Dhalgren
by Samuel R. Delany · first published 1975
41% recommend49% neutral10% critical
A mysterious disaster has stricken the midwestern American city of Bellona, and its aftereffects are disturbing: a city block burns down and is intact a week later; clouds cover the sky for weeks, then part to reveal two moons; a week passes for one person when only a day passes for another. The catastrophe is confined to Bellona, and most of the inhabitants have fled. But others are drawn to the devastated city, among them the Kid, a white/American Indian man who can't remember his own name. The Kid is emblematic of those who live in the new Bellona, who are the young, the poor, the mad, the
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Plug for Dhalgren ( https://www.amazon.com/Dhalgren-Samuel-R-Delany/dp/037570668... ). I won't claim it's a great work of English literature, because that's not what my training is in. But it sure as hell makes my Top…
on “Samuel R. Delany’s Life of Contradictions” ↗…described as about the protagonist living and achieving agency within the constructs, dreams, and nightmares of a "Great Man's" mind. Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson. Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon. Dhalgren - Samuel L. "Chip" Delany.
on “Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?” ↗…World But the Absolute Best would be anything by: Stanislaw Lem (Cyberiad, Futurological Congress, Solaris) Alfred Bester (The STars my Destination, The Demolished Man) or Samuel R. Delany (Babel-17, Dhalgren, Trtion, Nova) oh and Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light and This Immortal are both great. Some of Philip K. Dick's stuff is great, but everyone recommends him. :) almost forgot John Brunner, check out Steel…
on “Ask YC: What's the most inspiring sci-fi book you've read?” ↗I've re-re-re-read most of his earlier works (Nova, Dhalgren, Driftglass and so on). I would recommend them to anyone, though Dhalgren and Triton are probably inappropriate and maybe incomprehensible for younger readers. I got maybe 50pp into Nest of Spiders and…
on “In Praise of Samuel R. Delany” ↗Um sorry but I really liked Dhalgren and Gravity’s Rainbow and Infinite Jest. I may actually use this list to find some new books to read.
on “The Most Abandoned Books on GoodReads (2019)” ↗…"The Einstein Intersection" might be a good one to try on for size -- although I actually found "Neveryóna" to be maybe his most interesting book (of the ones I've been able to get hold of) [edit: After "Dhalgren", that is. But I think "Dhalgren" is a bit like Joyce's "Ulysses" -- a classic I haven't gotten around to yet. I spent the better part of ten (10!) years reading through "Dhalgren", picking it up on odd…
on “Ask HN: I loved Snow Crash and Daemon. What should I read next?” ↗"Dhalgren" and "Stars in My Pockdt Like Grains of Sand" are two of the most revelatory, liberating novels I've ever had the pleasure to encounter. Neither is easy. Both reward re-reading. The man is a treasure!
on “In Praise of Samuel R. Delany” ↗…All novelists need an editor, or someone to tell them when they're being so self-indulgent that the only person that writing will appeal to is themselves (which is fine, I just don't have to read it). Dhalgren was really great and a true post-modern classic. When I'm done reading some more classic fantasy I'll give Neveryon #1 a try.
on “In Praise of Samuel R. Delany” ↗True, but of the two I think Dhalgren is easier to recommend to a stranger, who I only know liked House of Leaves.
on “The 40th anniversary edition of Codex Seraphinianus” ↗…The Man in the High Castle 12. Do Androids dream of Electronic Sheep 13. Ubik 14. Valis, basically almost every book by Phil Dick. 15. Life on the Mississippi. 16. The Garden of Forking Paths 17. Dhalgren 18. The Gods of Pegāna, basically all the fantasy work of Dunsany. 19. The Lathe of Heaven. Anything by LeGuin. 20. Their Eyes Were Watching God 21. The Master and Margarita 22. The Gulag Archipelago
on “Ask HN: What is your favorite fiction book?” ↗Not really SF? Do you say this because you don't like SF, or you do? Dhalgren is one of my favorite novels, and I think it's definitely SF. I think it works to read it a whole bunch of ways. When Katrina happened, it seemed like New Orleans was Bellona for a bit.
on “Samuel Delany and the Past and Future of Science Fiction” ↗I'd say start with Babel-17. It's short, exciting, and dense with both lyricism and great ideas. The first book of his I read was Dhalgren though, and though I couldn't really break into it until the third try, once I did it was amazing, like no other book I've read before or since.
on “Samuel Delany and the Past and Future of Science Fiction” ↗The best 879 pages of urgent meaninglessness and near-constant déjà vu ever written. I found picking different starting points on later re-reads rather interesting. For anyone who hasn't read it, Dhalgren is circular, but there are a handful of places where it could start that make about as much sense as starting on page 1. Definitely worth a read, but you'll never figure out how to make that discord…
on “Samuel R. Delany’s Life of Contradictions” ↗I moved to the Bay in the summer of 2013 to work for a YC company. I read Dhalgren every night then. The way he weaves technology into the story is so different from other science fiction: incredibly light on exposition and origin, heavy emphasis on its performance. It is jarring at…
on “In Praise of Samuel R. Delany” ↗I'm in the minority here I think. I thought Dhalgren was vivid and although some parts were difficult, especially around the bits where the story splits down the middle of pages, the challenge was rewarding. Those bits I ascribed to The Kid's somewhat tenuous…
on “Samuel R. Delany Reimagined Sci-Fi, Sex, and the City” ↗