Tag Archives: classic

Book Review: White Stains, by Anaïs Nin

white stains cover About the book:
A lost classic of 1940s erotica returns! Written by Anas Nin, Virginia Admiral, Caresse Crosby, and others for a dollar per page, this breathtakingly sensual volume was printed privately and soon became an underground legend. Beginning with a breathless mnage quatre in Alice and ending with the concluding remarks of the uproarious Loves Encyclopaedia, this is a priceless collection of explicit yet sophisticated musings.

Review:
I read about half of this. I made it through the stories, but I just couldn’t with the Encyclopedia of Sex.

While I thought the writing was wretched, it is from the 40s, and maybe that was how erotica was written at the time. What do I know? I could see of the language as precursors to some of the super-cheese I still see in the occasional bodice ripper, but can’t say I enjoyed it here any more than I do in more modern works (less even).

I was also repeatedly dismayed at the stories themselves. We have a 5yo boy being molested. We have a woman being drugged and raped, then taken advantage of by a second man. We have numerous men getting women drunk to take advantage of them and we have a married woman in an orgy with not-her-husband (though that was the least eyebrow-raising one of the bunch). Plus, with the exception of the orgy, every sex scene is essentially the same. Nope, none of them tickled my fancy in the least.

I don’t think anyone believes Anaïs Nin wrote this. I know if thought this was a representation of her work I’d never pick another one up.

Book Review: The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho

the alchemist cover About the book:

Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago’s journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, most importantly, following our dreams.

Review:

I’m not sure I’m seeing what all the hype is about. I mean, it’s a fine little parable, but I wasn’t blown away by anything.

Book Review: The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

the princess bride

As Florin and Guilder teeter on the verge of war, the reluctant Princess Buttercup is devastated by the loss of her true love, kidnapped by a mercenary and his henchman, rescued by a pirate, forced to marry Prince Humperdinck, and rescued once again by the very crew who absconded with her in the first place. In the course of this dazzling adventure, she’ll meet Vizzini—the criminal philosopher who’ll do anything for a bag of gold; Fezzik—the gentle giant; Inigo—the Spaniard whose steel thirsts for revenge; and Count Rugen—the evil mastermind behind it all. Foiling all their plans and jumping into their stories is Westley, Princess Buttercup’s one true love and a very good friend of a very dangerous pirate.

Review:

Even richer than the movie, which was pretty rich. And I adored Inigo and Fezzik. How could you not? But I’m a reader who doesn’t enjoy Historical Fiction as a genre because I can’t always tell what’s the Historical and what’s the Fiction. (Drives me nuts). So, the fact that the author/narrator essentially eradicates the third wall, obscuring where the fiction and the author/narrator’s supposedly real-life commentary split drove me up batty. (Yes, I realize it’s essentially all fiction, but the effect is the same.) What’s more I found it disruptive and not as endearing as I believe I was supposed to. But man, what a story.