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17th out of 29 books
—
3 voters
Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders
"Samuel R. Delany is not only one of the most profound and courageous writers at work today, he is a writer of seemingly limitless range."—Michael Cunningham
A vast river of a novel alive with explicitsexuality and thethe richness of life itself, Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders concerns a gay, working-class, interracial relationship. In 2007, just before Eric's se...more
A vast river of a novel alive with explicitsexuality and thethe richness of life itself, Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders concerns a gay, working-class, interracial relationship. In 2007, just before Eric's se...more
Paperback, 520 pages
Published
February 1st 2011
by Alyson Books
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At 804 pages, this is easily the longest book I've ever read and it was sprawling, titillating, gloriously boring, tediously explicit, shocking and thoughtful and endearing. A history of the love of one interracial gay couple, their friends, their families, their sexual exploits (which are likely to challenge the biases of most readers), the book sprawls out to consider human nature, our place in the universe, what it means to live in the world, and how memory shapes and twists and changes our p...more
This is a book that takes porn serious, even after it stops being porn.
This is a book in which the main characters get everything they want, living largely outside of electoral politics, scientific developments (it's a sci-fi novel, but most of the sci-fi elements happen without the characters being directly affected by them), and economics (as their ways are basically paid for), until they grow old (most of them) and die. And the question is: What sort of life can you forge in a post-scarcity,...more
This is a book in which the main characters get everything they want, living largely outside of electoral politics, scientific developments (it's a sci-fi novel, but most of the sci-fi elements happen without the characters being directly affected by them), and economics (as their ways are basically paid for), until they grow old (most of them) and die. And the question is: What sort of life can you forge in a post-scarcity,...more
It's funny that goodreads ate my long review of this TWICE, because in some ways, I'm really undecided about what to write about this 800 page filthy faggot porno love story about getting old.
So here are some thoughts:
* So much snot. Gross. Not nearly as much scat as other reviews would make you think.
* If you liked The Mad Man you need to read this. And to know that it's a bit like a riff on the section where Leaky describes his childhood. Yes every second word is "nigger" and there is loads of...more
So here are some thoughts:
* So much snot. Gross. Not nearly as much scat as other reviews would make you think.
* If you liked The Mad Man you need to read this. And to know that it's a bit like a riff on the section where Leaky describes his childhood. Yes every second word is "nigger" and there is loads of...more
As "Internet puppy" Charlie Stross blogged the other day, “We're living in the 21st century: it's not possible to write a novel that seriously explores modern life without a background that includes rapid, cheap international travel: the commercial space industry: smartphones and the internet and spam: social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter: the rapidly shifting reference points of life expectancy, gender roles, and politics.” Thus my first impression, reading the first half of TTVOTNOS,...more
I want to say better things about this novel, because Delany is a hero of mine...but it's bad. Firstly, I understand the theoretical underpinnings--this is moral, theoretically sound, pornography. I get that Delany's point is that it is ridiculous for us to say it is okay for someone to lust after one body part and yet feel disgust about others. So he leans heavy on the extreme sex, playing on disgust to force us in to a situation where we have to see that. The problem is that the endless scenes...more
May 09, 2012
Katie King
is currently reading it
A new Delany book is always a must get and a must read!
What are the reading protocols for epic Delany? (Different perhaps than other variant Delany types?)
Frankly I start at the end. (I know this is hard for some to take in. I hope it is not something Delany himself would loathe, but still....)
I need the context -- I need to have double or multiple consciousness when reading the BIG Delanys.
Frankly, I learned this protocol from learning to read Joyce at U Chicago in the old days: to enter in a...more
What are the reading protocols for epic Delany? (Different perhaps than other variant Delany types?)
Frankly I start at the end. (I know this is hard for some to take in. I hope it is not something Delany himself would loathe, but still....)
I need the context -- I need to have double or multiple consciousness when reading the BIG Delanys.
Frankly, I learned this protocol from learning to read Joyce at U Chicago in the old days: to enter in a...more
Jul 15, 2012
David
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
body_parts,
coming_out,
first_edition,
frisky,
life_as_a_body,
love,
scatological,
sci-fi,
sex_addict
This is about two boys who meet and over time form a life-long, committed but open relationship that involves massive amounts of kinky sex. The first 500 pages pretty much just feature pornographic descriptions of these men and their very active sex lives. In the last 300 pages, the world changes and our main characters change jobs and living quarters. From being the community’s garbage men to running a porno theater on the mainland and then to being handymen, they start to slow down out on an i...more
What a tough book to read; I put this down many a time for something else, as the minutely-described sexual perversions of the main characters -- whose 70-year-long relationship is the lodestone of this novel -- simply become overwhelming. You really have to work at liking these guys ... And then when suddenly the years and decades begin to slip away for the characters, you get a glimpse of the immensity of Delany's project: what is a good life? How does one live it? How do you make a place for...more
I am a huge fan of Samuel R. Delany’s early Science Fiction novels, Nova and Dhalgren in particular, but up until now I had only ever ventured as far as Triton and never had read anything of his later work (although I do own a copy of most of it, I just had not gotten around to read any of it). With Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders (his first novel in five years) just having been released, it seemed like a good start, and a nice complement to read his latest after having finished one of...more
I only got about halfway through this before I had to return it to the library. Definitely want to finish it at some point. The first 400 pages are Filthy. Delany's doing interesting stuff here, explicitly pushing the envelope on what's "dirty," "acceptable," "moral," "comfortable" and "queer." And, it's Hot. Unabashedly Queer Smut as Respectable Library Literature. Thanks Samuel Delany, well played. And thanks for purchasing it, Seattle Public Libraries. Can't imagine this'd get bought in many...more
THROUGH THE VALLEY... starts in 2007 and shoots decades into the future; I read four or five hundred pages before I saw anything recognizably "science fiction" which speaks, I think, to Delany's phenomenally subtle world-building.
Trigger warnings for basically anything sexual (specifically including sexual violence, incest, intergenerational sex). As with THE MAD MAN or HOGG, best not to read over lunch. As with THE MAD MAN or HOGG, expect to be personally challenged on pretty much every page....more
Trigger warnings for basically anything sexual (specifically including sexual violence, incest, intergenerational sex). As with THE MAD MAN or HOGG, best not to read over lunch. As with THE MAD MAN or HOGG, expect to be personally challenged on pretty much every page....more
Keep reading. The first few hundred pages lay the groundwork for spectacular things to come. Not for the sexually squeamish or prissy, but if you can wade in and let yourself be carried along to the poetic, transcendent conclusion you will find it well worth the time.
Community, identity and historicity are explored in this moving tale of the relationship between two men through the end of the 21st century. Not quite a utopia, not quite science fiction, not really porn (unless you find 120 Days of Sodom to be porn), this book uses many hallmarks of those genres to be something else entirely. It says a lot more about my culture and times than most books I have read, while doing so through some of the most (seemingly) marginalized characters I have ever experie...more
Apr 30, 2012
Kyle Muntz
marked it as to-read
I think this is finally out. Whoa.
Apr 26, 2012
Tamahome
marked it as to-read
Locusmag review: http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2012/...
It's out in ebook.
The kindle free ebook sample is pretty long, 2000 kindle units (100 pages?).
If the book has sexual material similar to his later mainstream books, it'll be pretty rough. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Coprophagy.
It's out in ebook.
The kindle free ebook sample is pretty long, 2000 kindle units (100 pages?).
If the book has sexual material similar to his later mainstream books, it'll be pretty rough. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Coprophagy.
Initially disturbing, eventually illuminating. Though vastly different from Stars In My Pocket Like Grains of Sand, TVNS is Delany's closest novel to the 1984 masterpiece. It is also his best long work since then.
May 09, 2013
Samirah
marked it as to-read
May 08, 2013
Shavis
marked it as to-read
May 06, 2013
Ben
marked it as to-read
Apr 30, 2013
Ching-In
marked it as to-read
Apr 28, 2013
Josiah Miller
marked it as to-read
Apr 24, 2013
Caroline
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
african-american-lit,
sf-fan
Apr 20, 2013
Kurt
marked it as to-read
Apr 19, 2013
Kris
marked it as to-read
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Samuel Ray Delany, also known as "Chip," is an award-winning American science fiction author. He was born to a prominent black family on April 1, 1942, and raised in Harlem. His mother, Margaret Carey Boyd Delany, was a library clerk in the New York Public Library system. His father, Samuel Ray Delany, Senior, ran a successful Harlem undertaking establishment, Levy & Delany Funeral Home, on 7t...more
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“To be sure, the Road of Excess leads to the Palace of Wisdom, even when it takes you through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders. Just watch out for parasites.”
—
2 people liked it
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Dec 02, 2012 07:52am