As I have always said, I am not one for reading erotic novels. However, just this once, I had a craving to read something like that without having to endure any of the alpha males that abound in romantic novels.

I thought it might be an interesting departure from my usual reading material. Maybe it would offer a different perspective or a new kind of excitement.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was willing to give it a try. After all, sometimes stepping out of our comfort zones can lead to unexpected discoveries.

So, I decided to take the plunge and pick up an erotic novel. I was curious to see if it would live up to my expectations or if it would be just another disappointment.

Only time would tell, but I was ready to find out.

Their doors were closed on page 20.
There is a need for ability...

It seems that the original text is rather fragmented and perhaps lacking in complete context. However, based on what is provided, we can expand it a bit further.

Their doors were firmly closed on page 20, as if shutting out a world of possibilities.
There is an urgent need for the ability to break through these barriers and discover what lies beyond.
Maybe it's a hidden truth, a new opportunity, or a path to a better future.
But without the necessary skills and determination, this need will remain unfulfilled.

Erotica is something that I do appreciate and enjoy. However, necrophilia, pedophilia, and sadism are completely different matters. Burning someone's genitals is most definitely not okay.

I don't think the book in question is beautifully written at all. It lacks creativity. Clearly, Anais Nin was attempting to be original, perhaps that's why she felt the need to go to such extremes. Well, perhaps this should have been expected considering she had an incestuous relationship with her father and was married to two men simultaneously.

The characters, as depicted in the various stories, were ridiculous caricatures. Evidently, she had no idea what she was talking about. Besides the so-called 'erotica', there was a lot of nonsense. For example, opium in Peru and alpacas in Brazil! These are just a few of the inaccuracies. I understand it was supposed to be fantasy, but that doesn't excuse idiocy and ignorance. Nin never felt proud of this work. She wrote it mainly to make some much-needed money, which is why the different stories were intended to be read by a private 'buyer' with a particular taste for sex, the one who was paying her and other authors to do so.

Overall, it's a terrible book. I threw it where it belongs: in the rubbish.

Oh, and please don't try to convince me or the others who agree with me that I'm wrong. In this particular case, I'm sure I'm not.

BTW, we can call Anais Nin a diarist, but she was not really a novelist. She has to be one of the most overrated writers ever. I'm not saying this because I'm a prude. In fact, I think I'm quite the opposite, very liberal. But I've read thousands of books since the age of 4 (it's completely true). Perhaps that's why these days I don't find many books that I consider good literature. I may be called a snob, and perhaps I am, but I have to be true to myself, and Anais Nin just doesn't do it for me.

Here in the erotica I was engaged in writing to provide entertainment, succumbing to the pressure exerted by a client who insisted that I "leave out the poetry." In numerous passages, I found myself intuitively employing a woman's language, perceiving sexual experience from a woman's vantage point. If the unexpurgated version of the Diary were ever to be published, this feminine perspective would be more clearly established. It would demonstrate that women (and I, within the Diary) have never compartmentalized sex from feeling, from the love of the whole man.

Sensual, perverse, unnerving, at times hilarious and at others horrifying. Some stories subvert your expectations, like "Boarding school," while others are hallucinatory and terrifying, such as "Mathilde." However, as the work progresses, near the middle with "Elena," it begins to feel repetitive and boring. The stories start to blend together and become indistinguishable.

It is a complex and diverse collection of erotica that takes the reader on a wild ride through various emotions and experiences. Yet, the lack of distinctiveness in the latter part somewhat detracts from the overall impact. Nevertheless, it still manages to captivate and arouse the reader's curiosity.

A female writer pens erotic stories.

She doesn't just focus on sensuality.

But reveals the long-hidden problems in human life through sex stories.

If you read it to the end,

you will find the answer

as to why you must read this book.

Another thing is that if anyone wants to write erotic literature

and has never read this book,

please read this book first

and then make a decision again.

Expanded version:

A female writer delves into the realm of erotic writing.

Her works are not merely centered around the aspect of physical desire.

Rather, she uses sex stories as a medium to expose the deep-rooted and often overlooked problems in human life.

When you embark on reading her stories and reach the conclusion,

you will unearth the answer

that clarifies the significance of reading this particular book.

Furthermore, for those individuals who have an inclination towards writing erotic literature

and have yet to explore this book,

it is highly recommended that they peruse this volume first.

After thoroughly engaging with its contents,

they can then carefully deliberate and make a more informed decision.

What can I say about this book?

Yes, it is erotica. It contains elements such as sex with children, rape, necrophilia, and bestiality. These are extremely disturbing and immoral themes that are not suitable for most readers.

However, it is written in clear prose, and two of the stories were actually quite interesting. For example, there is a story about a man who is paid to have sex with a lady, but he doesn't know her exact address or her name. There is then a twist in the story which I will not reveal.

Despite the interesting parts, I did not finish the book. I read three quarters of it and then found out that the next story was the so-called necrophiliac story. I simply could not bring myself to read on, knowing that the next story was about people having sex with a body they found in a river.

Overall, I would rate this book as barely 1 star. Barely. It has some redeeming qualities in terms of the writing style and a couple of interesting stories, but the extremely disturbing and immoral content far outweighs any positive aspects.

What happened with this set of texts is very interesting. A private client paid Anaïs Nin and several other writers (such as Henry Miller and George Barker) to write erotic stories for him. As he received the stories, he kept asking them to set aside the poetic details and focus on sex, on the explicit parts. He would praise the texts, show satisfaction, and pay well, always remaining anonymous. But he wanted more, more sex, and he wanted it to be more explicit. These texts, the collection of Anaïs Nin's contributions, have that tension, made up of the research of the Kama Sutra, the inclusion of friends' stories, what was being learned about sex from medical research, and a growing frustration because a mysterious client kept repeating, it's very good, but put aside the poetry, and more sex please.

This moment with Anaïs Nin's generation was curious. Here was a group of people highly motivated to, precisely, combat prejudices regarding sex. At that time, Henry Miller's books were systematically censored in the US, and many would only be published years later. In the 1940s, they were in a kind of vanguard when it came to sex. And here they found the most avid of readers. But it didn't result in a typical writer/reader relationship. Or it resulted as a test. The texts published here are the ones Nin wrote. And the theme she raised in the preface is still relevant.

When the objective is to talk about sex, what is written? Is it circumscribed? Is it written, as the client said, poetry? Or does one go straight to the point? And what does it mean to go straight to the point? Does only pornography exist and nothing else? Anaïs Nin says that the collector, the name by which the client was referred to, was being so insistent on that point that he was taking away from her the greatest aphrodisiac, precisely poetry. And she refers to explicit descriptions as clinical descriptions. But does talking about the human body, about everything that involves the human body, two human bodies have to have the coldness of a clinical description? Can't it have poetry?

Anais Nin is a renowned writer, and her works are filled with captivating and often controversial elements.

Her pen gives birth to erotic stories that are not only addressed to D.H. Lawrence but also carry the allure of Marquez de Sade and the essence of Henry Miller. However, what makes her stories truly unique is the distinct female perspective that she brings to the table.

By focusing on the female psychology, her stories can sometimes be discomforting and challenging to our moral sensibilities. They force us to confront the hidden desires and emotions that lie within the female psyche.

Yet, it is precisely this bold exploration that makes Anais Nin's works so engaging and thought-provoking. Her stories have the power to both arouse and disturb, leaving the reader with a profound understanding of the complex nature of female sexuality and human relationships.

The language of man was inadequate for the mysteries of female sensuality, which was so different from that of the male. The language of sex still had to be invented. The language of the senses still had to be explored. In a world that had been the exclusive domain of men, women faced numerous challenges in expressing their true selves and experiences. However, there were those who were brave enough to break free from the constraints and attempt to find a new way.

After much consideration, I decided to allow the publication of these stories. They show the first efforts of a woman in a male-dominated world. These stories are not just about sex or sensuality; they are about the struggle for self-expression and the search for a language that can truly capture the essence of female experience. Through these stories, we can catch a glimpse of the hidden world of women and gain a better understanding of their unique perspectives and emotions.

Delta of Venus is a collection of stories that aim to have the reader explore their passions and experience them through the characters and proposed narratives.

The book has many successes as the majority of the stories are curiously attractive and, although not always, they arouse pleasant sensations when reading them. I especially highlight 2 stories: Elena and El vasco y Bijou, stories that truly filled me with sensations, if you understand what I mean...

These two stories, in addition to their high erotic charge, are very well achieved in characterizing their characters and situations. Being the longest in the book, they allow for a good development and truly exciting moments.

After that, there are other stories that are okay but are rather basic. Some simply propose an erotic situation and end spontaneously, which makes them of little interest. Likewise, there is one or two stories with certain rather unrestrained anecdotes in the field of fetishes, which will surely generate automatic repulsion in many people. As an example of this is El aventurero húngaro, a story in which its protagonist takes advantage of the innocence of two girls to stimulate his member. I know, very strange, I don't really know how to take that and similar things that I have read in stories like those of the Marquis de Sade, in whose pages this type of situation abounds... It's strange, but in this case it doesn't seem condemnable to me, as this precise story has a teaching. Its own protagonist goes crazy with passion for his desires that demand more and more, which leads him to decadence. In the case of the Marquis de Sade, something similar happens, but I will comment on it in some future review that I do of one of his books. Don't think that I approve of these behaviors, only that in this context it seems justifiable to me to use them if one wants to convey an idea. If these situations were done with the simple aim of exciting, without any kind of reflection, logically it would be measured with a different yardstick.

The whole is eye-catching. Anais Nin writes very well, she truly overflows with her words, but I don't recommend it to people who may feel offended by things like those already mentioned (and others that I'm keeping to myself).

The first meeting I had with Anais Nin

I lived through 3 whole days of delicious green and the vast erotic fantasy. All those details and imaginations that Anais Nin surrounded with her truly fascinating stories. Everything I say cannot continue to exist in the mobilization of the senses' imagination and my carrying to a hazy area of the intersection of sensual eroticism with beautiful literature.

I don't understand why all the comments oppose erotic writing under the pretext of morality. We are supposed to read literature separately from religion and morality because it is beautiful first and foremost. Then most of us suffer from a confusion of concepts between pornography and eroticism...

Moreover, erotic writing can explore the depths of human emotions and desires in a way that other forms of literature may not. It can break free from the constraints of traditional norms and offer a unique perspective on love, relationships, and the human psyche.

However, it is important to note that there is a fine line between eroticism and pornography. While erotic writing aims to arouse and stimulate the reader's senses in a tasteful and artistic way, pornography often focuses on explicit and vulgar sexual content.

In conclusion, we should not be too quick to condemn erotic writing. Instead, we should approach it with an open mind and a willingness to explore its potential. After all, literature is a reflection of our society and our human experience, and erotic writing is just one of the many ways in which we can express ourselves.

След стр. 100 ми беше поомръзнало. No matter how diverse the situations and combinations were, in the end, it all came down to the same thing. The very "key" words started to repeat far too often. At first, I thought that because of the first stories with pure pedophilia and sadomasochistic fantasies, the book wouldn't appeal to me as a whole. But in fact, the reason was rather the relaxation in the second part. Maybe such a collection should be read with long breaks – 2-3 stories and then a few days later some more. I tried to imagine a collection of stories on another single theme, and surely it would also disgust me (but then again, I knew what I was getting into, so I couldn't have any complaints).

Two other reasons why I wasn't impressed:

- This summer I read "Quiet Days in Clichy" by Henry Miller and without any words and definitions, I can say – this is magic. (I was also enchanted by the film "Henry & June".) Here – for me, there was often a lack of charm despite the constant fidgeting of the women or men in the stories.

- The heroes – pure sex machines. As for selfishness – one pleasure was the higher and constant goal. In fact, were these women and men satisfied in a broader sense? All seeking and pursuing, wild lonely bodies. Coldness despite the constant arousal. And I don't even associate sex with feelings, so I wouldn't expect any love here.

Maybe the reason for this one-sidedness is that the stories were written on commission for some chick (or was it an uncle…). But for me, they didn't raise erotica as an attractive area. Again I repeat – the heroes and the "performances" are diverse, but the whole book seemed to me like a week locked in a hotel just for sex – wouldn't it be disgusting (or am I a "conservative")? Surely I should have stopped at a hundred pages (excluding the family excerpts) and continued another time. The last story I simply skipped and still looked at the last page as never before – hmm, it was interesting, but I had already written off the book…

I appreciate the value of the collection for the 40s of the last century and I am "for" the expansion of "horizons". But for example, "Palav and Plankton" and "Cultural Entertainments" by Boris Vian I liked much more, surely because of the humor (although it's wrong to make any kind of analogies, the niche of "Delta of Venus" is clear, but here – I'm still mentioning other literary magicians).