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Original Title:	The Time of the Assassins: a Study of Rimbaud
ISBN:	0811201155 (ISBN13: 9780811201155)

The Time of the Assassins: a Study of Rimbaud Paperback | Pages: 160 pages

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Title	:	The Time of the Assassins: a Study of Rimbaud
Author	:	Henry Miller
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Deluxe Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 160 pages
Published	:	January 17th 1962 by New Directions (first published 1956)
Categories	:	Nonfiction. Poetry. Biography. Writing. Essays. Literature

Commentary Concering Books The Time of the Assassins: a Study of Rimbaud

I read this book about twenty years ago and was reminded of it this morning by another reviewer on Goodreads.

On browsing through this now, I had forgotten how interesting this French poet was and I do believe that Henry Miller has done an admirable job here. It is worth having this book purely to read Anthony Burgess' introduction if nothing else.

I was particularly taken with Burgess' statement:

"Anyone looking in his (Miller's) essay for a detailed critical account of Rimbaud's work, or a study of his life, will be disappointed. That kind of thing can be safely left to Enid Starkie. Miller is using Rimbaud as a pretext to deliver his own judgements on the world and to affirm that the boy poet was a prophet of the final collapse of civilization in the twentieth century. The essay was written in 1946, after the potential of the atomic bomb of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Miller can be excused for believing that the collapse of civilized order was coming, if not the extinction of mankind itself. Rimbaud as a prophet of breakdown - the time of the assassins - and Miller, feeling himself to be something of a prophet too, found an affinity with the poet."

An excellent book and highly recommended.

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Ratings: 3.95 From 1023 Users | 97 Reviews

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Possibly Miller at his most articulate and the closest he would ever get at being succinct. He uses Rimbaud's tumultuous life and self-imposed exile as a dramatic metaphor for martyrdom and to the role of the artist in society. His thoughts can be fully summarized as follows: the role of the artist is in decline: the modern age has effectively silenced the poetic voice. It is because of this that only becoming part of creation, rather than creating, is the only way one can truly live. "...only

I haven't read anything by either Henry Miller or Arthur Rimbaud. I know that must make me sound stupid, but it's the truth, and thought this, a study of Rimbaud by Miller, would be an interesting intro to the both of them. I wasn't expecting it to be a perfect companion to nearly all of the thought I had been working through this year, from Nietzsche to Foucault, Freud, and Kristeva, it brought everything together in a blindsiding of interpretation.It's about Rimbaud, but more about his life as

It seems utterly impossible so much passion could pour forth from old Henrys pen for this mistreated 19th century soul who really did everything we would know him for by the time he was 19. But then he lived the rest of his art. And dont we feel painfully unaccomplished in his wake. Miller spills forth gloriously a treasure as much for his expose and fascination with Rimbaud as it is a revealing essay of empathy. Some of his finest and most enjoyable efforts.

In my opinion this is one of the greatest biographies ever written. Henry Miller captures the essence of Rimbaud better than any work/homage I have read. He will never be satisfied, writes one biographer...I know because I suffer from the same disease...I don't believe for a minute that the flowers ever faded or the stars were ever dimmed in Rimbaud's eyes...It was the world of men that his weary glance saw things pale and fade. He began by wanting to see all, feel all, exhaust everything,

Not sure what to think of this self-referential musing about Miller's identification with Rimbaud. Through it all, one senses the trauma of the post-1945 conflict and his unshakable pessimism about how humans will end up destroying one another, which is perhaps why he believes earnestly in the cleansing destructiveness that he senses in Rimbaud's imagery.If you can get through it without giving up, there's a very interesting reading list at the end of what amounts to be equal parts treatise,

there definitely is a "boyish hero worship evident" in this one (as my friend Nicole put it) but that is perfect for someone like myself who is prone to that sort of thing. i was an easy sell considering the fact that I am in the latter stages of a cliched Rimbaud phase and that I had just recently read Tropic of Cancer. It was a double whammy. you know these guys. ice cream is something. you can eat it if you want.

When we reflect that it was a mere boy who shook the world by the ears, what are we to say? Is there not something just as miraculous about Rimbaud's appearance on this earth as there was in the awakening of Gautama, or in Christ's acceptance of the Cross, or in Joan of Arc's incredible mission of deliverance? Interpret this work as you like, explain his life as you will, still there is no living him down. The future is all his, even though there be no future. At the age of 36, in the midst of