Reviews
Henry and June: From a Journal of Love: The Unexpurgated Diary (1931-1932) of Anais Nin by Anaïs Nin
chasingholden's review
4.0
Taken more or less directly from the extremely detailed journals of Anaïs Nin, This collection documents the intense year of her life when she first met Henry Miller and his wife June. Being a diary it can of course at times become a little self-indulgent, but the beauty, fluidity, and unflinchingly raw humanism of Nin’s writing stops the reader from rolling their eyes too much and offering an incredible chance to dive head first into the heart and soul of a creatively brilliant and incredibly curious human being. That is not to say that she is without flaws; But it would be a complete mistake and ignorant simplification to reduce this book to self indulgent erotica, or dismiss it because its author is not a very nice person, because there is a lot more going on there than smut.
Nin’s discussions of sexuality and love are just brilliant. Asking carefully thought-out questions and being as honest as she can be at the time, Nin examines and analyses her relationships with the men in her life, and with the most significant woman, June.
Anais is determined to analyze and try to understand every aspect of her emotional life. She possesses a remarkable self awareness that allows her to view herself almost as a separate person objectively reflecting back on the past days or weeks events.
Nin’s discussions of sexuality and love are just brilliant. Asking carefully thought-out questions and being as honest as she can be at the time, Nin examines and analyses her relationships with the men in her life, and with the most significant woman, June.
Anais is determined to analyze and try to understand every aspect of her emotional life. She possesses a remarkable self awareness that allows her to view herself almost as a separate person objectively reflecting back on the past days or weeks events.
sonjaloviisa's review
3.0
I love reading published diaries and feel like I should do it more often. Getting to peek into someone's psyche and their most personal and private thoughts is really exhilarating. Seeing how others have written in their private diaries, gives me new ideas about how to approach the contents of my own journal. Regardless, mine will (hopefully) never be filled with quite this many sexual escapades.
Henry and June was really repetitive and Nin often felt bratty and quite self-centered (but alas, this is a diary, and isn't that what diaries often are?). Still, this is a nice snapshot in history and a much needed peek into female sexuality, at a time when it definitely wasn't as openly accepted as it is now.
Henry and June was really repetitive and Nin often felt bratty and quite self-centered (but alas, this is a diary, and isn't that what diaries often are?). Still, this is a nice snapshot in history and a much needed peek into female sexuality, at a time when it definitely wasn't as openly accepted as it is now.
earlyandalone's review
3.0
As with many journals, the writer's voice got tiring and repetitive after a while. I was really bored with her back and forth between her feelings for Henry (Miller), June (his wife), her husband (Hugo), her cousin (Eduardo), and her analyst. It seemed that everyone was in love with her and her feelings were as fickle and dramatic as a teenager's. There were some interesting passages, especially considering it was 1932 and she's so frank about her sexuality, but I wanted more plot, more description, just more in general. Ultimately disappointing.
keirajazztachibana's review
3.0
gorgeously written journal of sexscapades and self-absorbed over-introspection. sometimes i love her, sometimes i hate her. i enjoy her style more than henry miller's but due to being straight from her journal, the content doesn't cover much ground beyond her somewhat narcissistic romantic and sexual dramas.