Ladders to fire [Paperback]

Anaïs Nin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1959

Ladders to Fire explores the erotic attachments of four young women. Nin described it as a "woman's struggle to understand her own nature." It began a five-volume "continuous novel," Cities of the Interior, which includes Children of the Albatross (1947), The Four-Chambered Heart (1950), A Spy in the House of Love (1954), and Solar Barque (1959). Set in the pre-war, expatriate Paris of Henry Miller, this novel — which shocked Nin’s contemporaries — draws its inspiration from her confessional diaries. Although Nin found in her diaries a profound mode of self-creation and confession, she could not reveal this intimate record of her own experiences during her lifetime. Instead, she turned to fiction, where her stories and novels became artistic “distillations” of her secret diaries. This 1995 reissue of of the 1946 novel Ladders to Fire has a new cover and foreword.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Anais Nin—the celebrated novelst, diarist, and short story writer—was born in France and spent her childhood in various parts of Europe and in New York. Nin returned to New York just before the outbreak of World War II, and she spent the rest of her life living there and in Paris and Los Angeles. Her work is characterized by a interest in the subconscious. Her five novels in the Cities of the Interior series focus on different female types and follow their lives through lovers, art, and analysis. In 1973 Nin received an honorary doctorate from Philadelphia College of Art. She was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1974. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: A. Swallow (1959)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0007I01DQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,067,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Evocative, October 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ladders To Fire: V1 In Nin'S Continuous Novel (Vol I) (Paperback)

Evocative, dreamlike portrayal of woman and soul. Much substance, deeply layered. Imagery is gritty, beautiful, real, and stylish simultaneously. Everything is described until you feel dreams are tanglible. Bless you Anais!!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nin at her best, November 10, 2010

By 

Gail Kelley (Redondo Beach, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ladders To Fire: V1 In Nin'S Continuous Novel (Vol I) (Paperback)

I have to say that I only started reading Anais Nin because of Henry Miller, but that probably can be said for most. After reading "Tropic of Cancer" about ten years ago I had to read Miller's muse, so I picked up Nin's "Delta of Venus" in a used book store and devoured it. This year after visiting the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur, CA. I read "Tropic of Capricorn" and had to keep up the tradition by reading this book. With that said... Nin is amazingly poetic in her verse and it makes me want to lock myself in the house and read the rest of the books in this "continuous novel". Every character leaps from the page and I feel like I have known their counterparts at one point in my life. Nin made each character a shattered part of herself or a part she wanted her self to be! Here style made me more and more introspective with the addition of each new character. I can not wait to read more!