Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It is quite disturbing. I understand why it was published and I enjoyed the authors explanations and frustrations. But the Stories themselves were more disturbing than erotic. Normally I see the artist side of it, but you can tell that the author wrote these for a very disturbing man. It was a struggled to get through it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
I had no expectations going into this book. I have always heard that Anaïs Nin is a fascinating writing, but I really had no idea what a collection of 1940s erotica would entail. I probably wouldn't have guessed that Nin would include taboo topics such as homosexuality, prostitution, and infidelity, or even more taboo topic such as incest, pedophilia, and rape. In a way, the fact that Nin's writing is more literary than pornographic makes the latter topics more disturbing to me, and almost gives them a horror element. They don't feel fictionalized for the benefit of somebody's kink; they read in a realistic and therefore disturbing way. Because there is no doubt that this book is more than just pornography—Nin's writing is full of rich detail and many of her characters have motivations beyond just the sexual, even if eroticism is the main component of the stories. Most interesting is, of course, the fact that the stories are by a woman; even today women's sexualities are policed or downplayed, so it is interesting to see a feminine point of view in erotic fiction*. Taken as an erotic work the collection doesn't really do anything for me, but as a literary work it is an interesting look at a female perspective in a realm usually dominated by the male point of view.
*published erotic fiction, that is, although I know the collection was published posthumously
*published erotic fiction, that is, although I know the collection was published posthumously
My Booktube
TW/CW: incest, pedophilia, necrophilia, basically any of the sexual triggers are here
This is a weird book to rate, but it is definitely close to a 4. The things holding it back for me are mostly just the few times offensive things come up (racism and some weird homophobia in the one piece that has gay sex).
It is very well written and that is basically all I can say. Like it is good and I do recommend people read it just for the experience, as it is eye-opening to hear about how 1940s people had the same fetishes people had today.
TW/CW: incest, pedophilia, necrophilia, basically any of the sexual triggers are here
This is a weird book to rate, but it is definitely close to a 4. The things holding it back for me are mostly just the few times offensive things come up (racism and some weird homophobia in the one piece that has gay sex).
It is very well written and that is basically all I can say. Like it is good and I do recommend people read it just for the experience, as it is eye-opening to hear about how 1940s people had the same fetishes people had today.
A friend lent me this, and I suppose that the writing is good, and quite poetic in places, but if I'm honest I don't really understand the point of erotic writing. If you want a good read, any other number of genres can do better; and if you want to hear about sex, turn on the TV, rent a movie, or talk to a friend - there's no need to pretend to be intellectual about it.
kind of was trying to read this as an insight into feminist erotic lit history but. regardless some parts of this were very hard to read 😭 um i'm hoping that it's because of the commissioner but i don't know. unsure what i expected considering anais nin had an affair with her father. also my loan expired while i was trying to read this so i had to put it on hold again. thankfully it just took a few days to get to me again probably bc people opened it up, got ten pages in, and were like "what the fuck am i reading". nin was obvi a talented writer lol but. ew to some parts of this. very freudian. interesting to think about how gender was perceived in this. #releasethenincut
So I finally managaged to finish this, even though it took me quite a while. Why did I pick it up? Well, I was curious, I wanted to read erotical fiction because I'd never given it a try before, and when I did some research and found out about Anais Nin's stories, I didn't hesitate for long.
To sum up, this book is exclusively about sex. Furthermore, it deals with a lot of taboo topics, and what I can say is, you need to have a REALLY open mind in order to understand this. For me, some of the stories weren't interesting enough, the didn't have enough substance and I found myself skipping some pages every now and again. On the other hand I liked the language, and how despite every sex scene being described in great detail, it didn't come across as crude or vulgar.
To conclude, this is not my type of literature, but at least I now know what it is.
To sum up, this book is exclusively about sex. Furthermore, it deals with a lot of taboo topics, and what I can say is, you need to have a REALLY open mind in order to understand this. For me, some of the stories weren't interesting enough, the didn't have enough substance and I found myself skipping some pages every now and again. On the other hand I liked the language, and how despite every sex scene being described in great detail, it didn't come across as crude or vulgar.
To conclude, this is not my type of literature, but at least I now know what it is.
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This book taught me a lot about kinks in the pre-internet coming of age era, and there is a wide range of them on display here with oddly poetic writing for the subject matter considering this was pay by the page work, her voice couldn't be eliminated from the rawness of the exploits on page. Trigger warnings are a must read.
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I can appreciate what Anaïs Nin did for erotica but there is content in here that makes it hard to stomach the rest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence
O que aconteceu com este conjunto de texto é muito interessante. Um cliente privado pagou a Nin e mais alguns escritores (como Henry Miller e George Barker) para lhe escreverem histórias eróticas. E, à medida que recebia as histórias, ia pedindo para deixarem de lado os pormenores poéticos e se concentrarem no sexo, nas partes explícitas. Ia elogiando os textos, mostrando-se satisfeito e pagando bem, sempre mantendo o anonimato. Mas pedindo mais, mais sexo, queria que fosse mais explícito. Estes textos, a colecção da contribuição de Anaïs Nin, têm essa tensão, feita da pesquisa do Kama Sutra, da inclusão das histórias de amigos, do que se ia sabendo sobre sexo da pesquisa médica e de uma frustração crescente porque um cliente misterioso ia repetindo, está muito bem, mas ponham de lado a poesia, e mais sexo por favor.
Este momento com a geração de Anaïs Nin foi curioso. Eis um grupo de pessoas muito motivado para, precisamente, combater os preconceitos em relação ao sexo. Na altura, os livros de Henry Miller eram sistematicamente cenrurados nos EUA, e muitos só seriam publicados anos mais tarde. Nos anos 40, eles estavam numa espécie de vanguarda, no que respeitava ao sexo. E aqui encontraram o mais ávido dos leitores. E não resultou a relação escritor/leitor. Ou resultou como um teste. Os textos aqui publicados são os que Nin escreveu. E o tema que ela lançou no prefácio é ainda pertinente.
Quando o objectivo é falar sobre sexo, escreve-se o quê? Circunavega-se? Escreve-se, como dizia o cliente, poesia? Ou vai-se direito ao assunto? E o que é ir direito ao assunto? Só existe pornografia e o resto? Anaïs Nin diz que o colecionador, o nome por que era referido o cliente, estava a ser tão insistente naquele ponto, que estava a retirar-lhe o maior afrodisíaco, precisamente a poesia. E refere-se a descrições explícitas como descrições clínicas. Mas será que falar do corpo humano, de tudo o que envolve o corpo humano, dois corpos humanos tem de ter a frieza de uma descrição clínica? Não pode ter poesia?
Este momento com a geração de Anaïs Nin foi curioso. Eis um grupo de pessoas muito motivado para, precisamente, combater os preconceitos em relação ao sexo. Na altura, os livros de Henry Miller eram sistematicamente cenrurados nos EUA, e muitos só seriam publicados anos mais tarde. Nos anos 40, eles estavam numa espécie de vanguarda, no que respeitava ao sexo. E aqui encontraram o mais ávido dos leitores. E não resultou a relação escritor/leitor. Ou resultou como um teste. Os textos aqui publicados são os que Nin escreveu. E o tema que ela lançou no prefácio é ainda pertinente.
Quando o objectivo é falar sobre sexo, escreve-se o quê? Circunavega-se? Escreve-se, como dizia o cliente, poesia? Ou vai-se direito ao assunto? E o que é ir direito ao assunto? Só existe pornografia e o resto? Anaïs Nin diz que o colecionador, o nome por que era referido o cliente, estava a ser tão insistente naquele ponto, que estava a retirar-lhe o maior afrodisíaco, precisamente a poesia. E refere-se a descrições explícitas como descrições clínicas. Mas será que falar do corpo humano, de tudo o que envolve o corpo humano, dois corpos humanos tem de ter a frieza de uma descrição clínica? Não pode ter poesia?