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A review by anna_hepworth
In Favor of the Sensitive Man and Other Essays by Anaïs Nin
4.0
Nin's writing is beautiful, but ultimately completely forgettable. I've read this over a long period of time, and by the end of the last essay, I have little to no memory of the early essays. I did enjoy reading some of the essays, but have no intention of doing so again.
The first set of essays, on 'Women and Men', have interesting things to say, and give an interesting perspective on one aspect of feminism in context. The second set, 'Writing, Music, and Films', I found mostly irritating, although more because I found that I couldn't respect Nin's take on the stories than the writing -- her descriptions of what were so good about some of these stories sound like the things that I get so frustrated about with particularly pretentious literature and cinema. The final set of essays, 'Enchanted Places', are pretty commentary on various 'exotic' locales. I suspect anyone taking them as recommendations today would be sadly disappointed, as Nin focuses on the unspoiled nature of so many of them.
The first set of essays, on 'Women and Men', have interesting things to say, and give an interesting perspective on one aspect of feminism in context. The second set, 'Writing, Music, and Films', I found mostly irritating, although more because I found that I couldn't respect Nin's take on the stories than the writing -- her descriptions of what were so good about some of these stories sound like the things that I get so frustrated about with particularly pretentious literature and cinema. The final set of essays, 'Enchanted Places', are pretty commentary on various 'exotic' locales. I suspect anyone taking them as recommendations today would be sadly disappointed, as Nin focuses on the unspoiled nature of so many of them.