Hey everyone! I’ve been diving into The Diary of Anaïs Nin recently, and honestly it’s been a profound experience. Her diaries offer a rare glimpse into her world and the creative communities she was part of. Her writing is so powerful, she weaves beauty even into the darkest moments. She’s got this delicate, bold, and timeless quality that’s just so relatable. She wrote for the soul, not just the senses. Nin is Jane Austen unleashed, daring to uncover what her era forced Austen to veil
Reading her diary is like being transported to her 40s Parisian summer, and I can’t help but be captivated. Her intensity is both intriguing and somewhat intimidating. There’s this one passage where she talks about her psychoanalyst whipping her, and she simply laughs it off. She writes “Poor Allendy did not understand that all I craved were the flagellations of real passion and enslavement by authentic savages only”
How do you think Anaïs Nin’s unconventional relationship with her psychoanalyst, René Allendy influenced her personal growth and understanding of herself?
I’m also curious, do you think her writing is more about self-discovery or about sharing her experiences with others?
Have any of you explored her diaries or found yourselves similarly entranced? I’d love to hear your thoughts and explore the depths of her writings together!
by diverdragon
5 Comments
I read her diaries years ago, I was probably 19 or 20. I have to say I can’t remember a single thing she wrote about but I do absolutely remember being completely entranced by how she wrote. Reading those was absolute bliss. To this day I tell people if they want to experience beautiful writing, they should read her diaries. Maybe it’s time for a reread.
It’s a book that exists and may or may not be legabile
Check out [Henry and June](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0099762/), it really kind of brings all this stuff to life
Also Delta of Venus and Little Birds are top notch erotica.
I started with reading Henry and June, then watched the movie. Then, I acquired all of Anais’s journals and am working my way through them in order, as well as her fiction. I love her writing. Her life is sensual and scandalous, and so is her writing. She has multiple husbands and multiple lovers of varying genders, and I believe her creativity and writing is enhanced by the unconventional life she lives during a time when women were only supposed to exist for men.
I read the first volume decades ago on a recommendation from a friend. I found the writing too self indulgent and her experiences completely un-relatable to my own life. Maybe because I was too young, maybe because I just don’t think or view the world like her. As a character and a person, she made me think of some out-of touch artists I’ve met.