Tag Archives: Nexus

Above and Below

Posted on August 12, 2019 by Lee

If Henry Miller’s Nexus begins in a slough of despair, in its final chapters the rays of hope begin to emerge. The day he’ll leave for Europe is approaching, and knowing he will be leaving soon makes his remaining days … Continue reading →

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Truth and Literature

Posted on July 15, 2019 by Lee

Henry Miller is obsessed with truth. And yet he wants to write literature! Literature is something other than truth. “Then to hell with literature!” Writing his novel, Henry is all the while obsessed with the idea of the real book … Continue reading →

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Broken Life (Notes on Henry Miller’s Nexus)

Posted on July 8, 2019 by Lee

Henry Miller is especially enjoying this conversation with Mona, who has just returned from Europe. It’s not just because he’s missed her so much; what he likes is that they are having his favourite kind of conversation: the “broken” and … Continue reading →

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Limitations

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Lee

“Don’t waste yourself in talk!” says Mona to Henry Miller, as he starts on another of his monologues. He shouldn’t be saying all this to her: it should be going in the book. Sometimes Henry seems to agree with her … Continue reading →

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Henry Miller’s Destination

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Lee

In Chapter 9 of Nexus, Henry and Osiecki are looking for a place to drink. It’s Osiecki’s birthday. Henry didn’t want to come out, but Osiecki offered him a bite to eat, and he couldn’t turn that down. He eats … Continue reading →

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Kindred Spirits (Notes on Henry Miller’s Nexus)

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Lee

Chapter 8 of Henry Miller’s Nexus is about the role that other people can play in the life of an artist, for better or worse. Life can seem lonely for an artist, without anyone in the world who understands you, … Continue reading →

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Notes on Henry Miller’s Nexus: Burying the Past

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Lee

In Europe, Henry will acquire “a new body and a new soul”. Then he can make use of his experiences: what he has taken from New York, and from all his life so far. We’ve seen throughout Nexus that Henry … Continue reading →

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Get Out of My Garden

Posted on April 29, 2019 by Lee

Henry Miller’s Nexus is, above all, the story of Miller’s own development as a writer. He says he is learning to read between the lines. It is difficult for him to explain what he means by this: “How could anyone, … Continue reading →

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Henry Miller’s Christmas

Posted on December 17, 2018 by Lee

Unexpected Cheer Henry Miller always said that he couldn’t write stories: his books are huge spiral-formed stream-of-consciousness works that can’t really be called novels. And he tends to depict the grim and obscene realities of life rather than giving a … Continue reading →

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Truth in Writing

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Lee

Occasionally people will ask about Henry Miller: was he even a real writer? Wasn’t he a fraud who fooled the world into believing he was the real thing? Miller’s books are, on the one hand, like nothing else that had … Continue reading →

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