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dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
TW: SA, CSA, Incest, Bestiality, Racism, Homophobia, Sexism, Outdated Terms for Trans Individuals
I felt desperate with desire to be a woman, to plunge into living.
The first half of Anaïs Nin’s collected erotica, a feast of purple prose, and a glimpse of a model of writing that has largely fallen away. Nin’s chapters serve more as what Anne Rice described as pictures in gilded frames rather than short narratives readers might expect nowadays. Stories end abruptly and often for simple reasons (the love affair ended, the man got bored, just assume it went on like this). Even in the longer chapters or more collected narratives, Story is regulated back stage. Character and Eroticism are the stars.
Some other thoughts:
Strange to glimpse the erotic dreams of over twenty years now. Some are still industry standards (BDSM, Semi-Public Sex), some have fallen out of favor (“The Boarding School” is almost laughably overplayed and socially condemned now).
Purple prose, my life’s joy! Very Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber.
Struck by how frequently women feature as leads and the central problem is an internal barrier to sexual satisfaction. “Lilith” was rather sad to me, a housewife so frustrated in herself and her failure to act according to social standards.
Nin’s introduction talks a lot about the power of poetry for an erotic dream to be successful. Fascinating when combined with the collection overall.
I felt desperate with desire to be a woman, to plunge into living.
The first half of Anaïs Nin’s collected erotica, a feast of purple prose, and a glimpse of a model of writing that has largely fallen away. Nin’s chapters serve more as what Anne Rice described as pictures in gilded frames rather than short narratives readers might expect nowadays. Stories end abruptly and often for simple reasons (the love affair ended, the man got bored, just assume it went on like this). Even in the longer chapters or more collected narratives, Story is regulated back stage. Character and Eroticism are the stars.
Some other thoughts:
Strange to glimpse the erotic dreams of over twenty years now. Some are still industry standards (BDSM, Semi-Public Sex), some have fallen out of favor (“The Boarding School” is almost laughably overplayed and socially condemned now).
Purple prose, my life’s joy! Very Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber.
Struck by how frequently women feature as leads and the central problem is an internal barrier to sexual satisfaction. “Lilith” was rather sad to me, a housewife so frustrated in herself and her failure to act according to social standards.
Nin’s introduction talks a lot about the power of poetry for an erotic dream to be successful. Fascinating when combined with the collection overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence
Hailed as the first American woman to publish erotica and creator of "the female language for sexuality," Anaïs Nin wrote most of the stories in Delta of Venus in the 1940s, but they weren't published as a collection until 1977 after her death. Nin mentions the difference between the masculine and feminine experiences of sex but doesn’t go into detail. She notices “explicitness” vs. “ambiguities” in the work of her male cohort and her own, and their patron (who paid $1 a page for these stories) expressed a preference for explicitness. Nin covers a broad range of sexualities, preferences, fetishes, etc., however, she ultimately favors a gender binary with the ultimate gratification coming from penile-vaginal penetration. Relationships–sexual and romantic–only seem to work if there’s a masculine and feminine presence. I had to continually remind myself of the fantasy aspect of Nin's work as almost none of these sexual encounters mention contraception, STIs, or unwanted pregnancy. The lines of “fantasy” and “preference” begin to blur and then be crossed by depictions of rape, incest, and pedophilia, all of which appear in the book and beg the question of whether there are fantasies that should never be indulged no matter how imaginary. Though sexuality hasn't necessarily changed since Nin's time, understanding, language, and acceptance all have.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual content
Tbf, the author's note in the beginning was like, "hey, I got paid per word to write erotica for an old man which helped paid the bills and put food on the table." With that in mind, I can look at these characters in the short stories from afar and go, "Damn. Y'all see this shit? Anyway..."
Very dated way of speaking about sexuality, race, consent, etc. Would not rec to anyone in my life. Unless you're into that and in that case, we should discuss the book. Def not for the faint-hearted. Wonder how much is the author and how much is the author pandering for the audience. Prose is what kept me reading. Sometimes coy in what she's writing, sometimes outright "yeh he stuck in her and it hurt. And then she came for some reason?" Lol but a fascinating look at what life used to be like way back when. Read enough modern sex scenes to bore of them almost immediately so reading this was quite captivating. Had necrophilia too since it's not in the content warning
Very dated way of speaking about sexuality, race, consent, etc. Would not rec to anyone in my life. Unless you're into that and in that case, we should discuss the book. Def not for the faint-hearted. Wonder how much is the author and how much is the author pandering for the audience. Prose is what kept me reading. Sometimes coy in what she's writing, sometimes outright "yeh he stuck in her and it hurt. And then she came for some reason?" Lol but a fascinating look at what life used to be like way back when. Read enough modern sex scenes to bore of them almost immediately so reading this was quite captivating. Had necrophilia too since it's not in the content warning
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Classism
I read the first story and was deeply disturbed (and I’m generally ok with triggering content). It’s the story of a man who enjoysbsex a lot, which I have no issues with, and starts a relationship with a sex worker, which - well, I didn’t like the depiction of the sex worker, but I could handle it. Nin lost me when the male character started taking advantage of children and ended up raping his own kids, and there was no judgement on it. Just no, there’s nothing sensual about paedophilia and sexual violence.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence
Moderate: Pedophilia
Minor: Racism
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Erotica??? More like pedophilia, incest, genital mutilation, and many other disturbing stories!!! Was trying to read this to get into Anaïs Nin before reading her diaries but this truly spooked me. Would have loved an index of which ones are deeply fucked up and reprehensible and which are safe for human eyes so I could enjoy these
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content
Graphic descriptions of pedophilia and incest/molesting of children within just the first nine pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence
Moderate: Pedophilia, Racism