Reviews with content warning for Adult/minor relationship - Delta of Venus: Erotica

Avevo già letto una selezione curata di alcuni racconti tratti da questa raccolta e ammetto che al tempo non li avevo trovati né interessanti, né rivoluzionari. Rilegger il libro in italiano invece mi ha molto colpito e ammetto che ho apprezzato molte delle storie più brevi, mentre invece a tratti in quelle più lunghe mi sono annoiata, anche per la costante insistenza sulla dimensione sessuale. Inoltre capisco la forma del racconto, ma in alcuni casi il termine di certe storie è stato veramente senza senso e molto brusco.

In generale, una lettura interessante del suo tempo.

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egomaxima's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Not even slightly erotic, but surprisingly witty. Love how the characters from one story reappear in others down the line.

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blanquiblue2's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

AnaÏs Nin's Delta of Venus is a collection of beautifully written erotic short stories. Her prose is vibrant and sensuous, and through it, she explores the various avenues of female sexuality. Most of her stories, however, are hard to read since they do not deal with healthy sexual relationships. Rather, they all involve some sort of toxic or taboo relationship and/or fetish, from incest to necrophilia. Nin conjures dazzling scenes and sexual encounters that one could never have fathomed, both for their creativity and surrealism and for their dark nature. She distracts us with her alluring words from the perversions of the scenes she is describing, trying to beautify things that we consider shocking as a society. Her work is definitely one of the most interesting things I have read so far, not only because her writing style is mesmerising but because she contrasts it with situations we consider to be revolting, treading very thinly on what is permissible and questioning the moral boundaries of the society we inhabit.

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margztgz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This is a stunning novel (in both good in bad ways) but all I have to say is wow because I've definitely never read anything like this before and that's what made it fascinating. This book is sort of like when you can't look away from a car crash; it's disgusting, disturbing, but at the same time beautiful and even elegant.

I haven't read erotica in this more formal and vintage style before, and it's interesting to read because it was largely written in the 1940s and I liked to see perspectives/portrayals of sex from that period. Many of these stories were disturbing and even gruesome (literally PLEASE look up the tws if you want to read this and are sensitive to fucked up sex stuff) but at the same time the language and descriptions as well as scenes were interesting to read because she's such a talented writer. Anais Nin doesn't shy away from any scenario. Also I really liked some of her descriptions of the vagina and the poetic experience of sex itself. Definitely an unforgettable read but I can't say I'd recommend it.

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