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pineconek's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Anaïs Nin short stories aren't stories - they're paintings.
I enjoy beautiful writing that doesn't have much plot but has a lot of inner torment. There's a profound cosmopolitan sadness in these stories and many beautiful passages to underline. We experience the inner world of women seeking both love and an understanding of love.
For the reasons above, I also find it challenging to review Nin. These stories melt together in my memory, and are not dissimilar from her other works. But what she does, she does well.
Recommended if you've read some Nin and are craving more, and also recommended to read in the sun on a riverbank while eating cherries. 3 stories, 3 stars.
I enjoy beautiful writing that doesn't have much plot but has a lot of inner torment. There's a profound cosmopolitan sadness in these stories and many beautiful passages to underline. We experience the inner world of women seeking both love and an understanding of love.
For the reasons above, I also find it challenging to review Nin. These stories melt together in my memory, and are not dissimilar from her other works. But what she does, she does well.
Recommended if you've read some Nin and are craving more, and also recommended to read in the sun on a riverbank while eating cherries. 3 stories, 3 stars.
empresstheresa's review against another edition
2.0
stunning writing but super uncomfortable to read at times
alixfitz0926's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
aristosakaion's review against another edition
3.0
last short story went a little sour, but the first two, especially stella, were striking. nin isn't afraid of repeating a word in a paragraph, something formalistially contemporary writers avoid doing. for a while, i had trouble with it until i got so used to it and sat back.
i really enjoyed nin and how she writes her characters. they are never moralists, complex and jealous and, often, very lonely. really enjoyed these (and i m lucky to have bagged a copy!)
i really enjoyed nin and how she writes her characters. they are never moralists, complex and jealous and, often, very lonely. really enjoyed these (and i m lucky to have bagged a copy!)
grotesqueanimal's review against another edition
4.0
“Something in me wants to break, to explode. Instead, I have to take pleasure in breaking the lives of others. I am constantly seducing others, enchanting them, capturing them, while wishing they could do it to me. I want so much to be captured. Everyone obeys me, but they don’t find the key to me.
I like to feel their hearts beating faster, I like to see their eyes waver, their lips tremble, to feel the emotion in them. It is like food. I am fascinated by their feelings. I am like a huntress who does not want to kill, but I want to feel the wound. What do I expect? To be caught in the desire of the other and bathe in it. To burn. But I am always disappointed. No one can take possession of me.”
I like to feel their hearts beating faster, I like to see their eyes waver, their lips tremble, to feel the emotion in them. It is like food. I am fascinated by their feelings. I am like a huntress who does not want to kill, but I want to feel the wound. What do I expect? To be caught in the desire of the other and bathe in it. To burn. But I am always disappointed. No one can take possession of me.”
jgwc54e5's review against another edition
4.0
Three novellas. Stella - a self doubting actress
Winter of Artifice - a father daughter reunited after many years apart
The Voice - an analyst and his relationship with patients
I haven’t read Anaïs Nin for many years but as soon as I started her voice was familiar. I love the way her thoughts flow always searching for the precise word to describe emotions and situations. I particularly like The Voice, there’s a surrealism to it that seems to capture the weirdness of listening to other people’s dreams and fears all day.
Winter of Artifice - a father daughter reunited after many years apart
The Voice - an analyst and his relationship with patients
I haven’t read Anaïs Nin for many years but as soon as I started her voice was familiar. I love the way her thoughts flow always searching for the precise word to describe emotions and situations. I particularly like The Voice, there’s a surrealism to it that seems to capture the weirdness of listening to other people’s dreams and fears all day.
mollyhiggins's review against another edition
4.0
anaïs nin's prose is obsessive, poetic, and intimate. If not all of them, make sure to read "stella" and "winter of artifice" - I couldn't get behind le final novelette "the voice," but I'll return to it. nin creates stories that oscillate from the sensual to the disturbing, sometimes even within the same sentence
svetyas4's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
skyealexandra's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
the first story was one of my favorite stories i've ever read, second one was hard to get through (due to the incest) but obviously beautifully written, third story was confusing but interesting. i think i would have enjoyed this whole collection more if i Didn't know about anaïs nins affair with her father in real life, would have made it easier to get through, but i guess that also provides important context for her writing, even if it is disgusting.
i think anaïs's writing is sometimes So beautiful that it undermines the stories she is trying to tell. i can only read so many paragraphs of beautiful but pointless prose in a row before i get antsy. it feels like more beauty than substance sometimes, which is fine, but can get a bit boring after 3 stories.
that all being said, anaïs nin is a magnificent writer and i want to read more of hers very badly.
"she is a woman who has lost herself and feels she can recover it by acting this self."
i think anaïs's writing is sometimes So beautiful that it undermines the stories she is trying to tell. i can only read so many paragraphs of beautiful but pointless prose in a row before i get antsy. it feels like more beauty than substance sometimes, which is fine, but can get a bit boring after 3 stories.
that all being said, anaïs nin is a magnificent writer and i want to read more of hers very badly.
"she is a woman who has lost herself and feels she can recover it by acting this self."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
Moderate: Child abuse and Abandonment