Status
Checked out
Genres
Publication
Harvest Books (1990), Edition: 1, 281 pages
Description
This bestseller covers a single momentous year during Nin's life in Paris, when she met Henry Miller and his wife, June. "Closer to what many sexually adventuresome women experience than almost anything I've ever read....I found it a very erotic book and profoundly liberating" (Alice Walker). The source of a major motion picture from Universal. Preface by Rupert Pole; Index.
User reviews
LibraryThing member caerulius
After reading this book, like after reading Angela Carter, I found myself speaking and writing in the sort of lush, sensuous language tha Anais Nin is well known for. Her writing can quite accurately be called "voluptuous". It is like a lover's caress.
This is the story of Nin's legendary affair
But, of course, with Nin, Love is not merely a triangle, but a polygon of indefinite proportions. She is a sexual adventurer, a feminine Casanova who cares for her lovers, but cannot be contained by them.
This is the story of Nin's legendary affair
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with Henry Miller, and her fascination with Miller's wife, June, as she engages in a peculiar love triangle with the three of them. But, of course, with Nin, Love is not merely a triangle, but a polygon of indefinite proportions. She is a sexual adventurer, a feminine Casanova who cares for her lovers, but cannot be contained by them.
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LibraryThing member michaelbartley
i could rate the book higher but it is a journal, so while you have a sense of what anais nin is experencing you really only have narrow view of the relataionship. ms. nin has great courage in exploring yourself, nothing is out of bounds
LibraryThing member Clurb
I found this book in turns extremely difficult to read and intensely interesting. I think my overwhelming concern was that the content was just too personal to be read comfortably.
Worth the read just for Nin's unique writing.
Worth the read just for Nin's unique writing.
LibraryThing member maepress
one of my all time favorites. combines two of my favorite writers. If you're a fan of either- it's worth reading. Sexy, relevant, thought-provoking...what more can you ask?
LibraryThing member whitewavedarling
While the writing is certainly beautiful, I was often bored with the characters and happenings. I also cannot respect Nin. She is a woman who claims to be in love with from 2 to 3 people at once, and leads on and flirts with others as well. Ultimately, I find her selfish and infuriatingly childish.
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Perhaps this is groundbreaking in it's frank discussions of sex, but at the same time, it was all originally just a diary. I will say that it reads more like a novel, and it was easy to forget that this is of true people. Still, I can't quite grasp why Alice Walker would call this "profoundly liberating"--because we as women talk/write about sex? because she has feelings for another women among the many men she "loves"? because she is comfortable carrying on relationships with multiple men? needless to say, I didn't find this liberating, though I did enjoy some of the moments when Nin wrote about her writing instead of her relationships and desires, and I often enjoyed the language. Show Less
LibraryThing member BryeWho
"Abnormal pleasures kill the taste for normal ones." And so goes the world. Getting back to normal pleasures is a long twisted road full of pitfalls and an unfortunately arbitrary destination. Ah well! Enough pop philosophy! Anais Nin lets us inside her struggle for life, sanity and security.
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Frank, honest, beautifully written thoughts and actions that lead blithely to the next part, often fraught with contradictions and chaos. Come to think of it, perhaps she was more normal than abnormal. Show Less
LibraryThing member mandochild
Surprisingly, this writing reminds me of the same era in my history as did Mousetraps. The personalities are very different, but the furious intensity of living, the obsessive toxicity of the relationships and the horror of ordinary existence, as represented by Hugo, are all there. There is such a
The ironic aspect to the text for me is that the passion for existence so constantly played out actually becomes repetitive, creating its own inevitable normality. It didn't hold me quite as much as it otherwise might have because it lacked contrast or shifts in moods - the pace never varied. But it was beautiful and evocative reading all the same. I think from now on my past will always be associated with Nin.
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feeling of familiarity for me, and of memory. This is heightened by Nin's dislike of knowing too many factual things because she does not wish to destroy the wonder of possibility in the world. That is exactly me. I am so very ignorant on so many subjects, and much of it is quite deliberate.The ironic aspect to the text for me is that the passion for existence so constantly played out actually becomes repetitive, creating its own inevitable normality. It didn't hold me quite as much as it otherwise might have because it lacked contrast or shifts in moods - the pace never varied. But it was beautiful and evocative reading all the same. I think from now on my past will always be associated with Nin.
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LibraryThing member Ltewes
By far, the best and most complete book in the series "Cities of the Interior." Very good emotion behind this book.
LibraryThing member laurenham
this is my favorite book. i felt her emotions so strongly it was captivating
LibraryThing member anissaannalise
An almost favourite but now to donate as clearing bookshelves for a move.
LibraryThing member bkwurm
This love story (or "erotic awakening" as it is sometimes described) is taken directly from the journals of Anaïs Nin, whose prose is utterly unique--a cross between the direct simplicity of Ernest Hemingway and the vivid sensuality of Pablo Neruda. Reading Nin is pure pleasure.
In spite of the
It was certainly interesting to read intimate details about the psyche of Henry James, another amazing writer. But--and as a die-hard fan of unabridged works I hate to say this--I might have been happier reading the Expurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin.
In spite of the
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beauty of the prose, Henry and June left me frustrated and unsatisfied (and not in the way you think). Perhaps it is unfair of me to expect any kind of plot or forward movement from what is admittedly a collection of journal entries, but after a while I felt I was reading the same thing over and over again. Experiences and thoughts that Nin felt were revelatory over the number of years during which the journals take place were repetitive and somewhat tedious when read in the course of a few days.It was certainly interesting to read intimate details about the psyche of Henry James, another amazing writer. But--and as a die-hard fan of unabridged works I hate to say this--I might have been happier reading the Expurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin.
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LibraryThing member PiperUp
I made it almost 50 pages into this book & realized Anais Nin was a selfish whore.
I'm all for discovering & exploring your sexuality...but not with multiple partners when you're married.
The writing's not great. Not bad...but not great.
I felt like I was reading a 16 yr old girl's diary...only with
I'm all for discovering & exploring your sexuality...but not with multiple partners when you're married.
The writing's not great. Not bad...but not great.
I felt like I was reading a 16 yr old girl's diary...only with
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better vocabulary...and more sex. Show Less
LibraryThing member fmclellan
Not at all sure why I felt I needed to read this in Paris. It was just as dull as I remembered.
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1986
Physical description
281 p.; 6 inches
ISBN
2253052736 / 9782253052739