741 recommend
2010–2026The Once and Future King
T. H. White
Recommended by 13 · mentioned by 2613 recommend · 26 mention13 recommend · 2613 recommend
2008–2026Green Eggs and Ham
Dr. Seuss
Recommended by 11 · mentioned by 3511 recommend · 35 mention11 recommend · 3511 recommend
2011–2026Bleak House
Charles Dickens
Recommended by 7 · mentioned by 357 recommend · 35 mention7 recommend · 357 recommend
Depends on how old you are, or for me it did. Some books resonate at different points in a person's life. The fiction that's had the most impact on me as an adult was all stuff I read in my early 30s. * Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller — Perfect for a single man in his 30s. Very solipsistic and hedonistic, which is a great way to explore that decade. Each of the books in the series is a novel length prose poem. Absolutely…
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗Not really related at all to this discussion, and not technically the first line (though its on the first page), but this line from Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer was the most captivating book starter for me ever: "I have no money, no resources, no hopes. I am the happiest man alive." How could you not keep reading after that?
on “What should I do with my life?” ↗…Hemingway An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie My Antonia by Willa Cather (1918) On the Road by Jack Kerouac The Heart is A Lonely Hunter by Carson Mccullers The Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934) Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf Ulysses by James Joyce
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2013” ↗…Fiction: Pale Fire. Just pure astonishment. Left me speechless with how he made the language sing. Also great (in no particular order): - The Sewing Girl's Tale (non-fiction) - The Odyssey (poem) - Tropic of Cancer (novel) - Tenth of December (short story collection). - Endurance (non-fiction) - The Billion Dollar Spy (non-fiction) - Agent Sonya (non-fiction) - Agent Running in the Field (novel) - Little Dorrit…
on “Ask HN: What is the best thing you read in 2022?” ↗Henry Miller's "Tropic of Cancer" Live life, follow your dream, and don't let hunger stop you from your work. And pay attention to everything.
on “Ask HN: What was a book that changed your life?” ↗Miller is awesome. Just finished Tropic of Cancer -- Couldn't recommend it more.
on “Books That Changed My Life” ↗…Industrial Society and Its Future - A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies - The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Guns, Germs, and Steel == And some fiction === - Howl - Tropic of Cancer - Four Past Midnight (yes, Stephen King) - Maus
on “Stanford student may need to ‘acknowledge harm’ for reading ‘Mein Kampf’” ↗…removed from 1950. Remember it was in the 1950s that people fought major free-speech fights to print and distribute "obscene" books that had been banned for decades, like Lady Chatterley's Lover and Tropic of Cancer. In the 1930s, censorship was upheld in the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act due to the threat of reading the obscene parts on the Senate floor. These days pornography is omnipresent, and there are bestselling…
on “The End of Sex and the Future of Human Reproduction” ↗…about a scene without moralising or having to give an origin story or explanation for behaviour. The need to do this in American movies, TV and books ruins a story. There is a reason that Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer was published in France.
on “How Americans edit sex out of my writing” ↗…States some day. Potentially every man is Presidential timber. Here it's different. Here every man is potentially a zero. If you become something or somebody it is an accident, a miracle." Henry Miller, "Tropic of Cancer" (1934)
on “How to be mediocre and be happy with yourself” ↗I remember being in school decades ago and our very left-wing English teacher telling us about the Catholic Church's index of banned books, which included things like Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer. At the same time, you also had a big push by Evangelical groups in the U.S. to ban books like Deliverance from school due to their graphic sexual content. If you had told me then that in 2021, it would…
on “Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay” ↗This usage of "banned" has been around for over a century, beginning in the USA when the USPS tried to interdict copies of Joyce's Ulysses. It further gained popularity when Tropic of Cancer and Lady Chatterly's Lover were challenged as obscenity in landmark 1950s-60s trials. The first Banned Books Week happened in 1982, sponsored by the American Library Association. However, yes, since…
on “Dua Lipa opens library for banned and censored books in Portugal” ↗…"adult themed" stuff that'll get you rejected from the store. It's like a return to the 50s before the various Ferlinghetti obscenity trials. Do you think the app-equivalent of Lolita or Howl or the Tropic of Cancer of even American Psycho would ever make it onto the app store today? Highly unlikely. (Maybe you don't think apps are as important as books, but I think they will be.) (And again, more generally, the…
on ““We’re committing Twitter to increase the health and civility of conversation”” ↗…nobody is likely to call the police over the four letter words, but some people still find naughty language obnoxious. There's a line I love in a book review by George Orwell: "When I first opened Tropic of Cancer and saw that it was full of unprintable words, my immediate reaction was a refusal to be impressed." My self-censorship of the title was also an attempt, and maybe a misguided one, to signal that my…
on “Fuck You: A Magazine of the Arts (1962-1965)” ↗That's weird. I bought a Mein Kampf, Das Capital, Anarchist Cookbook, Tropic of Cancer, and Ulysses recently from Az. Those were banned books. (Insert joke about Fed watch lists.) Is Amazon going to deplatform Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reilly because they don't agree with their ideas? Are…
on “Tech Censorship Is Accelerating” ↗