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martaltg_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
harrietannreads's review against another edition
4.0
TW: sexual violence
This book highlighted the importance of reading a blurb before buying a book aka I didn’t realise I’d bought straight up “high brow” porn (nb: my cover didn’t have erotica written on it so how was I to know).
Anyways this is really well written and I don’t like smut like I hate written sex scenes, I think they suck buuuut Anaïs Nin knows how to do it (apparently this is what she’s kinda know for so quel surpris).
I have a general rule of thumb with this kind of thing which is quite difficult bc it falls under a subjective judgement of tone. For example, I think Lolita is fine because I don’t think it romanticises paedophilia at all, in fact the tone of the book actively condemns Hubert throughout. Comparatively, A Memoir of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel García Márquez does not have any sort of tone suggesting that what the main character is doing is wrong or perverse in any way. For the most part, I felt Nin’s tone when a character was engaging in a perverted sexual act was judgemental and it told the reader she did not endorse that sort of behaviour. However, at other points I felt she was having a bit too much fun with things that literally just fell into the category of rape. To counter this, I know that most if not all of this erotica was written for a man who was paying for the work to be written in a certain way so perhaps Nin was just doing what she needed to do to get her money.
In sum, morally, I feel dubious about giving this book a high rating because at times I felt Nin wasn’t condemning paedophilia or rape when she should have been. In terms of writing, this was one of the best written books I’ve ever read. Does that cancel out morally questionable behaviour? No. Do I know how to rate books? Also, no.
I am just a girl.
This book highlighted the importance of reading a blurb before buying a book aka I didn’t realise I’d bought straight up “high brow” porn (nb: my cover didn’t have erotica written on it so how was I to know).
Anyways this is really well written and I don’t like smut like I hate written sex scenes, I think they suck buuuut Anaïs Nin knows how to do it (apparently this is what she’s kinda know for so quel surpris).
I have a general rule of thumb with this kind of thing which is quite difficult bc it falls under a subjective judgement of tone. For example, I think Lolita is fine because I don’t think it romanticises paedophilia at all, in fact the tone of the book actively condemns Hubert throughout. Comparatively, A Memoir of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel García Márquez does not have any sort of tone suggesting that what the main character is doing is wrong or perverse in any way. For the most part, I felt Nin’s tone when a character was engaging in a perverted sexual act was judgemental and it told the reader she did not endorse that sort of behaviour. However, at other points I felt she was having a bit too much fun with things that literally just fell into the category of rape. To counter this, I know that most if not all of this erotica was written for a man who was paying for the work to be written in a certain way so perhaps Nin was just doing what she needed to do to get her money.
In sum, morally, I feel dubious about giving this book a high rating because at times I felt Nin wasn’t condemning paedophilia or rape when she should have been. In terms of writing, this was one of the best written books I’ve ever read. Does that cancel out morally questionable behaviour? No. Do I know how to rate books? Also, no.
I am just a girl.
ethera's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
vibrant and empowering
tokatczuk's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
2.75
this felt more like an examination of the human sexual psyche than a classic erotica to me — that’s why i picked it up, and in terms of analysis and language, it didn’t disappoint. the languor and hazy atmosphere are vivid, the stories sharp edged and almost brutal in their honestly. it left me with a lingering feeling of both disgust and fascination at human sexuality.
snugglor's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It's difficult to look at this book with a modern eye and wonder how it would have been received at the time. There are a lot of things in this book that are pretty unacceptable to a modern audience and it's hard to imagine that they were ever acceptable before.
It's a strange book, which is more like a series of short character studies than stories. I can't say I found any of it erotic at all, but some of it was interesting to see the world from someone else's perspective.
It's a strange book, which is more like a series of short character studies than stories. I can't say I found any of it erotic at all, but some of it was interesting to see the world from someone else's perspective.
shanyeahh's review against another edition
I genuinely enjoyed how poetic Nin's descriptions of sexual attraction were in the beginning. However, the further I got onto the book, the more off-putting the subject matter got and the harder it was to read on.
angrim712's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It's a collection of short stories that dive into different types of spicy encounters. There's barely plots, which makes sense for being a short story. It's interesting in the sense of this is what was scandalous for that time period. Interesting for historical reasons and some of the stories were good, but it missed the mark for me as far as a gripping story. Not that I think that was intent for this.
nomorefalseheavens's review against another edition
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5