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In Favor of the Sensitive Man and Other Essays
Here, in more than twenty essays, Nin shares her unique perceptions of people, places, and the arts. Includes several lectures and two interviews.
169 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
160 people are currently reading
3919 people want to read
About the author
Anaïs Nin
357 books9,013 followersWriter and diarist, born in Paris to a Catalan father and a Danish mother, Anaïs Nin spent many of her early years with Cuban relatives. Later a naturalized American citizen, she lived and worked in Paris, New York and Los Angeles. Author of avant-garde novels in the French surrealistic style and collections of erotica, she is best known for her life and times in The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Volumes I-VII (1966-1980).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana%C3%...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana%C3%...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
September 28, 2025
In "In Favour of the Sensitive Man," Anaïs Nin provides an essential part of her perspective and worldview. She tells us about feminine eroticism, very different from eroticism, tinged with pornography so dear to the male race. It links this female eroticism to love, emotion, and the choice of a unique being.
She also tells us why she writes: to create a world where she can live. She discusses her contributions to the movement for the Liberation of women.
In the book's second part, she talks about her encounters with Japanese women and young university women in Fez and Bali. The last pages depict Anaïs Nin accompanying her Turkish grandmother.
She also tells us why she writes: to create a world where she can live. She discusses her contributions to the movement for the Liberation of women.
In the book's second part, she talks about her encounters with Japanese women and young university women in Fez and Bali. The last pages depict Anaïs Nin accompanying her Turkish grandmother.
February 21, 2018
A slim collection of essays by Anais Nin. In this book, she writes about feminism, her ideas about psychology, erotica, man-woman relationships, literature, arts, personalities and places. One section of the book contains essays about her travels in non-European cities such as Fez, Bali, Morocco etc. She is someone who sees the best in other people and their cultures, and thereby, I suppose, gets maximum enjoyment out of travels. Something that is quite refreshing especially the kind of polarization the world is seeing today.
One of the best essays in the book is on 'Japanese women'. I almost found myself in Japan seeing and enjoying the beauty of its women in urban and rural settings. In this particular essay, she is at her best in regard to language. Her prose is lyrical and alive. She also wrote another essay on 'Bali.' She probably tends to romanticize a bit, but this makes a good read. Her essays on Ingmar Bergman, Edgar Varese are illuminating.
In her essay on 'women' she writes stuff which now seems dated and somewhat naive, but at the same time, it has immense relevance. The problem with activism is that one cannot be original. One has to repeat and keep repeating the obvious. While she, no doubt, is evolved in her art and understood herself deeply; she still needs to say simple things with full force and clarity in order to guide and enlighten both men and women.
Just like in her diaries and interviews, she does not hesitate to write about primarily male literary influences. However, she also claims that she never imitates them. She admires their craft and learns from them. She puts her experiences on paper and assigns them 'form' through a brilliantly. Having read her brilliant book ''Henry and June''one readily agrees that her sharp, lucid and concise sentences are readers's delight.
One of the best essays in the book is on 'Japanese women'. I almost found myself in Japan seeing and enjoying the beauty of its women in urban and rural settings. In this particular essay, she is at her best in regard to language. Her prose is lyrical and alive. She also wrote another essay on 'Bali.' She probably tends to romanticize a bit, but this makes a good read. Her essays on Ingmar Bergman, Edgar Varese are illuminating.
In her essay on 'women' she writes stuff which now seems dated and somewhat naive, but at the same time, it has immense relevance. The problem with activism is that one cannot be original. One has to repeat and keep repeating the obvious. While she, no doubt, is evolved in her art and understood herself deeply; she still needs to say simple things with full force and clarity in order to guide and enlighten both men and women.
Just like in her diaries and interviews, she does not hesitate to write about primarily male literary influences. However, she also claims that she never imitates them. She admires their craft and learns from them. She puts her experiences on paper and assigns them 'form' through a brilliantly. Having read her brilliant book ''Henry and June''one readily agrees that her sharp, lucid and concise sentences are readers's delight.
July 28, 2013
Anais Nin may be most famous for her journals, but her essays on relationships that were written decades ago are still very relevant and full of great advice. She discusses how to maintain balance and build relationships that are more of a true partnership than clearly divided roles in which one person's career goals dominate.
Her reviews of books and movies show an acute sense of artistry and appreciation for well crafted works. While many of these were written in the early seventies, I found myself drawn to her criticism and gaining better insight into the concept of artistry through her writing. She demonstrates solid understanding of the architecture and symbolism inherent in works of art. Her criticism is worth reading for these insights, even if you haven't read the book or seen the movie being reviewed.
Her reviews of books and movies show an acute sense of artistry and appreciation for well crafted works. While many of these were written in the early seventies, I found myself drawn to her criticism and gaining better insight into the concept of artistry through her writing. She demonstrates solid understanding of the architecture and symbolism inherent in works of art. Her criticism is worth reading for these insights, even if you haven't read the book or seen the movie being reviewed.
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March 26, 2024”في التاسعة والعشرين من عمرك، كتبت أن في داخلك امرأتين: «امرأة يائسة تشعر أنها تغرق، وأخرى تثبُ إلى مشهد الحياة». كيف تحكمت بنفسك؟
— لا تزال المرأتان موجودتين في داخلي، غير أنهما لا تدمر إحداهما الأخرى، وإنما تعيشان في سلام.“
أول قراءاتي لأناييس نِن، وأظن هذا أول خطأ وقعتُ فيه، فأنا لا أعرف صوتها، و —أعترف بجهلي— لا أعرف أثرها في الحركة النسوية أو العالم الأدبي. وهذا الكتاب، كما يبدو لي، لمن له تجارب مع نِن، ويعرف كيف تكتب وعمَّ تكتب ولِمَ تكتب.
المشكلة الأخرى كانت في بعض مواضيع هذا الكتاب، فهو متنوع في مواضيعه، وأنا كنتُ هنا للجزء النسوي منه فحسب.
فلم أرغب بقراءة مراجعاتها لكتبٍ وأفلام لم أكن أدرك وجودها حتى. هذه ليست نقطة سلبية للكتاب، بل وربما أحب فقرةٍ كهذه في كتابٍ أخر، إن كنتُ مستعدة له، وهذا ما لم أكن هنا.
ولا أحب أن اقرأ، أو أشاهد حتى، عن تجارب الآخرين في السفر والترحال. وهذا كان أخر فصل في الكتاب، والذي، بصراحة، قرأتُ صفحتان منه ثم قررت التوقف.
ماذا أحببتُ إذًا؟ لا أعرف، بعض الاقتباسات النسوية العبقرية، وبعض المواضيع التي تمنيت لو أطالت الحديث فيها. لكن، بشكلٍ عام، لا أعتقد أن هذه تجربة رائعة. لكنني، بطريقةٍ أو بأخرى، لست حانقة، بل لم أمانع هذه التجربة البتة (هذا النضج ولا ايش)، وأتمنى لو أعيد الكرّة، وأن أجد في مؤلفاتها ما تمنيتُ وجوده هنا.
March 31, 2024
This was enjoyable but dated. Nin's reflections in this particular collection of essays seem so bound to their time and place that any sense of current relevance is faint. My favourite essay though is not outdated, which is the one she wrote and delivered at a UCLA homage to Ingmar Bergman in 1973. I liked too her review of the book At A Journal Workshop if only because it encouraged me to buy the book myself.
January 5, 2022
These essays discuss sexual revolution and gender roles through a second-wave feminism lens: about 'the new woman,' the one who will have to discover her own roles, her own sexuality. Likewise, she writes about men who will also discover more facets within themselves. It's the haphazard internal monologue we see everywhere — women who know exactly what they're being deprived of, post-biological femininity, female dissatisfaction, woman vs. void, etc. Yet, it's in a way where a lot of essays in this book boil down to "it's up to us, right now to see what happens, how we are." One thing about me: I'm a fool, and I don't listen. Nin was incredibly relevant and necessary when these were published in magazines and journals, but now often either outdated or too simplistic. Still, she dares you to take your private thoughts and experiences seriously. There are some serious standouts with beautiful articulation, but ultimately it's completely forgettable.
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October 10, 2022بدي أستعير كلمات أناييس وأوصف فيها هالعمل يلي جمعت فيو المترجمة محاسن عبد القادر مقالات لأناييس بترتيب في غاية الجمال:
"إنها تشبه أوعية طلائية مراقة بمهارة".
لما قرأت هالسطر بأحد المقالات قلت هيو! هيو الوصف يلي بقلبي وما كنت قادرة أحكيه تجاه المقالات.
قلبي ممتلئ بشعور بالحياة بشكل غريب، ومُزهر.
كانت تجربة غنية وعاصفة.
لحد اللحظة هاي ما سبق وقرأت شي خلاني أشعر بهي الطريقة، يلي بلحظات كثيرة كنت بشعر ببركان جواتي، بركان حياة، ألوان، أفكار، توق، وهاد ما بينفي الإرهاق والتعب يلي سببلي إياه الناتج عن التفكير المستمر طوال الوقت. بس يا إلهي شو ممتنة إني قرأت هاد العمل، وبهاد الوقت تحديدا يلي أنا فيو بحاجة لشي يحسسني بإني عايشة من جوا، شي يحسسني إنو لسا هالمشاعر بقدر أستحضرها.
بعيدا عن غرامي بأناييس طبعا، شخصيتها، ملامحها، أسلوبها، يلي بيخليني أحب كل لفتة حلوة بتطلع منها. ❤😕
"إنها تشبه أوعية طلائية مراقة بمهارة".
لما قرأت هالسطر بأحد المقالات قلت هيو! هيو الوصف يلي بقلبي وما كنت قادرة أحكيه تجاه المقالات.
قلبي ممتلئ بشعور بالحياة بشكل غريب، ومُزهر.
كانت تجربة غنية وعاصفة.
لحد اللحظة هاي ما سبق وقرأت شي خلاني أشعر بهي الطريقة، يلي بلحظات كثيرة كنت بشعر ببركان جواتي، بركان حياة، ألوان، أفكار، توق، وهاد ما بينفي الإرهاق والتعب يلي سببلي إياه الناتج عن التفكير المستمر طوال الوقت. بس يا إلهي شو ممتنة إني قرأت هاد العمل، وبهاد الوقت تحديدا يلي أنا فيو بحاجة لشي يحسسني بإني عايشة من جوا، شي يحسسني إنو لسا هالمشاعر بقدر أستحضرها.
بعيدا عن غرامي بأناييس طبعا، شخصيتها، ملامحها، أسلوبها، يلي بيخليني أحب كل لفتة حلوة بتطلع منها. ❤😕
February 20, 2012
I loved these essays, especially the travel pieces--though rereading them decades later, yes, there is a bit of intentional blind-eye going on. A willful and unfashionable romanticizing of time and place, but isn't that what I love about Anais Nin anyway? The willful embrace of veils and mystery, a wisp of perfume in the air, a voluntary self-intoxication? Her Fez... makes me want to go back to The Sheltering Sky. Anais was the first woman writer I actually wanted to BECOME. And as usual, we grow and change and see our mentors and models with a more measured gaze, we can see the cracks, the bits of dust, but they remain no less precious to us.
September 29, 2023
“The lack of intimacy with one’s self and consequently with others is what created the loneliest and most alienated people in the world”
In Favour of the Sensitive Man is a collection that includes reviews of books, interviews in which Anais took part in, travels, and plenty of name dropping, many of which I had to research.
Henry Miller, Lou Andreas Salome, Edgard Verese, are some of her acquaintances are mentioned. Many of them are very interesting characters, and I look forward to delving into their worlds.
One of the most fascinating stories is focused on The Gotham Book Mart, and its owner, Frances Steloff, a remarkable woman who smuggled in illegal copies of Tropic Of Cancer.
A few interesting comments refer to Last Tango in Paris, a film considered reprehensibly misogynist, just as much then it is now.
Thanks to the reviews, I added a book named Angel in the Forest, on Goodreads, and A Safe Place by Henry Jaglom, on Letterboxd.
Overall, a delightful read that offers many great examples of Nin’s virtuosity for passionate, honest, reflective writing.
“Extroverted culture destroys the possibility of intimacy with others”.
In Favour of the Sensitive Man is a collection that includes reviews of books, interviews in which Anais took part in, travels, and plenty of name dropping, many of which I had to research.
Henry Miller, Lou Andreas Salome, Edgard Verese, are some of her acquaintances are mentioned. Many of them are very interesting characters, and I look forward to delving into their worlds.
One of the most fascinating stories is focused on The Gotham Book Mart, and its owner, Frances Steloff, a remarkable woman who smuggled in illegal copies of Tropic Of Cancer.
A few interesting comments refer to Last Tango in Paris, a film considered reprehensibly misogynist, just as much then it is now.
Thanks to the reviews, I added a book named Angel in the Forest, on Goodreads, and A Safe Place by Henry Jaglom, on Letterboxd.
Overall, a delightful read that offers many great examples of Nin’s virtuosity for passionate, honest, reflective writing.
“Extroverted culture destroys the possibility of intimacy with others”.
June 30, 2017
I am looking forward to reading her Diaries soon.
November 10, 2020
I enjoyed this selection of essays, lectures and excerpts from her diaries. Divided into three sections, women and men; art/writing/criticism; and travel. I enjoyed the third section the most, her beautiful observant writing is on show in her descriptions of Morocco and Polynesia. The first section made me wonder what she would think of today’s feminism and today’s relations between men and women. Her thoughts seem dated yet also still relevant.
December 6, 2015
This is a book I read a couple of times between the ages of 14 and 19, in part because all of the fascinating older women in my life at the time seemed to be reading it. (They were also reading the Nin diaries, The Sensuous Woman, A Spy in the House of Love, so I, too, read the latter around the time I read this one for the first time. The combination of all this stuff was pretty influential. In this volume I first learned about her press and all that, which in part sparked a long-term interest in printing.
November 16, 2022
مقالات وحوارات ومحاضرات مثرية وعميقة وجريئة
لأناييس نن وهذه القراءة الثانية لها بعد مختارات من يومياتها الصادرة أيضا عن دار المدى
الكتاب هنا يحوي ثلاثة أجزاء :
١-عن الرجال والنساء
"مقالة عن لو سالومي" فاجأتني
٢- عن الكتابة والموسيقى والأفلام
حكايتها ممتعة خاصة عن الكتب والإبداع
٣- أماكن ساحرة
سافرت إليها وانجذابها لمدن عربية كالمغرب
وعودة للجذور مع "جدتها التركية"
وكعادتها أنايسس
تكتب بشفافية وبلغة بليغة وساحرة
أفكارها جاءت مترابطة وسلسة ففي الجزء الأول أشبه بمحاولات لانقاذ نساء موهوبات من النسيان
أعجبني في أناييس أنها تمتلك ذاكرة تصويرية فذة فعندما ذكرت رحلتها إلى اليابان مثلا ، كان استحضار ذكريات زيارتها ووصفها قدرة عجيبة لادخالك في أجواء هذا الشعب عبر وصف مشاهداتها هناك.
كتاب ممتع بحق وأكرر جريء
حتما لا ينسى
المقالتين " تقديرا للرجل الرهيف
عن الحقيقة والواقع" ثورية ومهمة
تضمنت زيارتها لمعالج نفسي حيث اكتشفت أن " التجارب تميل إلى تغريبنا عندنا ، فننغلق على أنفسنا في موقف دفاعي؛ ولكي نحمي أنفسنا من الألم، تضعف استجاباتنا لما حولنا.يخلصنا علم النفس من الأذى النفسي والمخاوف والتصلب الذي يمنعنا من التوسع. إنها عملية تجد د حيوية"
ذكر صديقها المحلل النفسي أوتو رانك بأنها تريد أن تصنع من وجودها أسطورة وقد فعلت.
📌اقتباس:
" البعض يقرأ لتأكيد يأسه ، فيما يقرأ آخرون لينقذوا أنفسهم منه"
" كنت أعي تماما أن عالمي الشخصي بصفتي امرأة هو مصدر قوتي وطاقتي الروحية وأن تأسيس عالم شخصي مثالي هو الأساس الذي يلهمني هكذا، يهم المرأة ألا تضيّع المركز الذي تعرف قيمته"
"تريد النساء نموذجا ولا وجود لنموذج يصلح للنساء جميعا"
"فنحن لا نهرب إلى الفلسفة وعلم النفس والفن - بل نتوجه إلى كل واحد منها لنرحم أنفسنا المحطمة"
ملاحظة:
الخط المستخدم يا دار المدى أرجوكم اجعلوه أكبر حجما
لأناييس نن وهذه القراءة الثانية لها بعد مختارات من يومياتها الصادرة أيضا عن دار المدى
الكتاب هنا يحوي ثلاثة أجزاء :
١-عن الرجال والنساء
"مقالة عن لو سالومي" فاجأتني
٢- عن الكتابة والموسيقى والأفلام
حكايتها ممتعة خاصة عن الكتب والإبداع
٣- أماكن ساحرة
سافرت إليها وانجذابها لمدن عربية كالمغرب
وعودة للجذور مع "جدتها التركية"
وكعادتها أنايسس
تكتب بشفافية وبلغة بليغة وساحرة
أفكارها جاءت مترابطة وسلسة ففي الجزء الأول أشبه بمحاولات لانقاذ نساء موهوبات من النسيان
أعجبني في أناييس أنها تمتلك ذاكرة تصويرية فذة فعندما ذكرت رحلتها إلى اليابان مثلا ، كان استحضار ذكريات زيارتها ووصفها قدرة عجيبة لادخالك في أجواء هذا الشعب عبر وصف مشاهداتها هناك.
كتاب ممتع بحق وأكرر جريء
حتما لا ينسى
المقالتين " تقديرا للرجل الرهيف
عن الحقيقة والواقع" ثورية ومهمة
تضمنت زيارتها لمعالج نفسي حيث اكتشفت أن " التجارب تميل إلى تغريبنا عندنا ، فننغلق على أنفسنا في موقف دفاعي؛ ولكي نحمي أنفسنا من الألم، تضعف استجاباتنا لما حولنا.يخلصنا علم النفس من الأذى النفسي والمخاوف والتصلب الذي يمنعنا من التوسع. إنها عملية تجد د حيوية"
ذكر صديقها المحلل النفسي أوتو رانك بأنها تريد أن تصنع من وجودها أسطورة وقد فعلت.
📌اقتباس:
" البعض يقرأ لتأكيد يأسه ، فيما يقرأ آخرون لينقذوا أنفسهم منه"
" كنت أعي تماما أن عالمي الشخصي بصفتي امرأة هو مصدر قوتي وطاقتي الروحية وأن تأسيس عالم شخصي مثالي هو الأساس الذي يلهمني هكذا، يهم المرأة ألا تضيّع المركز الذي تعرف قيمته"
"تريد النساء نموذجا ولا وجود لنموذج يصلح للنساء جميعا"
"فنحن لا نهرب إلى الفلسفة وعلم النفس والفن - بل نتوجه إلى كل واحد منها لنرحم أنفسنا المحطمة"
ملاحظة:
الخط المستخدم يا دار المدى أرجوكم اجعلوه أكبر حجما
March 11, 2023
كتاب يتضمن مجموعة مقالات قُسمت لثلاثة فصول
١-النساء والرجال
٢-الكتابة، الموسيقى ، الافلام
٣-أماكن ساحرة
لا اعلم لماذا لم استطع كتابه مراجعة موجزة لذلك الكتاب، لانه اكثر من رائع الأسلوب والترجمة جداً جيدة
جميلة القلم والافكار الكاتبة
افكارها عن المساواة بين الرجل والمرأة جدا جميل ومغاير للصورة المعتادة ان المرأة ضحية المجتمع والذكور
عن فعل الكتابة والحاجة منها عن اليوميات
عن الارادة الخلاقة عن التوازن والوعي
عن الفن في المسرح والافلام وايقاعها على الواقع
في فصل الاماكن الساحرة ذكرتني بكتاب فن السفر ان الحاجة للسفر عند البعض قد يكون البحث عن المعنى والجمال كما هو لدى أننايس
اقتباس:
(ليس ثمة نموذج واحد للمرأة الجديدة سيكون عليها أن تجد طريقها الخاص ،لا وجود لنموذج يصلح للنساء جميعا)
١-النساء والرجال
٢-الكتابة، الموسيقى ، الافلام
٣-أماكن ساحرة
لا اعلم لماذا لم استطع كتابه مراجعة موجزة لذلك الكتاب، لانه اكثر من رائع الأسلوب والترجمة جداً جيدة
جميلة القلم والافكار الكاتبة
افكارها عن المساواة بين الرجل والمرأة جدا جميل ومغاير للصورة المعتادة ان المرأة ضحية المجتمع والذكور
عن فعل الكتابة والحاجة منها عن اليوميات
عن الارادة الخلاقة عن التوازن والوعي
عن الفن في المسرح والافلام وايقاعها على الواقع
في فصل الاماكن الساحرة ذكرتني بكتاب فن السفر ان الحاجة للسفر عند البعض قد يكون البحث عن المعنى والجمال كما هو لدى أننايس
اقتباس:
(ليس ثمة نموذج واحد للمرأة الجديدة سيكون عليها أن تجد طريقها الخاص ،لا وجود لنموذج يصلح للنساء جميعا)
May 18, 2021
"Todas estamos comprometidas en la tarea de desprendernos de nuestro falso yo, el yo programado, el yo creado por nuestra familia, cultura y religion. Es una labor gigantesca porque la historia de la mujer se conoce incompleta. Para conseguirlo no tenemos mas remedio que admitir un examen introspectivo personal... solo asi saldra a la luz como somos las mujeres"
Este libro es un conjunto de críticas, notas, entrevistas, conferencias y parte de los diarios de Anaïs Nin y se compone de tres bloques siendo el primero "Mujeres y hombres" el más interesante.
En este bloque se habla de erotismo, el concepto de "la mujer nueva", feminismo, el hombre sensible, etc. La información, a pesar de ser escrito hace años es a mi parecer valiosisima y sus ideas, a pesar de estar escrito hace mas de 40 años son completamente actuales sobretodo porque las mujeres de ahora somos esa "mujer nueva" de la que habla Anaïs Nin.
Los otros dos bloques se llaman "literatura, musica y cine" compuesto de criticas practicamente y "lugares encantados" con extractos de sus diarios donde describe sus viajes.
No le pongo mas puntuación porque estos dos ultimos bloques me han parecido muy pesados.
A quien le pueda interesar este libro en español su titulo es "Ser mujer"; editorial Debate, colección Tribuna feminista; ya no se vende en librerias convencionales, el ejemplar que tengo lo encontré en una libreria de segunda mano y data de 1979.
Este libro es un conjunto de críticas, notas, entrevistas, conferencias y parte de los diarios de Anaïs Nin y se compone de tres bloques siendo el primero "Mujeres y hombres" el más interesante.
En este bloque se habla de erotismo, el concepto de "la mujer nueva", feminismo, el hombre sensible, etc. La información, a pesar de ser escrito hace años es a mi parecer valiosisima y sus ideas, a pesar de estar escrito hace mas de 40 años son completamente actuales sobretodo porque las mujeres de ahora somos esa "mujer nueva" de la que habla Anaïs Nin.
Los otros dos bloques se llaman "literatura, musica y cine" compuesto de criticas practicamente y "lugares encantados" con extractos de sus diarios donde describe sus viajes.
No le pongo mas puntuación porque estos dos ultimos bloques me han parecido muy pesados.
A quien le pueda interesar este libro en español su titulo es "Ser mujer"; editorial Debate, colección Tribuna feminista; ya no se vende en librerias convencionales, el ejemplar que tengo lo encontré en una libreria de segunda mano y data de 1979.
September 2, 2021
looooovedddd anaïs nins tanker om femininitet og køn og womanhood og seksualitet. tænk at mig og denne franske erotikaforfatter har haft samme oplevelser om the female experience. hashtag very relatable. har for længst solgt min sjæl til ingmar bergman så også fedt med det essay. en stjerne trukket fra grundet de der travel essays fetishizing elements, der mindede for meget om åbningsscener i cairo/shanghai/mumbai/istanbul/beirut/ambiguous middle eastern and asian locations fra store hollywoodproduktioner med en hvid skuespiller der overraskende taler kantonesisk eller farsi.
August 26, 2017
Writing
Peeling off the false selves, the programmed selves
I believe one writes because one has to create a world in which one can live
World is a subjective creation
We write to taste life twice, to transcend our life
D. H. Lawrence said, We don’t need more children in the world, we need hope
Women were my patterns for living, men for thinking
My father’s leaving gave me the feeling of a broken bridge with the world that I wanted to rebuild
I balanced the two worlds—earth and imagination—then came the period of the greatest creativity
Communicating by way of the emotions, by imagery, indirectness, the myth
Achieving life on a poetic level
Love is complex. Because of the obstacles, personas, masks, a relationship is an arduous creation
Human beings construct labyrinths
Intuition was my divination
The diary itself was an escape from judgment, a place in which to analyze the truth of woman’s situation
Majority thinking is oppressive because it inhibits individual growth and seeks a formula for all
Individual growth makes communal living of higher quality
It is not similarities that create harmony, but the art of fusing various elements that enrich life
Feminization of society: emotional, intuitive, sensory, and humanistic approach
There are books which we read early in life, which sink into our consciousness and seem to disappear without leaving a trace
Art
Dramatization of the artist’s solution to the obstacles of life:
Refusal to bow down to the human condition, human sorrows, human handicaps
Artist simply means one who can transform ordinary life into a beautiful creation:
Healing, consoling, raising the level of life, transforming it
Conflict between being different and wanting to be close to others
Writing was the act of wholeness
It shifted the whole problem of human life to the problem of the creative will
Change came from within. It was a force which could solve conflicts
Only in the private world that we can learn to alchemize the ugly, the terrible, the horrors of war, the evils and cruelties of man, into a new kind of human being
Music: A way of expressing things, which bypasses the intellect and goes straight to the emotions
What unites us universally is our emotions
The search should take us to the point of being able to reassemble all the separate pieces of ourselves
Perfect superimposition of memory, dream, illusion
Mystery is the proof of man’s spiritual existence and symbolism is the only way to capture it
Labyrinth of the interior journey
For him life, dream, and art are identical
Dream and action are interrelated, fantasy and madness, creation and destruction
Fez
Fez was created for the delight of our five senses
The clothes conceal the wearers’ figures so that they remain elusive, with all the intensity and expression concentrated in the eyes
The eyes speak for the body, the self, for the age, conveying innumerable messages from their deep and rich existence
Blue is the symbolic color of Fez
The word long-forgotten and loved by the poets: azure
Fez is azure
Moroccan character—patience, timelessness, care, devotion
The smells surround you, enwrap you, drug you. You are tempted to dip your whole hand in the powdery colors
You begin to float on a dream of silk
Mosques, markets, souks, schools, baths, are all intertwined, giving a feeling of common humanity, or intimacy
The secret essence of Fez comes to me at five-thirty in the morning when I awaken to the muezzin, the prayer call, from the minaret
Five times a day this prayer is chanted; it seems like both a lament and an invocation, a consolation and a lyrical thanksgiving
A lonely faith protecting the sleeping city, a prayer
In infinity both death and life are suspended. It is a moment of freedom from both
Bali
The Morning of the World
The dazzling physical beauty of Bali is an expression of its spirit
What emanates from the island is tranquility, remoteness
Meditative, contemplative delights of the senses, drinking the smell of the sea, the velvet quality of the air, the smell of spices and flowers
Nine months spent in the womb is a period of meditation
Intense colors of the rituals with accents on gold and orange
Their work, their craft, their theater, and their music gives them joy
Physical balance creates inner balance, and that the evil spirits of illness or insanity can only enter and possess people who are out of balance
Every craft is sacred and meaningful
The colors, the perfumes, the dances, the music of Bali
They all penetrate deep into our psychic life
A joy which comes from shared work and symbolic oneness with nature, with religion, and with other human beings.
Everything about Bali stays with you. It is made of aesthetic and spiritual elements that touch something far deeper than the eyes
Peeling off the false selves, the programmed selves
I believe one writes because one has to create a world in which one can live
World is a subjective creation
We write to taste life twice, to transcend our life
D. H. Lawrence said, We don’t need more children in the world, we need hope
Women were my patterns for living, men for thinking
My father’s leaving gave me the feeling of a broken bridge with the world that I wanted to rebuild
I balanced the two worlds—earth and imagination—then came the period of the greatest creativity
Communicating by way of the emotions, by imagery, indirectness, the myth
Achieving life on a poetic level
Love is complex. Because of the obstacles, personas, masks, a relationship is an arduous creation
Human beings construct labyrinths
Intuition was my divination
The diary itself was an escape from judgment, a place in which to analyze the truth of woman’s situation
Majority thinking is oppressive because it inhibits individual growth and seeks a formula for all
Individual growth makes communal living of higher quality
It is not similarities that create harmony, but the art of fusing various elements that enrich life
Feminization of society: emotional, intuitive, sensory, and humanistic approach
There are books which we read early in life, which sink into our consciousness and seem to disappear without leaving a trace
Art
Dramatization of the artist’s solution to the obstacles of life:
Refusal to bow down to the human condition, human sorrows, human handicaps
Artist simply means one who can transform ordinary life into a beautiful creation:
Healing, consoling, raising the level of life, transforming it
Conflict between being different and wanting to be close to others
Writing was the act of wholeness
It shifted the whole problem of human life to the problem of the creative will
Change came from within. It was a force which could solve conflicts
Only in the private world that we can learn to alchemize the ugly, the terrible, the horrors of war, the evils and cruelties of man, into a new kind of human being
Music: A way of expressing things, which bypasses the intellect and goes straight to the emotions
What unites us universally is our emotions
The search should take us to the point of being able to reassemble all the separate pieces of ourselves
Perfect superimposition of memory, dream, illusion
Mystery is the proof of man’s spiritual existence and symbolism is the only way to capture it
Labyrinth of the interior journey
For him life, dream, and art are identical
Dream and action are interrelated, fantasy and madness, creation and destruction
Fez
Fez was created for the delight of our five senses
The clothes conceal the wearers’ figures so that they remain elusive, with all the intensity and expression concentrated in the eyes
The eyes speak for the body, the self, for the age, conveying innumerable messages from their deep and rich existence
Blue is the symbolic color of Fez
The word long-forgotten and loved by the poets: azure
Fez is azure
Moroccan character—patience, timelessness, care, devotion
The smells surround you, enwrap you, drug you. You are tempted to dip your whole hand in the powdery colors
You begin to float on a dream of silk
Mosques, markets, souks, schools, baths, are all intertwined, giving a feeling of common humanity, or intimacy
The secret essence of Fez comes to me at five-thirty in the morning when I awaken to the muezzin, the prayer call, from the minaret
Five times a day this prayer is chanted; it seems like both a lament and an invocation, a consolation and a lyrical thanksgiving
A lonely faith protecting the sleeping city, a prayer
In infinity both death and life are suspended. It is a moment of freedom from both
Bali
The Morning of the World
The dazzling physical beauty of Bali is an expression of its spirit
What emanates from the island is tranquility, remoteness
Meditative, contemplative delights of the senses, drinking the smell of the sea, the velvet quality of the air, the smell of spices and flowers
Nine months spent in the womb is a period of meditation
Intense colors of the rituals with accents on gold and orange
Their work, their craft, their theater, and their music gives them joy
Physical balance creates inner balance, and that the evil spirits of illness or insanity can only enter and possess people who are out of balance
Every craft is sacred and meaningful
The colors, the perfumes, the dances, the music of Bali
They all penetrate deep into our psychic life
A joy which comes from shared work and symbolic oneness with nature, with religion, and with other human beings.
Everything about Bali stays with you. It is made of aesthetic and spiritual elements that touch something far deeper than the eyes
May 30, 2022
I read this one oh so long ago and I remember enjoying it quite a bit.
It seems like now is the perfect time to pick this one up off the shelf again to get Nin's perspective on things. She can be quite poetic and intriguing.
It seems like now is the perfect time to pick this one up off the shelf again to get Nin's perspective on things. She can be quite poetic and intriguing.
October 4, 2015
Anaïs Nin is renowned for being a hugely ambitious and influential writer, yet this collection does nothing to further that legacy. Grouped into sections broadly based on the politics of gender, book reviews and travel writing, this collection draws together disparate strands of Nin's work to offer a telling glimpse into her variety as a writer. Sadly, it's a glimpse best left on the bookshelf.
The gender-based pieces are some of the best, but they suffer from advances in feminist theory since they were written. To a modern reader, they can seem essentialising and binaristic - more useful as historical evidence than active political guides. The travel pieces also read as dated, their eloquence affected by an embarassing tendency towards patronising generalisations and orientalisms.
The book reviews, however, are what really drag the collection down. If Nin's other writings are excusable based on their age, the book reviews are often completely irredemable. Telling the reader little about the books themselves, Nin takes the opportunity to pontificate in grandiose terms about thoughts and feelings that the books have induced in her. This suits some pieces well (for example, an article on diary writing), but for others it's infuriating. This highlights a broader problem in the book - whilst Nin's writing can be evocative, it is often overly precious and egocentric.
Nin's short stories remain utterly sublime, and better suit the languorous, abstracted sensuality that she revels in. Placed within more conventional frameworks, Nin struggles to retain the gentle wonder and astute characterisation found in the best of her fiction. This mediocre collection does a disservice to a fine writer, and shows (much like, say, Graham Greene) that sometimes fiction speaks better for an author than their more direct voice.
The gender-based pieces are some of the best, but they suffer from advances in feminist theory since they were written. To a modern reader, they can seem essentialising and binaristic - more useful as historical evidence than active political guides. The travel pieces also read as dated, their eloquence affected by an embarassing tendency towards patronising generalisations and orientalisms.
The book reviews, however, are what really drag the collection down. If Nin's other writings are excusable based on their age, the book reviews are often completely irredemable. Telling the reader little about the books themselves, Nin takes the opportunity to pontificate in grandiose terms about thoughts and feelings that the books have induced in her. This suits some pieces well (for example, an article on diary writing), but for others it's infuriating. This highlights a broader problem in the book - whilst Nin's writing can be evocative, it is often overly precious and egocentric.
Nin's short stories remain utterly sublime, and better suit the languorous, abstracted sensuality that she revels in. Placed within more conventional frameworks, Nin struggles to retain the gentle wonder and astute characterisation found in the best of her fiction. This mediocre collection does a disservice to a fine writer, and shows (much like, say, Graham Greene) that sometimes fiction speaks better for an author than their more direct voice.
May 22, 2016
Review coming up
October 23, 2025
I am always in favor of the sensitive man~ The only book I have ever read twice…🤍
June 3, 2025
4-4.5, closer to 4.5, let's say 4.375
Collection of essays split into three sections: women and men, writing, music, and films, and enchanted places. There were a couple chapters that were less interesting towards the end but the rest was positively fantastic. Standouts included her opinions on eroticism in women, how the current woman is forbidden from separating love and sensuality, and that the current woman needed to birth the new woman, who could be masculine, feminine, eccentric, sensitive, aggressive, etc for that would be the natural.
Hate that Spy in the House of Love was called pornographic by critics, as if a woman in passion, a woman having unattached sex - just as men so frequently do - can only be prostitution, where her sex and sensuality, the physical expressions of the very desire that makes her human, can only amount to twenty dollars left on a nightstand. Also, be so for real, Sabina had two lovers over ten years.
Interesting chapter on Nin using a printing press to make the first copies of Under a Glass Bell and Winter of Artifice because publishers thought she was a freak but no she was just ahead of her time. Also some very accurate observations on women in japan (white men traveling to Japan pls read), and of course some gutwrenching lines about the state of women in general, which frankly is heading towards handmaid's tale levels these days. Glad to see Nin's observations are still so relevant.
Below are some quotes that I must share, I was underlining every other page or so:
"Linking eroticism to emotion, to love, to a selection of a certain person, personalizing, individualizing, that will be the work of women."
"Eroticism is one of the basic means of self-knowledge"
"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection. If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it"
"We have to shed self-consciousness. It is all very well to treat sensuality with humor, with caricature, with bawdiness, but that is another way of relegating it to the casual, unimportant areas of experience."
"...for me the artist simply means one who can transform ordinary life into a beautiful creation with his craft. But I did not mean creation strictly applied only to the arts, I meant creation in life, the creation of a child, a garden, a house, a dress. I was referring to creativity in all its aspects. Not only the actual products of art, but the faculty for healing, consoling, raising the level of life, transforming it by our own efforts. I was talking about the creative will"
"commerical publishers, being large corporate establishments, should sustain explorative and experimental writers, just as business sustains researchers, and not expect huge, immediate gains from them. They herald new attitudes, new consciousness, new evolutions in the taste and minds of people."
"Life is filled with repetitions culminating in variations which indicate the subtlety of man's reactions to experience."
Collection of essays split into three sections: women and men, writing, music, and films, and enchanted places. There were a couple chapters that were less interesting towards the end but the rest was positively fantastic. Standouts included her opinions on eroticism in women, how the current woman is forbidden from separating love and sensuality, and that the current woman needed to birth the new woman, who could be masculine, feminine, eccentric, sensitive, aggressive, etc for that would be the natural.
Hate that Spy in the House of Love was called pornographic by critics, as if a woman in passion, a woman having unattached sex - just as men so frequently do - can only be prostitution, where her sex and sensuality, the physical expressions of the very desire that makes her human, can only amount to twenty dollars left on a nightstand. Also, be so for real, Sabina had two lovers over ten years.
Interesting chapter on Nin using a printing press to make the first copies of Under a Glass Bell and Winter of Artifice because publishers thought she was a freak but no she was just ahead of her time. Also some very accurate observations on women in japan (white men traveling to Japan pls read), and of course some gutwrenching lines about the state of women in general, which frankly is heading towards handmaid's tale levels these days. Glad to see Nin's observations are still so relevant.
Below are some quotes that I must share, I was underlining every other page or so:
"Linking eroticism to emotion, to love, to a selection of a certain person, personalizing, individualizing, that will be the work of women."
"Eroticism is one of the basic means of self-knowledge"
"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection. If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it"
"We have to shed self-consciousness. It is all very well to treat sensuality with humor, with caricature, with bawdiness, but that is another way of relegating it to the casual, unimportant areas of experience."
"...for me the artist simply means one who can transform ordinary life into a beautiful creation with his craft. But I did not mean creation strictly applied only to the arts, I meant creation in life, the creation of a child, a garden, a house, a dress. I was referring to creativity in all its aspects. Not only the actual products of art, but the faculty for healing, consoling, raising the level of life, transforming it by our own efforts. I was talking about the creative will"
"commerical publishers, being large corporate establishments, should sustain explorative and experimental writers, just as business sustains researchers, and not expect huge, immediate gains from them. They herald new attitudes, new consciousness, new evolutions in the taste and minds of people."
"Life is filled with repetitions culminating in variations which indicate the subtlety of man's reactions to experience."
September 23, 2023
"We cannot turn away from social history, because it is necessary to maintain our responsibilities to society, but we need to create a center of strength and resistance to disappointments and failures in outward events."
If there's anything I needed to read lately, it was this passage. But I'll come back to it later.
I've read several books by Nin this year, having initially only experienced her when I was in undergrad as "that lady with the sexy diaries?" I'd also seen the film "Henry and June", the only result of that being that I would often pronounce her name "An-eye-eeeeeeees" as though it were a catchphrase.
Here, Anaïs is in the last ten years of her life. She's finally enjoying the fame and access that comes with publishing her diaries. She travels, she writes reviews of films and books, she travels some more, she gives interviews. One gets the sense that she's fairly satisfied with her life, and given how intensely intimate she is with herself, this is unsurprising.
She's optimistic for the future, at least in a general sense, despite writing during the height of the American war in Vietnam and attendant social upheaval. But Nin is hardly any run of the mill American. She's as much French as American, and as much a citizen of the world as either.
Her skill for sensuous writing requires that the reader slow down, especially in her travel writing, where she visits Morocco, New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), and New Caledonia. For a writer in the 1960s and 70s, Nin doesn't have much of the tourist's gaze, so her writing is sincere and without much exoticism.
Of course, her primary focus is the artist, and of art she says: "We do not escape into philosophy, psychology, and art—we go there to restore our shattered selves into whole ones."
Dear reader, I am very much shattered. I am not the man I was even three years ago, and I believe he was a better man, or at least more alive. This has something to do with meaninglessness, and on this point Nin and I agree, at least that "the greatest lack in our culture is the sense of meaningfulness, which leads to hopelessness and indifference, often to more serious criminality." I take this to mean criminality in the broadest sense, not just the petty breaking of civic laws but of the laws which make humanity possible, especially the laws of love and community.
But I hardly have the knowledge of self that Nin possesses, though she attempts to give the reader access to the means of discovery. I am often a stranger to myself and to my emotional responses, and I live my internal life with little reflection or investment. Certainly, this needs to change.
But for Nin, traveling through her rich inner life is just as important as traveling to the far reaches of the Pacific. She searches, questions, and enters into each new interaction with a curiosity and amused excitement that is worthy of the greatest explorer.
If there's anything I needed to read lately, it was this passage. But I'll come back to it later.
I've read several books by Nin this year, having initially only experienced her when I was in undergrad as "that lady with the sexy diaries?" I'd also seen the film "Henry and June", the only result of that being that I would often pronounce her name "An-eye-eeeeeeees" as though it were a catchphrase.
Here, Anaïs is in the last ten years of her life. She's finally enjoying the fame and access that comes with publishing her diaries. She travels, she writes reviews of films and books, she travels some more, she gives interviews. One gets the sense that she's fairly satisfied with her life, and given how intensely intimate she is with herself, this is unsurprising.
She's optimistic for the future, at least in a general sense, despite writing during the height of the American war in Vietnam and attendant social upheaval. But Nin is hardly any run of the mill American. She's as much French as American, and as much a citizen of the world as either.
Her skill for sensuous writing requires that the reader slow down, especially in her travel writing, where she visits Morocco, New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), and New Caledonia. For a writer in the 1960s and 70s, Nin doesn't have much of the tourist's gaze, so her writing is sincere and without much exoticism.
Of course, her primary focus is the artist, and of art she says: "We do not escape into philosophy, psychology, and art—we go there to restore our shattered selves into whole ones."
Dear reader, I am very much shattered. I am not the man I was even three years ago, and I believe he was a better man, or at least more alive. This has something to do with meaninglessness, and on this point Nin and I agree, at least that "the greatest lack in our culture is the sense of meaningfulness, which leads to hopelessness and indifference, often to more serious criminality." I take this to mean criminality in the broadest sense, not just the petty breaking of civic laws but of the laws which make humanity possible, especially the laws of love and community.
But I hardly have the knowledge of self that Nin possesses, though she attempts to give the reader access to the means of discovery. I am often a stranger to myself and to my emotional responses, and I live my internal life with little reflection or investment. Certainly, this needs to change.
But for Nin, traveling through her rich inner life is just as important as traveling to the far reaches of the Pacific. She searches, questions, and enters into each new interaction with a curiosity and amused excitement that is worthy of the greatest explorer.
Read
December 25, 2024My first introduction to Anais Nin, borrowed off a shelf in a friend of a friend's library, and read in one sitting. Some really beautiful passages in here on how keeping a diary, the practice of quietly contemplating your own life, can make you more open on a collective level, more able to help others in turn:"Our American culture made a virtue of our living only as extroverts... According to American culture I spent many years doing what is defined as egocentric work, an introspective and subjective work, a selfish work. I was keeping a diary which kept me in contact with my deepest self, which was a mirror reflecting my growth or the pauses in this growth, as well as making me attentive to the growth of those around me."
February 6, 2025
gosh she sounds so endearing and sweet.
her writing is so intimate and comforting, it feels like she's speaking directly to you. it’s like she invites you into this safe, introspective space without judgment or pretense.
she talked a lot about her experiences with psychology and self-reflection and how understanding the deeper parts of herself helped her grow. she writes about it with such conviction, as if understanding herself was the greatest adventure of her life. there’s no anger in her approach, no sharp edges.
some of it felt a bit outdated though, especially her use of masculine and feminine terms, which at times felt limiting.
her writing is so intimate and comforting, it feels like she's speaking directly to you. it’s like she invites you into this safe, introspective space without judgment or pretense.
she talked a lot about her experiences with psychology and self-reflection and how understanding the deeper parts of herself helped her grow. she writes about it with such conviction, as if understanding herself was the greatest adventure of her life. there’s no anger in her approach, no sharp edges.
some of it felt a bit outdated though, especially her use of masculine and feminine terms, which at times felt limiting.
August 9, 2025
نكتب أيضا لنرقي بأحساسنا بالحياة ، ونكتب لنجتذب الآخرين و نأسرهم و نواسيهم ، و نكتب لنتغنى بأحبتنا و لنتذوق الحياة مرتين ، لحظة عيشها و عند استعادة هذه اللحظات فيما بعد ،نكتب لنجعل كل ما في الحياة أبدياً و لنقنع أنفسنا بأنه كذلك ، نكتب لنكون قادرين على تجاوز حيواتنا لنصل إلى ماهو أبعد ، نكتب لنوسع عالمنا حين نشعر بالكبت او التقييد او الوحدة ، نكتب مثلما تغني الطيور و يرقص البدائيون في شعائرهم . ان كنت لا تتنفس من خلال الكتابة و لا تبكي فيها او تغني معها ، فلا تكتب .
خلصت إلى أن مراعاه مشاعر الآخرين لا يمكن أن تكون قناعاً ، فهي تبدو فطرة خالصة ، و تبدو كأنها رهافة إحساس حقيقية تجاه الآخرين ،إنها تبدو من إدراك الأخرين و التعاطف معهم .
بعض ما راق لي من الكتاب ..لم اكمل قرائته اغلبه عن المساواة و الرغبة في اخذ المرأة دورها ..كلام مكرر ❤️
خلصت إلى أن مراعاه مشاعر الآخرين لا يمكن أن تكون قناعاً ، فهي تبدو فطرة خالصة ، و تبدو كأنها رهافة إحساس حقيقية تجاه الآخرين ،إنها تبدو من إدراك الأخرين و التعاطف معهم .
بعض ما راق لي من الكتاب ..لم اكمل قرائته اغلبه عن المساواة و الرغبة في اخذ المرأة دورها ..كلام مكرر ❤️
April 11, 2023
(4.5) This was a great little collection of essays and honestly I'm realizing I definitely love her essays better than her erotica lol! Anais Nin has interesting takes on sexuality and gender for her time which I thought were illuminating and worthwhile. Her writing style is gorgeous, I loved especially her recounting her travels because of the language as well as her curiosity as a writer. I also relate to her a lot honestly and I like her general philosophies in life and view on art, writing, and sexuality/gender.
July 3, 2023
لم أقرأ لأناييس نن مسبقًا أي عمل لكن أنا معجبة في أسلوب الإيضاح للأزمة الأنثوية النفسية. انبهرت في بديهية الاستنتاج لما قد يكون من التساوي بين الأنثى والذكر في مجالات الحياة والدنيا كلها غير أن العائد بهذا كله لا يعد به ما دامت الإجابة الصحيحة لماهية المراد منه غير بينة واضحة بالأساس. الضياع في اختيار ما ترغب به الأنثى بغض النظر عن المقارنة القائمة للذكر في جدوى الفعل والاختيار يجعل من رحلة الضياع ضليعة في الظلام. الاتحاد من الذات ومعرفة الحقيقة الواعية بالطريقة الأنثوية هو الانصاف المراد تحقيقه.
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