This is well written but I am just not interested in reading erotica. I read the first several stories but after 80 pages decided I had no need to read more.

And a small complaint that this isn't a novel but a set of short stories... ( )

Awesome read! The word choices date the book, and take a few pages to get used to but it's well worth the read.

If you are easily offended don't bother reading this book. We don't need to mud the review section with "this book needs to be taken off the shelf!" :p ( )

I read most of it. It wasn't bad, but a little pretentious. I really enjoyed her introduction. ( )

Amazingly well written and erotic, poetic despite the author being instructed to strip out all of the poetry and get straight into the 'sex'. ( )

Disturbing rather than arousing, the hailed classic erotica Delta of Venus reads like a very long foreplay without reaching any climax. Interspersed with interesting bouts of obsession, violence, perversity, and the offensive in a series of short stories where some are linked, the capability of humans to act on their animalistic needs resulting in filthy and horrendous sexual behaviours and relations are as disgusting as one can imagine. From pedophilia, bestiality, necrophilia, incest, ménage à trois to somnophilia (you name it this have it like a porn site menu in written form), these do not suffice to form any literary appreciation in my mind that tries to separate itself from my own personal moral code.

However creative and provoking this is, unfortunately, it can get repetitive and not enough to keep me from falling asleep twice or thrice. And whilst this book is disturbing it disturbs me more that I have fallen asleep reading it. I am afraid the effect Nin might have been aiming for did not reach me at all. I do not deny the fact that Nin has a controversial penchant and undeniable talent in writing such a genre in comparison, to let's say, the author of Fifty Shades. But the word "penis" is overused it's a sad. And so is the rest of this. ( )

Pfooh... that took me a loooooooong time. To finish this collection of stories, I mean. Wait, no... stories is not the right word. Endless sequence of sex, people talking about sex and people thinking about sex, without a beginning, a middle or an end is a better description. There is no purpose, no depth, no development, ... nothing but sex.

The most interesting part of the collection to me, was the preface wherein the author shines light on the background of her being commissioned writing erotica. Other than that, none of the stories really struck me as worthwile retelling, sharing or even remembering.

It's a shame, really, as I started reading with high hopes. A female author publishes erotica in the 70'ies which critics give the stamp 'literature'. Can't be too bad, right? Wrong... :-( ( )

Smart erotica ( )

I will review the reviews of this book: the 4/5 star reviews give many excellent insights into why this is such a compelling read and definitely worth your time. The people who complain “ick incest/necrophilia/rape/pedophilia/any other perversion” seem to be people who were looking for porn and are annoyed that instead they got a book about the complex intersection between humanity’s animal nature and our overly evolved and somewhat fucked up brains, all from a brilliant woman’s perspective. If you are looking for sexy smut, the brief parts of her diaries that I have already read seem a better option, although I also found lots more insights into human psychology, fun reads and interesting stories.

PS Nin seems a better, more interesting and still relevant writer than Henry Miller, again from the brief readings of his works I’ve done. In many ways (style, subject matter, genre) she reminds me of George Moore. ( )

It's a difficult one to rate this and for a couple of reasons.

The writing is beautifully lyrical and I know some of the character portraits will stay with me (the keeper of Balzac's house, a distant mummified woman guarding a distant mummified place, deserves her own novel). But the stories were written first and foremost as titillation for an undemanding client, so the stories and characters, with the odd exception, feel nebulous and unformed – tossed off, if you'll forgive the phrase.

Reading endless descriptions of sex is also, ultimately, quite boring. No one got Playboy for the articles.

The other reason I'm finding it difficult to rate goes a bit deeper.

The book's a good reminder that sex wasn't invented in the 1960s and whatever you've got up to, your grandparents probably did it before you (soz). But that doesn't mean it wasn't written in a time when open discussion of sexual acts was less acceptable, and I've never better understood the saying "when nothing is permissible, everything is".

Much of the business described is more or less conventional – at least by modern standards – but there's also a great deal that is most definitely not, and most definitely not OK. Just as you're getting into the rhythm of sex-positive feminist writing, you'll suddenly be hit with descriptions of rape or child abuse or bestiality or necrophilia – all described in the same register as consenting adult sex. And that is, to say the least, off-putting.

So while much of Nin's writing is very fine, a lot of what she describes is actually pretty horrible and described in a manner apparently intended to forgive or romanticise it. And so I don't really feel I can give it any sort of rating. For the capability of the writer, the score should be very high; for the use to which she puts it, it should be less than zero.

Wow.

I mean, I had never heard of this until recently when I had been dared to read it, and yes, I knew that I was getting into heavy erotica, but I hadn't expected it to be so damn good.

Seriously. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was almost completely unable to stand up during most of the read, and because I was using text-t0-speech, that mean being rather unpleasantly surprised as I was up and about during my day.

I wanted to scream out, "Oh, come on!" or "This isn't Fair!" at random people as I was reading.

And then, at various moments, I pondered the great mystery of why so many men don't read this kind of romance. It's very easy, my dear women. In fact's extremely hard to hide the fact. Forget about all the scoffing and the hems and the haws and all the condescending humor that jerky men use to explain why they don't read this stuff. It's all baloney.

This book is full of really good stuff.

Extremely good stuff: from the pure writing, the interweaving themes and characters and the way that the individual stories make up a much grander story of sexuality, right down the purely expert and sensual eroticism of the sex acts themselves. I've never read better, but I'll admit that most of what I've read has really been quite horrible.

Even so, I'm amazed at how sensual she can turn all these kinds of turns, or even the direction she takes them. So many of my own sensibilities were shocked and disturbed as I read a few particularly difficult scenes, but as a whole, the entire book was truly amazing. Perhaps all that illicit and taboo material functions fantastically as the spice that tips us in and out of our complacency and into the deeper animal parts of us that love to be shocked, allowing us to enjoy the rest of the tales like we're getting away with something even more absolutely naughty than it really might be.

Seriously, if every erotic writer or if ANY writer including a sex scene might take a page out of her book, so many of the greatest crimes against sex might be rectified.

Seriously, people, this is Literature, plain and simple, with a freedom applied to women's sensuality that is really quite brilliant. It should be studied, applauded, and copied. Alas.

I hope her writing is always remembered. :) ( )

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3140796.html

Classic erotica short stories, varying quite a lot in length, subject matter and (frankly) appeal. The story of "Elena" takes up more than a quarter of the book; I actually found the following story, "The Basque and Bijou", the most interesting as the two named characters try various things to different degrees of satisfaction. A lot of erotica is single-themed to the point of monotony; this certainly isn't. ( )

A primeira metade do livro é mediana, mas a partir do conto Elena o mesmo se torna uma obra prima de erotização desenfreada, você encontra de tudo aqui em termos de gostos sexuais, de necrofilia à bestialismo, de sadomasoquismo à voyerismo, afinal, Nin não foi assistente e amante de Otto Rank por nada. ( )

Though the book was published in 1976, the stories were written in the early 1940’s for a collector. Anaïs Nin wrote in the Postscript: “Here in the erotica I was writing to entertain, under pressure from a client who wanted me to ‘leave out the poetry.’ I believed that my style was derived from a reading of men’s works. For this reason I long felt that I had compromised my feminine self. I put the erotica aside. Rereading it these many years later, I see that my own voice was not completely suppressed. In numerous passages I was intuitively using a woman’s language, seeing sexual experience from a woman’s point of view. I finally decided to release the erotica for publication because it shows the beginning efforts of a woman in a world that had been the domain of men.”

Despite Nin’s explanation, the very wide breath of short stories including several ‘oh-I-didn’t-need-to-know-that’ limits the enjoyability of this book. Even with long breaks between readings, the stories ultimately became rambling sexcapades despite what appears to be good writing by a strong author. I think wordygirl39 from 2017 is correct – these stories are not meant to titillate but to illustrate the obsession and illusion of sex. Be that as it may, there are brief passages I enjoyed, literally one isolated paragraph at a time. But that’s about it. ( )

I have mixed feelings about this one, like a lot of people.

On the one hand, it's Anaïs Nin, the one-woman powerhouse who wrote erotica in the 20th century. Erotica from a female perspective, which no one was doing at the time. On the other, reading it, it didn't always feel like her.

And I generally don't read books for the plot or the characters, I read it for the writing. So if it didn't feel like her, it just took me twice as long to read one story as it might've otherwise.

I realised, while reading this book, that I much prefer Nin's stories when they were written from a female perspective. I feel that she puts parts of herself in her stories, and the more I read, the more I'd find out about her. Her vulnerabilities, her eccentricities, her dreams.

Yes, it was dark, yes it was erotic and sensual in that it engaged all the five senses.

It's hard to rate this book because overall, it's not my favourite of her works, and yet some of the stories were my favourite in this book and otherwise.

It's been a strange and wild ride, Anaïs. Only you could puzzle me the way you do.

And thank you so much to Christina for buddy-reading this with me! It's been on my shelf so long, it's great to tick it off my to-read list.

(Uh, also, I should say, this book is riddled with triggers. So, let's get started. tw: rape, non-consensual sex, beastiality, necrophilia, underaged sex... all the things. It's pretty dark.) ( )

Months later I have come back to leave a short formal review on this collection of short stories.
Right away you are face to face with ICKY sex content. I don't enjoy that subject.
However Anais Nin seems to write with an quilled pen of class and eloquence, it is a strong mature adult content written by a lady who drinks strawberry tea with her crumpets. I adore her.
(using the same review for Delta Of Venus and Little Birds as I feel they are intertwined) ( )

If you’re into erotica, the short stories in this collection will probably have something for you, since they cover such a wide range of fantasies. Nin is a very compelling author and woman, highly intelligent, passionate, and sexually free, which adds considerably to its appeal. Unfortunately the breadth of fantasies works against it as well – there are a couple of stories early on that may have you disgusted and tempted to toss the book in the trash. If you do read it, just skip the ones you feel offense coming on, take the book in small doses, and keep an open mind. ( )

Nin, then writing for "the collector," writes short stories that beguile us with the forbidden (at the time) and the taboo. Her unique style and perspective, give these stories a voice like no other. Literate porno, but mostly just literate by today's standards. ( )

I thought this to be a very well written and extremely entertaining book of an adult genre.

I like it so much I own a hard cover copy. ( )

Boek dat ik bij toeval tegen kwam in een 2ehands winkelt op vakantie in griekenland. Meteen gekocht en op het strand gaan lezen. Lekker weg voor op vakantie ( )

I read this book back in high school and what a revelation! ( )

Very well-written book. No continuing story (to speak of) but a look at a variety of characters and their fantasies and adventures. ( )

this book should come with trigger warnings for genital mutilation, paedophilia, incest, and gang rape -- among other things, i'd wager, only i didn't get that far.

this isn't erotic in the slightest. don't even start with milestones and breakthroughs in literature and art. if i'm in the mood for something like this book's contents, my time will be better spent watching tentacle porn.

call me rattigan's aunt edna, i don't give a damn.

still interested in her journals. ( )

very disappointed in this book. child porn and child molesters and pedofiles within the first few chapters really turned me off. ( )

Sensual and sultry, I feel that I need to read some French feminists and then give this book a second close reading. It's amazing erotica, but I suspect there's so much more to it... ( )

Starting this 'review' by saying, that I will not rate this book, despite that I read it. Why not? Well, for this reason: it wouldn't be fair.
I took it home with me from a BookCrossing meeting, only because it is on the 1001 BTRBYD-list and I wanted to tick one off again. I dislike romance books, let alone erotica like this.
I do not have any book to compare it to, can't 'judge' if it is good or bad, just say that I did not like it and I was not really interested in what I was reading. To be fair to the book, I'll leave it at that.
I just hope it'll be travelling on soon.