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Sexus (The Rosy Crucifixion #1)

4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 · rating details · 3,838 ratings · 141 reviews

On a pu dire de son œuvre qu'elle était pornographique et immorale. Et jamais Henry Miller n'aurait démenti ces propos. Aux États-Unis, Henry Miller est l'homme par qui le scandale arrive. Le scandale de celui qui ose dire la vérité du sexe, obstinément et crûment. Dans Sexus, deuxième opus de son autobiographie, on retrouve un Henry Miller âgé d'une trentaine d'années qui...more

Paperback, 506 pages

Published January 12th 1994 by Grove Press (first published 1949)

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Sep 04, 2007 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm an artist, blah blah blah blah blah, I have promiscuous sex, blah blah blah blah blah, my wife is a lesbian, blah blah blah blah blah, I just got some genital warts, blah blah blah blah blah, banged my wife's lesbian lover, blah blah blah blah blah, I'm a poet, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah....

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Jun 30, 2007 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: intellectual rebels

This is such a difficult book to write about because it's so expansive and so forthright in its world view. This is my first foray into Henry Miller and lets just say that it has truly altered my perceptions, and affected my world view. Miller is a nutjob, and often times you can't help but loathe his actions and are revolted by his way of thinking, but this is where he succeeds and makes his strongest victories. Miller's writing is the most confessional personal essay one can imagine. He never...more This is such a difficult book to write about because it's so expansive and so forthright in its world view. This is my first foray into Henry Miller and lets just say that it has truly altered my perceptions, and affected my world view. Miller is a nutjob, and often times you can't help but loathe his actions and are revolted by his way of thinking, but this is where he succeeds and makes his strongest victories. Miller's writing is the most confessional personal essay one can imagine. He never shies away from telling us of his more devious visions in order to create a more likeable personality for himself. He strips himself bare and includes his most bizarre sexual and primal impulses. Obviously there is a strong emphasis on the book's sexual proclivities as it was a pivotal moment in the deconstruction of our country's censorship laws, but Miller (I believe) is not trying to be overtly graphic in his sex writing merely to shock people so he can sell more books. In my opinion he includes the sex scenes in all their detailed glory because he wants to give them as much space in his writing as they exist in his world. Sex is a huge part of most people's lives, be it actually having sex or merely thinking about it. Miller was an especially amorous person, so a book about his life is going to contain a lot of sexual writing. Is this a sensational way to write a book? Damn right. But the beauty of Miller is that he couldn't give two shits. He is driven and unrepentant of any of his beliefs. He wasn't trying to start a revolution here, he was just writing the only way he could. And controversial subject matter aside, it's just worth reading for the poetic style of his prose which contains some of the most aesthetically beautiful sentences, forget content, that I have ever read. There are times I would read paragraphs out loud to myself just to hear the way they sounded coming off my tongue. So yeah, I like Henry Miller. He has won me over as a convert and I'm very excited to delve deeper into his other writings.(less)

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Jul 09, 2012 Ana Celia rated it 2 of 5 stars

I tried to finish reading Sexus this weekend, but I just can’t. I wish I could erase it, that I could go back and get the time I spent back. I first took it to read four or five years ago and gave up. I decided to try again thinking maybe I was not ready to read a Miller’s book. I was wrong. I don’t know what category I can put this book. It tries to be a philosophical book like Brothers Karamazov, but all the caracter has to make philosophy is his sexual adventures or lack of good life.

I don’t...more

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Jun 22, 2012 robxyz marked it as to-read

Sexus � il primo volume di quell'opera controversa che � la cosiddetta "Crocifissione in Rosa", "Plexus" e "Nexus" sono gli altri volumi: se per questi due vale il consiglio di tenersene alla larga in quanto irrimediabilmente noiosi (solo il mio amore sconfinato per HM mi ha permesso di finirli, ma e' stata durissima), questo non vale per "Sexus". Henry Miller qui si esprime ai suoi massimi livelli, e introduce in dettaglio quel personaggio chiave della sue opere che e' Mara/Mona, nonche' l'irre...more

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Aug 31, 2011 MJ Nicholls rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: merkins, novels, tortured-artists

Jesus. Just Jesus. Jesus wept.

I think that’s enough review in itself, but I have to spill a little about Miller. Someone on the internets told me I wrote like Miller three moons ago, and having finished Sexus, I want to hunt them down and gore them. First things first: I don’t write pornographic scenes with a vaginal fixation every twenty or so pages where the women have nineteen orgasms and beg to be pronged upon the narrator’s almighty winkle. Well, not anymore.

Second: I don’t philosophise a...more

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Apr 20, 2011 Sahar rated it 4 of 5 stars

صبوات أو سكسوس هي أول الكتب في "ثلاثية الصلب الوردي " والتي تصنف كونها سيرة ذاتية لهنري ميلر

ميلر من الرواة القلّه الذين يمتلكون دقة الوصف وقوة التعبير حتى لكأن المشاهد تصوّر أمامك في فيلم طويل .. وطويل جداً .. وهذا ما قد يعيبه .. إذ أن إيقاع الملل يستبد بك حين وتتمكن أنت منه حيناً آخر

يحكي الجزء الأول معاناة فشل زواجه وطريقه في الوقوع بحب امرأة أحلامه التي كانت "عاهره" .. وصراع الكبار في وظيفته الصغيره

هي بالتأكيد كحياة أي كاتب آخر .. ولكنك ستعشق الكثير من الاقتباسات التي لن تراها إلا تجسّد حال...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Ricardo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: erotica

Henry Miller partiu em 1930 da sua Nova Iorque natal para Paris. No entanto, quem era este homem, antes da viagem? A sua obra Sexus é uma pista.

Recuando até aos anos 30, logo após a Grande Depressão, ou à década de 40 do pós-guerra, é normal que esta obra seja e deva ser encarada como chocante. É normal porque o relato de um homem que vive contra a maré, tem de chocar aqueles que sempre seguiram a corrente do rio. Não se deve esquecer que aqueles acontecimentos são autênticas quedas de água no r...more Henry Miller partiu em 1930 da sua Nova Iorque natal para Paris. No entanto, quem era este homem, antes da viagem? A sua obra Sexus é uma pista.

Recuando até aos anos 30, logo após a Grande Depressão, ou à década de 40 do pós-guerra, é normal que esta obra seja e deva ser encarada como chocante. É normal porque o relato de um homem que vive contra a maré, tem de chocar aqueles que sempre seguiram a corrente do rio. Não se deve esquecer que aqueles acontecimentos são autênticas quedas de água no rio da humanidade, pontos onde a corrente não volta atrás, independentemente da fase da lua, representando o que de pior a ganância e a soberba humanas têm para dar. A sociedade daí resultante procurou então seguir um rumo contrário, dotada do mesmo extremismo da anterior, no entanto, e das mesmas fachadas. Fundamentalmente, não importa se o que vinga é o glamour e opulência dos anos 20, a belle époque, ou se a contenção dos anos 30, ou os valores morais dos anos 40, todos eles exageradamente extremistas, invariavelmente condenados a serem fachadas.

Sexus é portanto uma viagem a uma Nova Iorque que vive das fachadas dos seus habitantes. Uma Nova Iorque que se esconde por trás de fachadas de edifícios, no aconchego do lar; um olhar público sobre acontecimentos privados. Isso realmente choca as mentalidades da década de 40, tão seguras da sua superioridade moral, tanto como a vitória na Guerra os podia deixar, tanto que proíbem a publicação desta obra, dita, obscena, que de obscena só tem a demolição de fachadas.

A viagem de Miller, e viagem porque grande parte da acção decorre na rua ou a caminho de outro local, é uma viagem à vida dessa cidade que se orgulha de não dormir, feita pelo olhar de um aspirante a escritor, amargurado e desgostoso. Não é uma viagem onde, pornograficamente, mulheres esculturais caem no colo do macho de serviço, mas onde, pornograficamente, é fácil acabar-se na cama com uma.

Pornograficamente? O pornográfico de Miller reside no escrever sobre esse aspecto determinante sobre as relações humanas: aquilo que fisicamente une duas pessoas de sexo oposto. No fundo, aquilo que desde os primórdios assegura a multiplicação da espécie, mesmo que não seja efectuado com esse fim. A base da união... A base do nosso ser social! O pornográfico de Miller, em Sexus, é o deixar cair a cortina para o que se passa nos quartos desses homens e mulheres que se amam! No fundo, o que choca em Sexus não é o que lemos, mas a realização de que estamos a ler o que gostávamos de poder dizer!

Outras leituras se podem tirar de Miller e que são também elas chocantes, para um sociedade estratificada, organizada e que não aceita mudanças. Implicitamente pode-se concluir que não há fórmulas para a felicidade. Pelo personagem principal, esse Mr Miller, esse Val que nunca é identificado, vemos que a satisfação de cada impulso físico do nosso corpo não nos traz felicidade. Afinal, ele entrega-se aos prazeres da carne em múltiplas situações, com múltiplas intervenientes e mesmo assim acaba na sarjeta à procura de algo, vazio e não realizado. Apesar de ceder às vontades não atinge a felicidade. Nem a sua primeira esposa, tão dotada ao casamento de fachada que a sociedade lhe impunha encontra a felicidade, ou não voltaria para ele em busca dessa realização física que o casamento lhe tirara. Onde está então a fórmula da felicidade e da realização? Não é uma resposta que Miller, pornograficamente demolindo as fachadas dos prédios, pornograficamente expondo os quartos, os corredores, as salas, o conforto dos lares, nos dê. Tudo o que ele nos dá é um olhar próprio das salas que frequentou, os quartos onde dormiu, as mulheres que amou. Tudo o resto fica a cargo de quem nele se reveja. Os erros que achem que cometeu, as virtudes que manifestou...

Quanto a mim foi dos livros mais difíceis de ler que encontrei. Várias vezes voltei atrás para reler dois ou três capítulos, noutras alturas parava simplesmente, e como se meteu uma mudança de casa pelo meio, durante quase um ano não soube do paradeiro da obra. Que demorou três anos a ser lida! De resto, quem partir para este livro com esperança que o título indique o que ele relata, terá uma grande desilusão uma vez que o título não indica mais do que uma ferramenta que o autor usa, não o objecto da sua narração.(less)

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Sep 18, 2012 Michael Nurse rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book the first I read it. It is a confessional poured out of a spittoon full of of piss, bile, semen, angst, blood, guts and ego. The moments when he meets June Mansfield Smith, Mona, Mara whatever are sublime. The trajectory downward into self humiliation, self deception and utter depravity are rivetting. This is warts and all story telling of one mans defeat in everything he was puruing in life but he continues to spit out his philosophical arguments and his world view at the very...more

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Mar 02, 2010 Kristen Shaw rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: post-modern-novels

It's amazing how predictable the early postmodern aesthetic has become. Sexus reminds me a lot of a pared-down and more accesible version of Beautiful Losers. There are similar themes running through both: sex and the divinity of the body, direct experience taking precedent over intellectualism, the role of the writer in history/as a story-teller, etc. What is funny about this book (and something that also irks me a little bit) is the Bataille-like, self-consciously trangressive tone that reads...more

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Nov 29, 2009 Randi Hope rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have to admit, I read every Henry Miller book when I was in High School, that was a long time ago.

If you want to liberate your repressed sexual appetite- read these books. Although, having done that already, his books seem to be redundant. Sexus seemed to be part of a series of books which are all of HM's books. This book, like many others, describes his sexual escapades, affairs with married women, his incessant mooching and irresponsibility- however, if you are even a little repressed, his...more

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Nov 10, 2012 Abdullah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

ما الذي يمكن قوله في كتاب عنوانه اللاتيني يعني " الجنس " !
هذا الكتاب كان ممنوعاً في أمريكا بلد الكاتب نفسه . و قد أحدث صدمة كبيرة استاء منها هنري قائلاً ما هذا الرياء ! لماذا يرفض الناس قراءة ما يقولون و يفعلون ! يقول أنه ليس مهووس بالجنس على عكس العالم ! يؤكد في حواراته أنه ضد الإباحية و مع الفسوق فالأخير صريح على عكس الأول ! و بما أن الجنس جزء أساسي من الحياة فلن يتورع عن كتابته بكل فحش ! الكلمة الأخيرة محببة لهنري .

الكتاب هو الجزء الأول من ثلاثيته التي يتناول فيها سيرته الروائية لا الذاتية !...more
ما الذي يمكن قوله في كتاب عنوانه اللاتيني يعني " الجنس " !
هذا الكتاب كان ممنوعاً في أمريكا بلد الكاتب نفسه . و قد أحدث صدمة كبيرة استاء منها هنري قائلاً ما هذا الرياء ! لماذا يرفض الناس قراءة ما يقولون و يفعلون ! يقول أنه ليس مهووس بالجنس على عكس العالم ! يؤكد في حواراته أنه ضد الإباحية و مع الفسوق فالأخير صريح على عكس الأول ! و بما أن الجنس جزء أساسي من الحياة فلن يتورع عن كتابته بكل فحش ! الكلمة الأخيرة محببة لهنري .

الكتاب هو الجزء الأول من ثلاثيته التي يتناول فيها سيرته الروائية لا الذاتية ! و هنري ينهل بالأساس من معين حياته الغريبة و ترحاله البطوطي إن صح التعبير و بطبيعة الحال من تأملاته . فالكتاب يمكن القول أنه غني بالجنس فاحتمال أن تفتح الكتاب بشكل عشوائي لتجد مقطع ساخن يقارب ال 40 بالمئة ! و هو بعيداً عن ذلك - في الحقيقة هو لا يبتعد بالقدر الكافي - كتاب مليء بفلسفة هنري اللاذعة و سخريته النارية و تأملاته الشاطح منها و المصيب بدقة . يتناول العلاقات الاجتماعية حتى العظم ، كما يهاجم المباديء الحمقاء التي لا بد من التنازل عنها لصالح الحياة . و هو يقدس الحياة و يحب أن يعيشها كاملة حتى أقصى حدّ . يكفي أنه في منتصف الثمانيات من عمره و قبيل وفاته كان مغرماً ! يحب أيضاً تحطيم التابوهات و يباهي بذلك و يعود الفضل أو الإثم له كاملاً في تحرير الكتّاب من بعده . لا شك أن هنري ميللر لا يعرف الوسطية و قراءه لن يتمكنوا من ذلك . فإما كراهية و عداوة أبدية أو حب و تغاضي عن نزواته و طيشه . بالنسبة لي يروق لي أسلوبه و طريقة كتابته البارعة و تشبيهاته السوريالية . (less)

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May 28, 2011 Robert Ross rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs-biographies, goodfiction, favorites

"It must have been a Thursday night when I met her for the first time --at the dance hall. I reported to work in the morning, after an hour or two's sleep, looking like a somnambulist. The day passed like a dream. After dinner I fell asleep on the couch and awoke full dressed about six the next morning. I felt thoroughly refreshed, pure at heart, and obsessed with one idea --to have her at any cost. Walking through the park I debated what sort of flowers to send with the book I had promised (Win...more

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Oct 27, 2010 Rose rated it 5 of 5 stars

Henry Miller always writes with a surge of life being pushed through his pen. His stories, countless stories, always with another point of view - at one moment, as an all-knowing superior man, and the next, as a good-for-nothing, useless piece of garbage that's floating about the air. He's all too ready to express his truth, even when it doesn't serve him favorably. Who can't relate?
Sex is part of life. The view that Henry Miller is attempting to show himself off as some kind of Casanova has nev...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Manu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Let's be honest, I was 15 and just a little bit obsessed by sex. Henry Miller's Sexus was by far the most explicit book available at our home, and i loved certain parts of it. I guess you know which ones.

But still, 20 years later, I do remember Miller's talent for painfully honest descriptions of what is seldom written about, often with himself as the main charachter. The man knew no shame, and I'm convinced that he freed scores of people from the idea of being sexually deviant. Everybode has w...more

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Feb 09, 2010 Greg rated it 4 of 5 stars

Only a short way into this one, but I just love Miller's writing. He makes you work hard, but it's always worth it. He comes up with ideas and descriptions that are just amazing and always unexpected.

I always feel obligated to point out that there's a lot of racist and sexist language in his books. It can detract from the writing if you let it. Saying "that's how people were back then" doesn't really excuse it, if you ask me, but I just think the writing is so strong that you can overlook it, an...more

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Dec 21, 2010 Shama rated it 5 of 5 stars

please read my review on my blog!

http://mostlyaboutmusic.wordpress.com...

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Jun 17, 2011 Mike Lester rated it 5 of 5 stars

What I say here will also stand for Plexus and Nexus (I consider them all to be parts of one large book.) I'll be short and to the point. Miller gives us the raw experience of his life, his desire to write, and how he found his voice. In this series of books we see many people come and go, many emotions move from despair to joy, mundane thoughts to almost mystical realization; all in the easygoing, conversational voice of Henry Miller. Reading these books is like sitting at a table with the man...more

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Mar 04, 2008 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Henry Miller is one raunchy fella.

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Mar 13, 2009 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: James

Shelves: expanding, i-have-an-agenda, 35-as-35

There are sections of brilliance, exposes of truth and not entirely unfounded strains of honest, real thought where I felt both awe of reading genius and simple satisfaction of his acknowledgment of the obvious in people. To Miller sex is not sacred. He describes it with the full detail and all the sentiment of a dentist detailing a root canal or tooth replacement or the innocent physics of the combustion engine. His lengthy treatments of normally taboo topics of conversation as commonplace inte...more

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Mar 09, 2012 Xavier rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: literatura-norteamericana

Terminar de leer Sexus de Henry Miller fue una "crucifixión" realmente. Las escenas sexuales quizás lo más comentado acerca del libro no llamaron mi atención, quizás por el hecho de leerlo en una época donde el sexo y la pornografía instantánea pueblan los medios haciendo que la fuerza reveladora que originalmente tuvo el libro quede empañada. Mi lectura no fue por ese aspecto particular como podría sugerir el título del libro, más bien lo hice por la interrogante de saber los inicios del Miller...more Terminar de leer Sexus de Henry Miller fue una "crucifixión" realmente. Las escenas sexuales quizás lo más comentado acerca del libro no llamaron mi atención, quizás por el hecho de leerlo en una época donde el sexo y la pornografía instantánea pueblan los medios haciendo que la fuerza reveladora que originalmente tuvo el libro quede empañada. Mi lectura no fue por ese aspecto particular como podría sugerir el título del libro, más bien lo hice por la interrogante de saber los inicios del Miller que terminó en París en Trópico de Cáncer, curiosidad por personajes literarios por ponerlo de otro modo. Lo que no esperé al comprar el libro fue encontrarme con una prueba de resistencia a las descripciones y los monólogos interiores de Miller, al llegar a la página 300 estaba agotado y solo era la mitad del libro, buscaba una trama y no existía, buscaba algo en el personaje o en su historia que me genere empatía y tampoco hallaba nada, fue como vislumbrar un largo túnel con ventanas ocasionales. Raras ventanas de luz que se presentaron en forma de conversaciones sobre el papel del artista y su relación con el arte o hilarantes anécdotas como el japonés aficionado a los servicios sexuales de muchachas americanas. Interesante ver como el proyecto de Miller por desenmascarar la hipocresía de la sociedad en torno a lo sexual terminó convirtiéndose en parte fundamental de su estilo, tomando como base la presentación directa de sus experiencias junto con las reflexiones que este tenía desde su particular punto de vista, hasta ahí todo esta muy bien, pero cuando extendemos esto a 632 páginas hace de la lectura un ejercicio extenuante. Seré feliz sabiendo que Miller conoció posteriormente en su vida de casado a la verdadera Mona ( la del último capítulo ) y que terminará viajando a París con 10 doláres prestados en el bolsillo. El ciclo se ha cerrado.

Actualización 9 de Marzo del 2012.

Bukowsky on Miller

If Henry Miller reviews me and it comes out bad, don’t worry. I once reviewed Henry Miller. I was in a little bus station in the middle of Texas and some gal who had been ramming her tongue down my throat went into the ladies’ room and I walked over to the newsstand with my hair down in my eyes and I bought one of the Cancers, I forget which, and Henry understood that the only way to get to a man was to speak the language of the day, the present tongue, but he got to a part where he talked about a guy with a big cock and how he made it with all the women with THIS BIG COCK, and he went on and on with this and I began getting sleepy and worse…worse than ANYTHING, I got the idea that Henry Miller the ALL-KNOWING didn’t know much more about fucking than to talk about it, and that’s the way most non-fuckers are.
You know, I wonder if Henry Miller is really all that good? I've tried to read his books on cross-country buses but when he gets into those long parts in between sex he is a very dull fellow indeed. On cross-country buses I usually have to put down my Henry Miller and try to find somebody's legs to look up, preferably female
(less)

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Aug 31, 2010 Praj rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hm

Henry Miller quotes,"Whatever I do is done out of sheer joy; I drop my fruits like a ripe tree. What the general reader or the critic makes of them is not my concern."

Maintaining Henry’s charm; let the perversity surge.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am Henry Miller and I’m in a gratifying allegiance with my penis. I LOVE TO FUCK!!! Screw every pussy in town!! YooHoo!! My ex-wife is a lesbian! Yay!! I fucked my wife’s lesbian lover; for years! Whoa! Aren’t I an uncouth, sordid dirty little bastard?

Thin...more

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Mar 09, 2011 Pooja rated it 3 of 5 stars

A fun, ridiculous read. I understand this was a brilliant, groundbreaking book when published, but the "shocking" sexytime scenes started to get a little boring pretty early. I did love the descriptions of 1940s New York and enjoyed a lot of Miller's rants about modern life and people. Before they got a bit worn. I don't know, it was fine. I was hoping for something more transcendent. About page 400 I was waiting for the end. The angry smugness, superiority, punctuated by hilarity and self-aware...more

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Jan 15, 2010 Maria Borland rated it 3 of 5 stars

'Me and my mates' writing at its best. Autobiographical notes of a sociopath. Miller's objectification of EVERYBODY leads to some remarkably insightful observations on human interaction, as well as some highly graphic yet convincing and frequently arousing sex scenes. Miler does not exclude himself in his clinical dissection of flaws, insecurities and delusions, making his writing peculiarly compelling. Ironically it is the sections (thankfully few) where Miller moves away from specifics in favo...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Fatih Öztürk rated it 5 of 5 stars

Kahraman bakış açısıyla yazarken karşıdakinin konuşmalarını da kahramanın ağzından aktarıyor yer yer. Bu alay veya geçiştirme havası katabiliyor yerine göre. Bunu gayet iyi oturtmuş.

Ayrıca otobiyagrafik bir özellik taşımasından öteri aşırı karakter kullanmasını göz ardı etsem de karakter harcadığını edemeyeceğim. Sadece 10 sayfalık güzel göğüslü bir kadının kişiliğini 9 sayfada aktarırken bütün romanda geçen bir karakteri birkaç paragrafla kısıtlıyor.Bu rahatsız edici.

Onun dışında olağanüstü akı...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Daria rated it 3 of 5 stars

Don't read this book for a cohesive plot or easy read. Read this book if you want to think about larger questions about love, life, marriage, sex, and relationships. I'm not surprised this book was banned in some places, as it's filled with sex scenes that altogether are pretty hilarious because they're so outrageous. I thought the writing was great, but I also tired of it halfway because there were only so many philosophical tangents I could take.

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Jan 18, 2012 Fatty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

How interesting that many readers respond to Anais Nin's sexuality so positively and then react to Henry Miller with such repulsion. I think it's important to note that Nin is the true pornographer (she writes unusually sensitive and socially and psychologically complex pornography, but it would be difficult to claim that the object of her work is not erotic arousal, while Miller's primary interest throughout the novel is his character's progress as an artist). Miller's explicit scenes have vari...more

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Mar 23, 2007 Jared Busch rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: dirty devils

Shelves: alltimefavorites, henry-miller

Some of Miller's most inspiring writing, I think. This is the kind of book you want to come with a highlighter so you can remember where those amazing passages are to quote again and again. That said, it's not for everybody, especially prudes. The gratuitious sex scenes almost turned me off from this book only for their sheer unbelievability and ridiculous frequency... but it all made sense in the end... or rather once I started reading Plexus, which contains absolutely NO sex scenes at all. Sex...more

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Feb 20, 2013 words from people and people as pills (Sofia) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Miller isn't only outspoken when showing his view of human sexual actracion - he is animalistic, which we all have are at some point, but in that field he adds almost only calculating, perverse or misunderstood feelings and thoughts to man. On the other hand we have a Miller who talks about the masks of man, the knowledge we have of other people and our own, the place of man in society - man is the subject of his thought. So what I really find interesting in this book is that the subject is a ma...more

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Aug 04, 2011 Benny rated it 5 of 5 stars

I finished this a little while back but haven't opened this visual bookshelf in awhile. The sex is a footnote. Henry Miller is insightful and witty. Even if he changes the subject the way most people do when they talk, he's a good talker and therefore a good writer. You want to read Miller, like people undoubtedly wanted to listen to him talk when he was living.

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Sep 24, 2009 Splashconception rated it 5 of 5 stars

mad flights of surrealist language, excerises in anarchy, sex and the despair that first touches of the mad life that creates the artist. If you want to be a writer check this book out. All about Henry's tumultuous routines with June and his wife (before June, who he apparently despises) and a mad cast of characters including Kronski: the fat doctor.

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About Henry Miller

Henry Miller sought to reestablish the freedom to live without the conventional restraints of civilization. His books are potpourris of sexual description, quasi-philosophical speculation, reflection on literature and society, surrealistic imaginings, and autobiographical incident.

After living in Paris in the 1930s, he returned to the United States and settled in Big Sur, Calif. Miller's first tw...more

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Quotes from Sexus

“Imagination is the voice of daring. If there is anything godlike about God, it is that. He dared to imagine everything” — 131 people liked it

“Life's wildest moment---she kneels on the sidewalk. Everything else she does is lies, lies.” — 74 people liked it

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