i finished Henry & June last night, i’ve never read anything quite like it. it was very real – most journal/diary books seem shaved at and shaped, so all the pieces match up and it seems to be GOING somewhere. this was just a lovely mess. one day she hates him, the next day she loves him, a week later it’s over for sure and she thinks he’s weak, the next day the doubt seems ridiculous. sporadic expressions of acute guilt, obligation, confusion, confliction – it’s almost as if this could be any intelligent, creative woman’s diary, if they were better able to translate spinning thoughts and webs into words and paragraphs. i loved it, it love her. i want all of her diaries. to read this and to have read Tropic of Cancer so many times, it’s such an amazing counterpoint. not consciously, just that i knew all the characters already, and to see them all from a different point of view is incredible. i love her writing voice. last night i finished the book and while emailing andrea (it got a little long, from the reading i think) looked at all the photographs i could find of anais nin - i’d only seen one or two before, it was strange that she looks exactly how i would expect her to look…. her face matches her voice and her penstrokes.
