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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
slow-paced
3/5
I feel like I am better for having read this, considering the importance it has on erotic fiction and narrative styles, but I can't say that I truly enjoyed it? I guess I like the poetic and the lyrical a bit more and this book is exactly Not That.
I feel like I am better for having read this, considering the importance it has on erotic fiction and narrative styles, but I can't say that I truly enjoyed it? I guess I like the poetic and the lyrical a bit more and this book is exactly Not That.
Beautifully written and directed to the norm of erotic experiences and discussions.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I have been so excited to read Anaïs Nin for so long, but the first 4 stories in this collection have been so disturbingly full of pedophilia, rape, incest, and genital mutilation that I have no desire to continue. Even more jarring is how quickly the stories escalate from 0 to 100 in regards to those topics, which is hard when they are 3-5 pages long. I'm enormously disappointed for something that was touted to have unique prose and sensuality thanks to a female author. While I understand the context of these being written for a buyer of a "certain taste" for stripped down sexual stories I can't understand why a modern reader would want anything to do with it. LIKE WTF.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail
Classic in erotica genre. Cutting edge 60 years ago. Written for a mystery patron for his stripped-down tastes. Valuable as a reference, a thesaurus of sorts for writers.
This is my favorite dirty book - even though it goes places I never would...I love the fact that some perv paid her per page to write this. I love that it plunges me into the decadent Europe of the 30's.
Not one "tumescent manhood" in the mix, either.
Not one "tumescent manhood" in the mix, either.
this book was something else. I've never read any kind of erotica so this was my introduction to it and I think I made a fine choice. the stories start out kinda lame w/ too many attempts to shock but as the stories progress they become something else. they have vague characters that do extremely graphic things to one another and even though you know what's gonna happen Nin never goes about it in the way you think. these stories are 100% effective when it comes to titillation but also oddly compelling and engaging for reasons outside of the sex. these stories take place in a world that has offers no shame when it comes to individuals pleasures and needs that is refreshing to this day and if it weren't for the fact that most stories just kinda end I feel as though I'd have rated this a little bit higher. but overall this book was a pretty unforgettable experience.
The first few short stories might scare one off, but after that it all becomes really damn sexy.
So in this year of varying genres, I decided to dip my toes into an erotica novel for the first time. I figured that there's always a wall of books devoted to romantic literature at the library, so I wanted to see what I've been missing out on.
This novel, published posthumously in 1977 (so probably a tame version of what erotica has become) is a collection of short stories so you get a wide array of sexual fantasies and taboo topics. But as the stories continued, I became increasingly perplexed at what must arouse readers. Which I must conclude that the purpose of this book is, in essence, more to tear down the walls of what is forbidden [to be written]. And perhaps therein lies the true nature of eroticism: to break the rules. As from birth, we are constrained further&further with invisible ropes. So to speak a single word we are not supposed to say, gives us an ecstatic rush. For in that second, we are free once more.
"Only the beat of sex and heart together can create ecstasy."
"He was jealous of her future, and she of his past."
This novel, published posthumously in 1977 (so probably a tame version of what erotica has become) is a collection of short stories so you get a wide array of sexual fantasies and taboo topics. But as the stories continued, I became increasingly perplexed at what must arouse readers. Which I must conclude that the purpose of this book is, in essence, more to tear down the walls of what is forbidden [to be written]. And perhaps therein lies the true nature of eroticism: to break the rules. As from birth, we are constrained further&further with invisible ropes. So to speak a single word we are not supposed to say, gives us an ecstatic rush. For in that second, we are free once more.
"Only the beat of sex and heart together can create ecstasy."
"He was jealous of her future, and she of his past."