Ben's review
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
Ben's review
rating:
bookshelves: favorites
recommended for: the adventurous and not-easily-frustrated
status: Read in July, 2002
rating:
bookshelves: favorites
recommended for: the adventurous and not-easily-frustrated
status: Read in July, 2002
It's tough to review a favorite book, especially when it's a book that almost completely changed the way you view literature. But I suppose it's worth a shot.
Dhalgren is a glorious mess, but that's not to say that it lacks structure. In fact, I wrote my senior thesis in undergrad on the narrative structure of the novel, and upon close examination it's stunning just how carefully put together the whole thing is. Everyone knows that it's an imperfectly closed loop, but few really understand how Delany makes that loop work.
Kid (the kid, Kidd, etc etc) is a brilliant character, though on the surface it's pretty easy for the casual reader to lose interest in his wanderings, vague philosophical thoughts, and random sexual interactions. The way Delany uses shifts in narrative perspective to indicate shifts in Kid's perceptions is stunning.
Bellona is also an incredible accomplishment of imagination. In many ways, in the minutiae of the description, it's not that far off from any cr...more
Dhalgren is a glorious mess, but that's not to say that it lacks structure. In fact, I wrote my senior thesis in undergrad on the narrative structure of the novel, and upon close examination it's stunning just how carefully put together the whole thing is. Everyone knows that it's an imperfectly closed loop, but few really understand how Delany makes that loop work.
Kid (the kid, Kidd, etc etc) is a brilliant character, though on the surface it's pretty easy for the casual reader to lose interest in his wanderings, vague philosophical thoughts, and random sexual interactions. The way Delany uses shifts in narrative perspective to indicate shifts in Kid's perceptions is stunning.
Bellona is also an incredible accomplishment of imagination. In many ways, in the minutiae of the description, it's not that far off from any cr...more
