the colossus of maroussi by henry miller

Miller wrote the book in New York, and it reflects his resentment at having to return to America, as well as his feeling of isolation there. His portrayal of poet Katsimbalis and the country is tempered by the outbreak of the Second World War, which forced him to leave for the United States in December 1939. Miller drew his Colossus from events that occurred and landscapes he encountered while living for nine months in Greece. Miller had already published what are considered some of his best-known works, including Tropic of Cancer, Black Spring, and Tropic of Capricorn. In need of rejuvenation, he traveled to Greece at the invitation of his friend, British writer Lawrence Durrell, who lived in Corfu. In 1939, American writer Henry Miller left Paris, his home of nine years, as the Nazis began to take action in Europe and the outbreak of the Second World War loomed. The work is frequently heralded as Miller's best. Set in pre-war Greece of 1939, it is ostensibly an exploration of the 'Colossus' of the title, George Katsimbalis, a poet and raconteur. His classic narrative is peppered with fabulous portraits of poets and artists, chief among them Katsimbalis, the Colossus himself.The Colossus of Maroussi is an impressionist travelogue by American writer Henry Miller that was first published in 1941 by Colt Press of San Francisco.

In beautiful and passionate prose, he perfectly captures the splendour and magic of the country, concentrating not only on the landscape but also the people. Miller's exploration of Greece - Athens, the islands and the Pelopponese - was later described by him as the 'high water mark in life's adventures thus far'. There he met his friend Lawrence Durrell, who took him to Corfu. Just before the outbreak of World War II, the American Henry Miller, who had been living in Paris after the publication of his novels 'Tropic of Cancer' and 'Tropic of Capricorn', took a boat to Athens in the heat of summer. I felt the war coming on - it was getting closer and closer every day.įor a little while yet there would be peace and men might still behave like human beings. I knew too that I might never have it again. Out of the sea, as if Homer himself had arranged it for me, the islands bobbed up, lonely, deserted, mysterious in the fading light.I had everything a man could desire, and I knew it.

The colossus of maroussi by henry miller