Quotes from book
House of Incest

Anaïs Nin Original title La Maison de l'inceste (French, 1936)

House of Incest is a slim volume of 72 pages written by Anaïs Nin. Originally published in 1936, it is Anaïs Nin's first work of fiction. But unlike her diaries and erotica, House of Incest does not detail the author's relationships with famous lovers like Henry Miller, nor does it contain graphic depiction of sex. Rather, House of Incest is a surrealistic look within the narrator's subconscious mind as she attempts to escape from a dream in which she is trapped, or in Nin's words, as she attempts to escape from "the woman's season in hell."

Anaïs Nin photo

“My first vision of earth was water veiled.”

Anaïs Nin book House of Incest

Source: House of Incest (1936)
Context: My first vision of earth was water veiled. I am of the race of men and women who see all things through this curtain of sea and my eyes are the color of water. I looked with chameleon eyes upon the changing face of the world, looked with anonymous vision upon my uncompleted self. I remember my first birth in water.

Anaïs Nin photo

“I walked into my own book, seeking peace.
It was night, and I made a careless movement inside the dream; I turned too brusquely the corner and I bruised myself against my madness.”

Anaïs Nin book House of Incest

Source: House of Incest

Anaïs Nin photo

“I have such a fear of finding another like myself, and such a desire to find one! I am so utterly lonely, but I also have such a fear that my isolation be broken through, and I no longer be the head and ruler of my universe.”

Anaïs Nin book House of Incest

Source: House of Incest

Anaïs Nin photo

“I am in great terror of your understanding by which you penetrate into my world; and then I stand revealed and I have shared my kingdom with you.”

Anaïs Nin book House of Incest

Source: House of Incest

Anaïs Nin photo

“The leaf fall of his words, the stained glass hues of his moods, the rust in his voice, the smoke in his mouth, his breath on my vision like human breath blinding a mirror.”

Anaïs Nin book House of Incest

Source: House of Incest

Anaïs Nin photo

“What you burnt, broke, and tore is still in my hands. I am the keeper of fragile things and I have kept of you what is indissoluble.”

Anaïs Nin book House of Incest

Source: House of Incest

Anaïs Nin photo

“If only we could all escape from this house of incest, where we only love ourselves in the other, if only I could save you all from yourselves.”

Anaïs Nin book House of Incest

House of Incest (1936)

Anaïs Nin photo

“Worlds self made are so full of monsters and demons.”

Anaïs Nin book House of Incest

House of Incest (1936)

Anaïs Nin photo

“The morning I got up to begin this book I coughed. Something was coming out of my throat: it was strangling me.”

Anaïs Nin book House of Incest

House of Incest (1936)
Context: The morning I got up to begin this book I coughed. Something was coming out of my throat: it was strangling me. I broke the thread which held it and yanked it out. I went back to bed and said: I have just spat out my heart.

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