The Diary of Anais Nin, Vol. 3: 1939-1944 [Paperback]

Anais Nin (Author), Gunther Stuhlmann (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 1971

Nin continues her debate on the use of drugs versus the artist's imagination, portrays many famous people in the arts, and recounts her visits to Sweden, the Brussels World's Fair, Paris, and Venice. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

One of the most remarkable diaries in the history of letters....with this initial publication, Miss Nin, already assured of a place in contemporary literature, makes this doubly secure. (Los Angeles Times- Robert R. Kirsch )

About the Author

Ana-s Nin (1903-1977) was born in Paris and aspired at an early age to be a writer. An influential artist and thinker, she was the author of several novels, short stories, critical studies, a collection of essays, two volumes of erotica, and nine published volumes of her Diary.

Product Details

• Paperback: 327 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (March 24, 1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156260271
• ISBN-13: 978-0156260275
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #204,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anaïs Nin (1903-1977) was born in Paris and aspired at an early age to be a writer. An influential artist and thinker, she wrote primarily fiction until 1964, when her last novel, Collages, was published. She wrote The House of Incest, a prose-poem (1936), three novellas collected in The Winter of Artifice (1939), short stories collected in Under a Glass Bell (1944), and a five-volume continuous novel consisting of Ladders to Fire (1946), Children of the Albatross (1947), The Four-Chambered Heart (1950), A Spy in the House of Love (1954), and Seduction of the Minotaur (1961). These novels were collected as Cities of the Interior (1974). She gained commercial and critical success with the publication of the first volume of her diary (1966); to date, fifteen diary volumes have been published. Her most commercially successful books were her erotica published as Delta of Venus (1977) and Little Birds (1979). Today, her books are appearing digitally.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anais Nin confronts New York City, March 10, 2004

By 

Andrew Olivo Parodi (Oregon, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Diary of Anais Nin, Vol. 3: 1939-1944 (Paperback)

Anais Nin began a letter to her father, on the ship that carried her, her mother and brothers, away from him, away from Europe and to New York City. She was 11. The letter was never sent, but instead developed into a diary that would become legendary by the time she reached her late 20s. Henry Miller helped feed the legend by stating that, once published, Anais Nin's diary would take its place beside the great literary revelations of the 20th Century. Upon publication in the 1960s, many felt that the acclaim was justified. Though original plans called for the publication of only one volume, demand was so great that seven volumes in all would be eventually be published.

In this present volume (1939-1944), Anais has taken refuge once again in the United States, escaping the war that has engulfed most of Europe and destroyed her much beloved literary community back home in Paris. This is the second time she has had to immigrate to the US, and its culture seems just as alien and unwelcoming as it did the first time. Nin finds the transition particularly difficult because her "European" writing style is not warmly received; American audiences are more interested in realism than sur-realism. Her work is deemed obscure and un-publishable. But Anais Nin does not cave to pressure. She forges a community with other artists in the Manhattan literary world, creating something close to what she had in Paris with Henry Miller and Lawrence Durrell.

I enjoyed this volume because, well, I'm fascinated with Anais Nin's work, persona, and overall career. I enjoy its panoramic quality, and that it gives me insight into a world of which I would otherwise be totally ignorant, as I was merely two-years-old when Anais Nin died in 1977. But I think it would be true to say that general readership would probably stop at volume two of this series. In other words, unless you are heavily interested in Anais Nin, this volume and all future installments probably will not grab you. If you are like me, then you have four more volumes in this "expurgated" series to look forward to, then four volumes of the "unexpurgated" series, and yet four more volumes of "early diaries." See you then! :)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anais Nin confronts New York City, March 10, 2004

By 

Andrew Olivo Parodi (Oregon, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Diary of Anais Nin, Vol. 3: 1939-1944 (Paperback)

Anais Nin began a letter to her father, on the ship that carried her, her mother and brothers, away from him, away from Europe and to New York City. She was 11. The letter was never sent, but instead developed into a diary that would become legendary by the time she reached her late 20s. Henry Miller helped feed the legend by stating that, once published, Anais Nin's diary would take its place beside the great literary revelations of the 20th Century. Upon publication in the 1960s, many felt that the acclaim was justified. Though original plans called for the publication of only one volume, demand was so great that seven volumes in all would be eventually be published.

In this present volume (1939-1944), Anais has taken refuge once again in the United States, escaping the war that has engulfed most of Europe and destroyed her much beloved literary community back home in Paris. This is the second time she has had to immigrate to the US, and its culture seems just as alien and unwelcoming as it did the first time. Nin finds the transition particularly difficult because her "European" writing style is not warmly received; American audiences are more interested in realism than sur-realism. Her work is deemed obscure and un-publishable. But Anais Nin does not cave to pressure. She forges a community with other artists in the Manhattan literary world, creating something close to what she had in Paris with Henry Miller and Lawrence Durrell.

I enjoyed this volume because, well, I'm fascinated with Anais Nin's work, persona, and overall career. I enjoy its panoramic quality, and that it gives me insight into a world of which I would otherwise be totally ignorant, as I was merely two-years-old when Anais Nin died in 1977. But I think it would be true to say that general readership would probably stop at volume two of this series. In other words, unless you are heavily interested in Anais Nin, this volume and all future installments probably will not grab you. If you are like me, then you have four more volumes in this "expurgated" series to look forward to, then four volumes of the "unexpurgated" series, and yet four more volumes of "early diaries." See you then! :)

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Descovery of an excellent diarist!!!, March 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Diary of Anais Nin, Vol. 3: 1939-1944 (Paperback)

I found out some volumes of A.Nin's series of Journals some months ago and I was really amazed : how precise and how many literary encounters! Being a student in American Literature and an apprentice diarist myself, I think Nin's skill for autobiography and her sense of time are optimal points to last longer in diaries!