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Dear Dear Brenda: The Love Letters of Henry Miller to Brenda Venus
This selection of letters written by Miller, then in his eighties, to his neighbor, a young dancer/actress named Brenda Venus, is interwoven with a text by Venus recounting the course of their relationship
- GenresNonfiction
191 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 6, 2018
My day is ruined-in a beautiful way. After reading your two letters and gazing again and again at your lovely photos I can’t work, I can only dream. And since I have no wonderful photos to send you I send you other things. I wish I could fold myself up and mail myself in an envelope to you!
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I am unable to resist you. I want to advance and retreat at the same time.
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Tonight I feel my soul expanding, or, to be more truthful, I am aware that I do indeed possess a soul.
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All I think of is you, you, you. [...] You are not real. You are a dream of a dream. And I am frantically reaching out to snatch it.
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I feel you are never "away" from me. [...] my heart and soul, my very guts carry you constantly.
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What more can one give than Love?
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I am unable to resist you. I want to advance and retreat at the same time.
*
Tonight I feel my soul expanding, or, to be more truthful, I am aware that I do indeed possess a soul.
*
All I think of is you, you, you. [...] You are not real. You are a dream of a dream. And I am frantically reaching out to snatch it.
*
I feel you are never "away" from me. [...] my heart and soul, my very guts carry you constantly.
*
What more can one give than Love?
February 18, 2013
What a fascinating look into one of literatures most notorious lotharios. It has everything you could expect from Miller. Overuse of the word 'cunt,' fantasies about different women holding his pecker, and he's a man in his mid to late 80s talking to a woman more than half his age.
But, it's also romantic. In the end the love Miller had for this woman. Brenda Venus, kept him alive past his expiration date. I agree with what I think is the point of this book, and probably Miller's overall career, which is that women are the oxegon men need to breathe. Women are not just muses to men to create art but they are inspire men to live.
Beautiful letters.
But, it's also romantic. In the end the love Miller had for this woman. Brenda Venus, kept him alive past his expiration date. I agree with what I think is the point of this book, and probably Miller's overall career, which is that women are the oxegon men need to breathe. Women are not just muses to men to create art but they are inspire men to live.
Beautiful letters.
January 17, 2021
"Don’t wear pants these days. Keep the air circulating between your legs. Imagine you are giving in to your feelings."
"You are what the Greeks call “nothing in moderation”"
"It doesn’t seem possible that one person could arouse such love, such adulation and adoration."
"your letters make me more and more “delirious” – I think that’s the word for it. What erogenous zones I have left are quivering with hopeless anticipation."
"Love means more than just being a shining star for the other person … Yes, I love you more than life, but it’s life that keeps us loving, no ?"
"… why can’t you to permit me to caress you, touch you anywhere and everywhere, except in our dreams ? What have you to fear or lose ?
You know it is Love talking, not just crude desire. I want all your love, not just admiration and adulation."
"I wish I could write you in Russian, in Aztec, in Armenian, and Iranian. Because you are unlimited."
"You are what the Greeks call “nothing in moderation”"
"It doesn’t seem possible that one person could arouse such love, such adulation and adoration."
"your letters make me more and more “delirious” – I think that’s the word for it. What erogenous zones I have left are quivering with hopeless anticipation."
"Love means more than just being a shining star for the other person … Yes, I love you more than life, but it’s life that keeps us loving, no ?"
"… why can’t you to permit me to caress you, touch you anywhere and everywhere, except in our dreams ? What have you to fear or lose ?
You know it is Love talking, not just crude desire. I want all your love, not just admiration and adulation."
"I wish I could write you in Russian, in Aztec, in Armenian, and Iranian. Because you are unlimited."
December 19, 2007
Ick. I adore Henry Miller, as long as he is edited. This was awful, I hate seeing him as a pitiful old pervert exposed in personal letters. He was a nutty old bastard.
December 26, 2023
You leave me swimming in mystery. For that I love you all the more.
December 15, 2018
3,5
Miller är en återkommande favorit därför att han har ett så radikalt annat sätt att se på världen än vad många har idag.
Att många poängterat att han är gubbig i sina brev kan jag både hålla med om och inte. Miller har en så uppenbar kärlek till kvinnan och den har jag svårt att se att man bara förkastar med klassiska feministiska grepp. Miller respekterar dessutom Venus som jag uppfattar aldrig har någon önskan till sexuellt umgänge med honom, kanske att det beror på att Miller var så gammal, men kanske också för att han inte bara var en pervers man som bara tog för sig av det han ville ha.
Vad jag ofta saknar i brevväxlingar är den andra partens brev för det blir alltid lite enahanda att enbart läsa Millers brev och inte vad Venus själv skriver. Hon får ofta höra att hon är både intellektuell och vacker, något som gör mig nyfiken på vad hon har skrivit till honom.
Oavsett så tycker jag det är värt att läsa hans brev till Venus då breven är rikare än bara hans kärleksförklaringar till henne. Dessutom är det en ganska lättsam läsning som man snabbat tar sig genom.
Miller är en återkommande favorit därför att han har ett så radikalt annat sätt att se på världen än vad många har idag.
Att många poängterat att han är gubbig i sina brev kan jag både hålla med om och inte. Miller har en så uppenbar kärlek till kvinnan och den har jag svårt att se att man bara förkastar med klassiska feministiska grepp. Miller respekterar dessutom Venus som jag uppfattar aldrig har någon önskan till sexuellt umgänge med honom, kanske att det beror på att Miller var så gammal, men kanske också för att han inte bara var en pervers man som bara tog för sig av det han ville ha.
Vad jag ofta saknar i brevväxlingar är den andra partens brev för det blir alltid lite enahanda att enbart läsa Millers brev och inte vad Venus själv skriver. Hon får ofta höra att hon är både intellektuell och vacker, något som gör mig nyfiken på vad hon har skrivit till honom.
Oavsett så tycker jag det är värt att läsa hans brev till Venus då breven är rikare än bara hans kärleksförklaringar till henne. Dessutom är det en ganska lättsam läsning som man snabbat tar sig genom.
July 20, 2012
Henry Miller indirizzò queste lettere a Brenda Venus, scrivendo del suo amore come un uomo che si innamora per la prima volta.
Sono pagine in cui, pur essendo vecchio ed ammalato, Miller non manca di ottimismo, continua a mostrarsi l'uomo traboccante di vita che abbiamo conosciuto nelle altre opere.
Sono pagine in cui, pur essendo vecchio ed ammalato, Miller non manca di ottimismo, continua a mostrarsi l'uomo traboccante di vita che abbiamo conosciuto nelle altre opere.
April 23, 2010
Since i read it, i fell in love with henry miler <3
February 3, 2020
This was quite interesting, as someone who has only read a couple of Henry Miller books (and none of his most famous ones). However, it got rather repetitious after a while, and didn't seem to go anywhere. The letters contain essentially two types of content: Miller's advice and book recommendations to Brenda which I found the more interesting as Miller read many off-the-beaten-track writers, as well as better known ones like Dostoievsky, Lawrence Durrell, Gogol, Balzac, Baudelaire, etc; and his expressions of adoration and sexual desire to Brenda. This latter got rather tiresome, though perhaps it is inspiring (if that's the right word) to read about a man falling in love in his 80s.
Brenda wrote a few explanatory notes in between the letters, but I wanted to know more: the context of some of the letters (e.g. Miller helps her get interviews with Francois Truffaut and other directors - why? What was she planning? No clues), and what was Brenda up to. It eventually becomes clear that Brenda was a young woman who very much wanted to learn from Henry about life, writing, love, honesty and how to live life. She was earnestly seeking an education, and I think she got it, but her responses have to be largely guessed at.
If you've read "The Books in My Life" or "Henry Miller on Writing", you probably won't find much that's new here, except the outpourings of an infatuated old man.
Brenda wrote a few explanatory notes in between the letters, but I wanted to know more: the context of some of the letters (e.g. Miller helps her get interviews with Francois Truffaut and other directors - why? What was she planning? No clues), and what was Brenda up to. It eventually becomes clear that Brenda was a young woman who very much wanted to learn from Henry about life, writing, love, honesty and how to live life. She was earnestly seeking an education, and I think she got it, but her responses have to be largely guessed at.
If you've read "The Books in My Life" or "Henry Miller on Writing", you probably won't find much that's new here, except the outpourings of an infatuated old man.
August 23, 2022
Últimamente hace tanto caloraco y el mundo es tan poco mundo, tan inmundo, por ende, que sólo siento ganas y pulsión de sacar a pasear al mi Mr. Hyde de los Agostos que suda y desepera en la zona cero de mi boca.
La lección/moralina/chusta recalcitrante de hoy, mis queridos amigos, es: "mucho cuidado con los cajones y las bandejas de correo, que las carga el Diablo y este Mundo Inmundo está lleno de hijos de la gran puta..." Sea.
https://diariosoluble.blogspot.com/20...
La lección/moralina/chusta recalcitrante de hoy, mis queridos amigos, es: "mucho cuidado con los cajones y las bandejas de correo, que las carga el Diablo y este Mundo Inmundo está lleno de hijos de la gran puta..." Sea.
https://diariosoluble.blogspot.com/20...
July 30, 2024
Star pisatelj, mlada igralka. Magična privlačnost, ki se zgodi. Do popolnosti manjkajo njena pisma njemu. A vseeno si z malo domišljije zlahka predstavljaš, kaj vse mu je pisala, in kakšen točno je bil njun odnos.
August 31, 2017
Must read Henry Miller at some point in my life.
January 31, 2018
There are so many things about this book I simply do not buy in on. Henry may have thought Brenda his final muse, but I have other words for it.
July 1, 2016
Prendete un uomo di 85 anni. Una persona intelligente, unica, creativa. Un artista. Che però è ormai sul viale del tramonto. A dire la verità ne sta percorrendo gli ultimi passi.
Poi prendete una donna di 25 anni, un'attrice alle sue prime uscite, una bellissima donna con un seno prosperoso che sparge voluttuosità in ogni movimento.
Immaginate che si scrivano delle lettere.
Come potrebbero essere? Di cosa parlerebbero? Forse l'artista anziano consiglierebbe come vivere alla ragazza giovane. Oppure la raccomanderebbe ai molti produttori di Hollywood che conosce.
Forse sarebbe così.
Se non fosse che i due personaggi in questione sono Brenda Venus... E Henry Miller. E allora si parla del sesso tra due persone con 60 anni di differenza. Si parla di amore. Di bellezza. Di sensualità.
Un bel romanzo, piacevole, a cui manca soltanto la forza del Miller dei due tropici. Da leggere? Se dovete proprio scegliere consiglio Tropico del Cancro per cominciare.
Poi prendete una donna di 25 anni, un'attrice alle sue prime uscite, una bellissima donna con un seno prosperoso che sparge voluttuosità in ogni movimento.
Immaginate che si scrivano delle lettere.
Come potrebbero essere? Di cosa parlerebbero? Forse l'artista anziano consiglierebbe come vivere alla ragazza giovane. Oppure la raccomanderebbe ai molti produttori di Hollywood che conosce.
Forse sarebbe così.
Se non fosse che i due personaggi in questione sono Brenda Venus... E Henry Miller. E allora si parla del sesso tra due persone con 60 anni di differenza. Si parla di amore. Di bellezza. Di sensualità.
Un bel romanzo, piacevole, a cui manca soltanto la forza del Miller dei due tropici. Da leggere? Se dovete proprio scegliere consiglio Tropico del Cancro per cominciare.
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March 8, 2021Sono indeciso tra queste conclusioni: - uno scrittore ormai anziano conosce una giovane e bella attrice e se ne innamora perdutamente scrivendole lettere d'amore e di passione proibita. - Henry Miller a 84 anni si rincoglionisce per una attricetta e scrive lettere francamente imbarazzanti per dichiararle il suo desiderio ardente. - Una delle tante aspiranti starlette in giro per la California capisce che puo' guadagnarci qualcosa e sta al gioco conservando tutte le lettere che un grandissimo scrittore ormai decrepito le scrive sperando che lei si conceda almeno un po'. - invecchiare puo' essere triste, se sei stato un grande scrittore è ancora piu' triste, se hai passato la vita ad inseguire le tue passioni e ora non ci riesci più ma il tuo cuore non ne vuol sapere di invecchiare assieme a tutto il resto è un dramma. Brenda Venus, sappi che non vali nemmeno un capello di June Smith!
April 1, 2008
Just a little ways into this book. I have read one of Henry Miller's books and liked it. I am not to sure about this book, which is love letter's to Brenda Venus. Not real great so far. Not recommended.
October 24, 2007
This is hard to classify. Why the hell is drooling over this chick, hes about to fucking die! the energy and intense emotion that he carried all the way to his ending years baffles me.
March 31, 2012
what a great insight into this amazing mans thoughts. granted he comes off as a horny old man--- but we don't have brenda's letters to see what she may have encourage him in ;)
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September 3, 2008I am looking for this book to read! Like a man looking for water!
December 11, 2010
One of my favorites.
May 11, 2023
ik voelde me voyeuristisch en laf dat de brieven maar 1 richting op gingen
March 27, 2017
Can't say its a good book, but it gave me a lot of laughs and is heartbreaking in its own way.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews