Samuel R Delany

[lanya]

just wanted to start by saying I'm new to this site and am really enjoying reading all the posts. I have a love of reading that goes back to childhood and enjoy sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, you name it.
I found this site while researching a book I had read years ago but didn't remember the author, only had fond memories of characters and the name dhalgren. needless to say I found what I was looking for in the great resoure of the internet, and was able to find the book I was looking for in a second-hand bookstore and revisited the city of bellona. It was all I had remembered it to be.
I am now curious to hear any comments on other works by Delany, they had quite a few of his books at the second-hand shop including Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand, and the Neveryon series. Any information you could give me would be welcomed, although I will probably buy them just based how much I enjoyed Dhalgren.
Also must say I have increased my reading list with all the postings on authors I haven't had the opportunity to experience yet. Thanks

[Llama]

ALL Delany is worth reading, in my opinion, although his style can become wearying if you don't take a rest between his books. Among the classics:

All books in the Neveryon series
Nova
Einstein Intersection
Babel-17
Trouble on Triton
Stars in my Pockets...

And the aforementioned Dhalgren. Thankfully Wesleyan University Press has seen fit to bring back a lot of his titles into print, so you can get them in nice new trade paperback editions.

[Rob B]

Vintage Classics, an imprint of Random House, has reissued Babel-17 and I think Dhalgren

[toriphile]

Delany is one of the most intriguing, intelligent and enigmatic authors of speculative fiction. I'm a big fan of his work since the day I began reading The Jewels of Aptor.
His style is unique. I love the he uses the language. I remember being in a state of trance for most of the time while I was reading Dhalgren :-). Almost all of his bibliography is worth reading. I see that now they are publishing again some of his masterpieces - Nova, Babel-17, The Einstein Intersection...
Since I have the opportunity to ask /:-)/: I still can't find Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand and no online bookshop ships second hand books to my country :-(. Is there someone who has an extra copy and is willing to trade/sell/whatever?

[Wigburth]

I've found that Samuel R Delany is not widely read
(or even known) today and his books are mostly out of print. I wonder why because he's a very fine writer with a very rich language. I mean we are still reading e.g. Ursula Le Guin today, who has a similar impact on language and style. Is Delany too heavy? Is Le Guin more readable?
Do we have some Delany fans on this board? My favorite book is Dhalgren but almost every title by Delany is a good read. What's your favorite Delany?

(P.S. I mean no harm to Ursula Le Guin, she's also one of my biggest faves!)

[kater]

Way too clever for his own good imo, the books are deep and multilayered but that isn't the problem, the problem is his work is almost academic in style and very slow in narrative. Not a big fan, sorry

[Rumfuddle]

My favourite Delany book is STARS I MY POCKET LIKE GRAINS OF SAND , it's supposed to be the first installment in a diptych but we're still waiting for part two, 16 odd years on! Apparently he's been concentrating more and more on his academic interests.
Anyway, STARS I MY POCKET LIKE GRAINS OF SAND is a hugely satisfying albeit difficult read. His far-future human and alien cultures are brilliantly imagined.
This book is out of print, I think. But his better known books from the 60's and 70's can still be got, especially in the SF masterworks series.
Another less well known Delany book is THEY FLY AT CIRON a very vivid meditation on violence and sexuality, tending more towards Fantasy than SF. I enjoyed it alot.
I found BABEL 17 as difficult to decipher in parts as the mysterious signals that are at the centre of the story. I also found it a bit pretentious and puer¡le. And this was one book I really wanted to love!
I haven't read DHALGREN yet, but apparently it sold around million copies in the States its day. Pretty widely read then.
I would say Le Guin is more readable and, I have to say, ultimately a better writer (in my opinion) - if less radical than Delany. I think story telling and good writing almost always comes first with her whereas Delany has lots of political and literary axes to grind.
It is interesting to compare them though as they both began publishing around the same time (if I remember correctly, the same year in fact.. somewhere in the early 60's) and they were both part of a similar trend towards more literary and sociological concerns in SF.

[fortytwo]

I have two of his books in my- to read - pile .Babel-17 and a book of short stories called Driftglass.
I think in the dim and distant past I 've read Babel-17 but didn't enjoy it.Perhaps because I was too young to appreciate it.
However it is more likely I will try his short stories first, to get an idea of what he is about.
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[Llama]

Well, Le Guin probably has a somewhat simpler style than Delany and is a little bit easier to read. I'm a huge admirer of Delany but I'm not surprised he's not as popular anymore -- he takes a bit of effort and folks these days just seem to gravitate toward the "no style" style of writing -- the Big Mac of the literary world.

By the way, I don't think Delany is out of print, at least not in the US -- Wesleyan University Press has actually done a nice job of bringing back his books in attractive trade paperback editions.

[toriphile]

Delany is one of my favourite writers and Dhalgren is the best book I've ever read.
He's not widely popular today but his works get more critical recognition now that ever - Nova, Dhalgen, Babel-17, The Einstein Intersection have new editions. And more are coming up.
Delany is very self-conscious as a writer and his style is extremely self-reflexive - not common features among current sci-fi writers. I'm afraid that he's left the field forever, like Joanna Russ :-(.
Le Guin is a great writer. I'm glad that she's back :-).

[Wigburth]

It occurred to me that Nova hasn't been mentioned yet but this is also a great book. It's probably Delany's most "ordinary" sci-fi book and I think it's a good one to start with if you're new to Delany. One of Delany's strongest traits is the intimacy of his characters. Delany takes you into the the same room as his characters so you can se, hear and smell them as if you actually were present. Most other sci-fi writers describes characters from "outside the story" so to speak. Characters occur in the books as they occur in life when you meet them at town, on bars etc. One friend of mine said that Delany describes characters by means of their actions only but I'm not sure exactly what he meant by that. Look how sharply space captain Lorc von Ray and the Mouse are delineated in the narrative. Delany uses flashbacks in chapter 2 to give away information of what happened to von Ray and Prince (who were friends to begin with) at their childhood and how they became enemies. You will believe yourself to be von Ray when you read this chapter.

[clong]

I just finished The Jewels of Aptor. This is the review I posted at the internet book list and the internet book database of fiction:

This is a straightforward post-apocalyptic tale, a much easier read than The Einstein Intersection (the other Delany book I have read to date). It addresses familiar cold war era themes of the dangers and corrupting influence of the powers given man through scientific breakthroughs.

Centuries after nuclear holocaust, mankind lives a primitive life, with high rates of small mutations. On another continent Aptor (presumably what's left of the USA), what is left of man is highly mutated, and a small group maintains scientific knowledge. At some point a set of three quasi-magical jewels were created, which serve as focus points for much of this knowledge, but the jewels always corrupt those who come to control them. Organized religion is a dominant force on this world; the leaders of the dominant religion have fallen prey to the corrupting lure of the jewels. The story follows a group of four men who have been sent to Aptor to unite the jewels and bring them back to the leaders of their religion.

Characterization is limited; we never really learn much about the motivations of the protagonist Geo and his companions, nor of the religious leaders who try to manipulate their actions. We do ultimately get a not entirely convincing explanation for the cruelty and manipulations of Jorrde, the closest thing we have in the book to a villain.

Delany is big on symbolism, and there are many parts of the book that feel deliberately unrealistic. Overall, I'd say this is worth your time, but it far from groundbreaking. I gave it a 7/10.

[Lowlander]

Delany is a good writer but it's difficult to recommend him. He's what people call an "acquired taste". He's great on style and characters but his plotting is often obscure and almost impossible to follow.

Maybe the best place to start is "The Fall of the Towers" omnibus. It's a collection of three short post apocalyptic "adventure" novels, originally published in the legendary pulp format Ace Double. You already see something of his original style but the plot is fairly straightforward and easy to follow.

Another recommended book is Nova, which is my favorite Delaney novel. It's also his only novel which I feel has a really strong plot.

His most famous novel Babel-17 has great ideas but is marred by a weak ending.

And then of course there is "Dhalgren" which was nicknamed by a SF critic as "the most famous SF novel nobody ever finished". Have never read it so can't comment on that remark.

[Phantos]

I am not going to say much but that I dig Delaney's stuff quite alot.
it's weird and clever and more speculative fiction (as a genre) than sci fi surely.
it's out there.

[ArthurFrayn]

And then of course there is "Dhalgren" which was nicknamed by a SF critic as "the most famous SF novel nobody ever finished". Have never read it so can't comment on that remark.

I finished it-

What do I win?


Actually it's on my 10 best list.