FROM ‘HUNGER’

I enjoyed reading Judith Freeman’s article on Knut Hamsun “A Hunger to Be Heard”); but it was not Hamsun’s “stupidity and his naivete” that led him to collaborate with the Nazis, as she postulates.

I had the good fortune to know Henry Miller during the last five years of his life. Henry once said that it wasn’t until after his 40th birthday that he began eating three meals a day. I immediately understood why Henry talked so much about Hamsun, but not for his “Mysteries,” or “Pan,” but for “Hunger,” which must be the only book of its kind.

Henry also referred to Celine, the great French novelist, as the Master. Both Celine and Hamsun were (Nazi) collaborators. I never felt good about Henry’s sentiments for these two men, although their books are classics.

“Look it,” Henry explained to me once, “it’s not that these men liked the Nazis, it’s that they hated their own countries more.”

The depth of Henry’s hatred for his own country can be found in his respect for these two influential writers.

JOHN HUNT, HOLLYWOOD