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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
didn't read all of the stories, elena pissed me off, i think i enjoyed this significantly less than some others. excited/going to try nin unhindered by a commissioner soon.
elegant, delicate, complicated, she touches every taboo effortlessly.
2 stars
This is a hard book for me to rate because I didn't enjoy reading it, but I admire the circumstances surrounding this book (as chronicled in the foreword) and the lush prose. Delta of Venus is a collection of classical erotica short stories which were meant to be mechanical and we are truly written with only one audience member in mind: a man who is never named and whose identity isn't even known to the author (if I remember correctly). These stories are disgusting, visceral, disturbing, and grotesque in the way they portray sexuality. They are known for being one of the first texts that have an almost feminine aspect to them in the prose because of who the author was.
If you decide to read this classic be aware of what you're about to read. The first short story features graphic pedophilia, incest, and sexual violence in general. It is very disturbing and the short stories that follow do so in a similar vein. I find it interesting that the author herself did not like writing this story is but she had to in order to survive because she would get money for each page. She says that after each story she would get feedback saying that she needs to include "less poetry" and thus she intended to make the story is more mechanical and simply focused on the sex to appease her buyer. She says that at the time of writing them she hated the stories because they took all the beauty and love out of this act, but now she sees a feminine essence to the lens through which the stories are viewed. I agree with this opinion and reading of the book: I didn't enjoy the reading experience but at times I found it interesting how the lens she uses is very much a precursor for the smart that is popular in today's romance fiction.
For this reason I do not feel like anything above a two star would be a rating that reflects my opinion. Because, again, I really don't like reading the book itself but on the compositional layer I thought it was an interesting examination and product of its time. I do not know who I would recommend this to so I won't mention that in this review.
This is a hard book for me to rate because I didn't enjoy reading it, but I admire the circumstances surrounding this book (as chronicled in the foreword) and the lush prose. Delta of Venus is a collection of classical erotica short stories which were meant to be mechanical and we are truly written with only one audience member in mind: a man who is never named and whose identity isn't even known to the author (if I remember correctly). These stories are disgusting, visceral, disturbing, and grotesque in the way they portray sexuality. They are known for being one of the first texts that have an almost feminine aspect to them in the prose because of who the author was.
If you decide to read this classic be aware of what you're about to read. The first short story features graphic pedophilia, incest, and sexual violence in general. It is very disturbing and the short stories that follow do so in a similar vein. I find it interesting that the author herself did not like writing this story is but she had to in order to survive because she would get money for each page. She says that after each story she would get feedback saying that she needs to include "less poetry" and thus she intended to make the story is more mechanical and simply focused on the sex to appease her buyer. She says that at the time of writing them she hated the stories because they took all the beauty and love out of this act, but now she sees a feminine essence to the lens through which the stories are viewed. I agree with this opinion and reading of the book: I didn't enjoy the reading experience but at times I found it interesting how the lens she uses is very much a precursor for the smart that is popular in today's romance fiction.
For this reason I do not feel like anything above a two star would be a rating that reflects my opinion. Because, again, I really don't like reading the book itself but on the compositional layer I thought it was an interesting examination and product of its time. I do not know who I would recommend this to so I won't mention that in this review.
Ugh, no more Anais Nin for me. Not sure why she is so celebrated, but I didn't find that much to be excited about in this book. She doesn't know how to finish a story and the endings are often abrupt and awkward. Also, incest, pedophilia? No thanks. I will continue my search for good erotica elsewhere.
I’m going to need a neck brace with all the whiplash I had from this book going from something kinda hot to giving me the ick. Well written though.
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Smut that can engage you, and sometimes that engagement is with very unpleasant emotions.
This novel is flawed, and Anaïs Nin points out the problems with the stories in the prelude. Nin is forced to write mechanical scenes of sex that remove the 'love' and poetry from the act. The need for money is what drives her. However this novel makes a good study, as she herself points out, for the burgeoning voice of feminine erotica, which is poetic, moving and evocative of sexual liaisons without a particular script detailing the action.
The stories, intertwining within themselves, that feature Nin's character; poetic and personal, are vivid and gripping and are much more inviting and 'erotic' then the routine and automatic sex scenes. But of course Nin knew this, and attempts under fire of 'leave out the poetry' from her patron to keep the poetry and beauty of the emotional and physical relationships. In some moments, in abandon to her own style, she succeeds beautifully.
The stories, intertwining within themselves, that feature Nin's character; poetic and personal, are vivid and gripping and are much more inviting and 'erotic' then the routine and automatic sex scenes. But of course Nin knew this, and attempts under fire of 'leave out the poetry' from her patron to keep the poetry and beauty of the emotional and physical relationships. In some moments, in abandon to her own style, she succeeds beautifully.
Empieza con un relato de abuso de menores. Sé que son relatos teóricamente ficticios, pero por ahí sí que no paso.