Delany has written a great deal about homosexuality, in his memoir, in his literary analysis, and in his fiction.
The gay and bisexual elements may mean criticism of the book is no longer acceptable. Science fiction fans get downright hostile about Dhalgren - or, they did. “Pretentious” is a label the frightened use for ambition. The book has been labelled pretentious, of course, because in these post-Star Wars times, any science fiction novel that isn’t a P.C.-shackled ‘fun’ adventure is pretentious. The original paperback I own is a white-bordered brick that begins in mid-sentence and ends with the first part of a sentence that is cut off, a sure label of American post-modern novel writin’. “Is this book about people screwing, eating and getting into fights in a burning city in a desolate, possibly post-apocalyptic world?” No.ĭhalgren is very much a book of its time.
Kid hooks up with a young woman, but theirs is a model of casual relationships: They screw, they eat together, they hang out, and they go their own way for long stretches without checking in (which is impossible in this place - electricity service is spotty, and of course, no social media). There are violent scenes - Kid ends up running with a gang, the members using holographic projectors to create their individual gang identities - and then more sex. In the first sections of the book, the hero - who never remembers his name, but is generally called Kid - has sex with a woman and then later with a man later things get wilder, and frankly perverse.
0 kommentar(er)
