3.44 AVERAGE


what a lovely erotic romp. a story that just falls through various characters and situations.

I'm not a person who usually needs trigger warnings, but I could've used a heads up on this one. How this was explained to me versus what this actually is are worlds apart. The writing is often beautiful, no doubt. Though, definitely not my cup of tea....
challenging dark funny fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I see a lot of people reviewing this book saying it’s “icky” or using other immature terms like that when referring to it. Not to sound like a condescending literary bro, but that’s the point in a way and also you’re obviously not familiar with the genre. I would also say you didn’t see the authors introduction where she spoke of writing these stories for money and testing her limits for how wild and extreme she could make these stories for the collector buying them. Hence why there’s necrophilia, dubious consent, pedophilia, and all mater of things that make the reader uncomfortable as she is trying to tackle so many taboos. Anaïs Nin was an odd woman, but she burst in and made strides in the realm of erotica which was long considered a man’s genre. She was able to write about sex from a distinctly female perspective and desire from a more poetic stance. Without her we wouldn’t have the sexy and spicy romance everyone enjoys today. 

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adventurous mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
medium-paced

3.5/5

Let's get one thing straight. This is erotica. Erotica erotica erotica erotica erotica. You know that phenomenon when you say something so many times that it temporarily loses its meaning? Firstly, it's a psychological phenomenon known as semantic satiation. Secondly, that's what I'm trying to do here with the word 'erotica'. Erotica erotica erotica erotica erotica. Run through that a few more times if you haven't sufficiently stripped yourself of assumptions, contextual peripheries, and all other sorts of ideological clutter. Also, don't even think of the word 'porn'. This isn't one-two-hup-hup-hup gratification on the simplest level of human biological stimulation. This is literature.

Feeling free of all that? Good. Because the theme that I'm working through in this review is this: erotica is a genre of wasted potential.

You heard me. Wasted potential. Just look at its current representative in the popular media. Not only is it a ripoff of a fanfiction of Twilight, a book that is an advocate of both poor writing and abusive relationships, it manages to compound both of those qualities to even more horrendous levels. Thanks to that book, the misconceptions regarding the more eclectic sexual activities have never been more horrible or widespread. I'm not even going to try to discuss the writing.

Now, let's return to the book at hand. Delta of Venus was published in 1977, thirty-four years before 50SoG. Had the erotica genre been taken seriously at any time since then, it could have been a game changer. Perhaps not for the quality of writing, which comes nowhere close to the masters, but not only does it cover a wide variety of sexual situations in unflinching physical detail without the slightest hint of judgment, it also touches on a huge number of issues that are present in how society treats sexual matters today (Yes, once again I am deconstructing societal issues. If you don't like it, shoo. You have the rest of the Internet. This place is mine.)

These issues include: varieties of sexuality, sociocultural gender constraints, patriarchal oppression, proper conductance of BDSM, fetishes ranging from pedophilia to necrophilia to gerontophilia to myriad objects, scents, textures, you name it, Nin's probably mentioned it. While her writing isn't the most prettily poetic thing under the sun, what it does accomplish is show exactly what is running through the participants' minds without once fetishizing abusive or bigoted aspects of sexuality, as well as get the reader comfortable with parts of the anatomy that society for whatever reason has an attitude both puritanical and childish towards. When you can't use the word 'vagina' when discussing abortion issues in governmental procedures, you know something's extremely wrong with the world.

I know there is literature out there that deals with the more uneasy aspects of sexual issues, even some like Lolita that are widely praised by the literary community. That doesn't change the fact that the genre of erotica is largely met with titters and contempt when it isn't banned outright, and the majority of its literature is filled with connotations of unrealistic sexual dynamics, borderline abusive situations, and frankly just a lot of bad writing.

When it comes to sociocultural progress, I see no catalyst more powerful than that of literature, especially literature that survives and thrives for centuries well into present times. Out of every genre of literature, the least likely to be taught in classrooms is that of erotica. Maybe you'll get a book that involves rape, or one that hints at homosexual liaisons, or perhaps relationships deemed illicit by reason of race, class, or culture. It is highly unlikely that a book that details sexual relations both healthy and unrestricted by stereotypes will ever make its way into the classroom without being met by childish behavior by both the students and their parents. Not while sexual education ignores the ramifications of rape culture, the realities of relationships fluid in both gender and sexual preferences, and the harmful effects of the ideologically constraining concepts of masculinity and femininity. No representation in classrooms leads to infantile reactions to it in reality leads to barely any incentive for writers to try their hand at it. It's a vicious cycle.

So, next time you see someone with 50SoG, inform them that there is a much better book out there called Delta of Venus that is not only erotica, but classic erotica. They probably won't ignorantly enjoy it as much as the former, but one hopes it will get them thinking. A much better end result, in my mind.
adventurous challenging fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Ha sido una maravillosa experiencia como primer acercamiento a este género. Me ha roto muchísimos estereotipos que tenía de este y abierto una ventana a un mundo muy desconocido para mí. Entiendo el rechazo que puede generar muchos de los temas que se abordan, pero creo que la manera en la que se presentan es una exploración no una condonación ni aceptación. He intentado leer más cosas que me reten y permitan explorar, y me ha gustado la manera en la que busca no solo romper límites sino doblarlos, estirarlos, y ver hasta dónde pueden dar y llevarlo aún un poco más allá. Ha sido una experiencia muy placentera (en más de un sentido) y me encantó, y creo más cómo fue que llegué a él. 

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I went on an Anais Nin kick after seeing the movie adaptation of "Henry and June" and read all the erotic by her I could find in my university library, and had this volume loaned to me by a friend.

Me sigo quedando con Pájaros de fuego...

so beautifully written like ADORED the writing but so so hard to get through which also that makes sense cause definitely um not the easiest subject matter to read about and borderline intensely disturbing at points and also i hadn't really read anything like it before so it took me a while, wow this review is so incredible you're welcome; might've been a 3.5 but the writing style bumps it up for me