142 of 147 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sensuality Poetic and Erotic, February 16, 2001
When I first read "Delta of Venus", I was but a 20-something, as yet uneducated in the ways of love and the world. But I wasn't too young to feel the effect of Nin's dreamy prose, the heightened tease of her language, the titillation of the poetic images of lovers of every variety and combination, all experiencing the joys of the flesh. I never knew descriptions of heretofore "clinical" bodyparts could seem so ... beautiful.
Now that I'm older, and can more fully appreciate the various twists and turns of sexuality and desire, Nin's stories are even more arousing, if for no other reason than the fact that I myself am more experienced in these matters. All combinations of love - man/woman, woman/woman, three women together, and more - are exposed here and brought to life with a passionate detachment, if such a thing is possible. There is no guilt within these pages; a reader must be willing to bathe, suspended, in the heated waters of love, taking what comes and accepting it on its own terms without judgment.
Yes, it's graphic. I disagree with the idea that "pornography" cannot be an art. I prefer to think of good erotic literature as just that: an art form often attempted but rarely achieved in the purest sense of the word. "Penthouse Forum" is porn - "Delta of Venus" (as well as "Little Birds" and "Spy In The House of Love") is the best example of literary erotica, the combinations of love and the mystery of orgasm and sensuality.
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60 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Celebration of Beauty and Sensuality, August 9, 2000
Delta of Venus joyously explores the art of human sexuality. Anais Nin's writing style is at once lyrical and straightforward. While she leaves no doubt in the reader's mind just what is going on, her countless love scenes are imbued with so much warmth and dignity that one could scarcely find them offensive. But most importantly, Anais understood that sex is nothing without emotion, and it's the emotions of her myriad characters that cause the reader to turn happily florid with every page. She understood that while sex is not to be taken lightly, it's certainly not something to be restrained, either. Lastly, of all the locales depicted in this collection of stories, she lends a special affection to Paris. I suspect that of all of Anais' lovers, the City of Light was the dearest to her heart, to wit: "At five I always felt shivers of sensuality, shared with the sensual Paris. As soon as the light faded, it seemed to me that every woman I saw was running to meet her lover, that every man was running to meet his mistress." and "But we were enjoying an orgasm, as couples do in doorways and under bridges at night all over Paris."
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38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
opened my eyes to a whole new world, November 25, 1999
By A Customer
This is the first of Nin's works I have read. I had no idea erotica could be so exciting! I had always been turned off by it because it seems very male-centered and raunchy. Nin manages to be sensual without being crude. Her feminine style makes the text sexier. I'm definately going to read her other works. A must read for any woman.
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