Scan barcode
A review by biblio_creep
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
3.0
Book Review | DHALGREN by SAMUEL R. DELANY
3/5 ⭐’s | PUB DATE: January 1975
Read if you're looking for:
- A classic of sci-fi & speculative fiction, written by a queer, black man
- Dreamlike, stream-of-consciousness writing style
- Ergodic literature: sections of poetry & journal entries included
- An unconventional timeline that keeps you feeling unmoored & unsure
- A post-apocalyptic setting in a midwestern U.S. city, but we don’t know what happened
Wow, this book is a lot. It’s very hard to describe, and there are a lot of parts that I did not enjoy, but it is definitely completely unique among the books that I have read.
WHAT I LIKED: The prose was very interesting in this book, and you really feel like you’re in some kind of fever dream. The nameless main character (known as the kid) arrives at a fictional midwestern city where something apocalyptic has happened. It’s unclear what occurred, or if it has affected the rest of the U.S. or the world. There are very beautiful descriptions of surrealist visions, and a ton of descriptive metaphor. However, like many others who have read this book, I didn’t feel like I was completely getting it. Many of the characters are interesting and feel like they could be real people in that situation, however I didn’t find anyone particularly likable. Delany does a great job of painting the picture of this post-apocalyptic landscape and the lengths that people go to. You really feel like you are there in the setting, in all of its disgusting, smelly glory. The timeline of the book is always shifting, and you aren’t ever really sure the order of events, giving you an uncomfortable sense of disconnection. In fact, the first line of the book is a continuation of the last line of the book.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: There are so many sex scenes in this book, and a lot of them are minor/adult relationships. I’m not sure what Delany was attempting to convey with all the sex scenes, but I felt that there were way too many, and they were way too long. Eventually, I started skipping through them after the first half of the book. There are also several situations with dubious consent, although I think that was purposeful. One positive though, is that there was a ton of queer relationships shown. I have a feeling that Delany was making a point with these scenes and I just wasn’t getting it, but I have a lot of difficulty reading about minor/adult relationships. Additionally, there are a ton of racial slurs, all over the place, so be aware of that as well.
CW: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis, Pregnancy
WHAT I LIKED: The prose was very interesting in this book, and you really feel like you’re in some kind of fever dream. The nameless main character (known as the kid) arrives at a fictional midwestern city where something apocalyptic has happened. It’s unclear what occurred, or if it has affected the rest of the U.S. or the world. There are very beautiful descriptions of surrealist visions, and a ton of descriptive metaphor. However, like many others who have read this book, I didn’t feel like I was completely getting it. Many of the characters are interesting and feel like they could be real people in that situation, however I didn’t find anyone particularly likable. Delany does a great job of painting the picture of this post-apocalyptic landscape and the lengths that people go to. You really feel like you are there in the setting, in all of its disgusting, smelly glory. The timeline of the book is always shifting, and you aren’t ever really sure the order of events, giving you an uncomfortable sense of disconnection. In fact, the first line of the book is a continuation of the last line of the book.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: There are so many sex scenes in this book, and a lot of them are minor/adult relationships. I’m not sure what Delany was attempting to convey with all the sex scenes, but I felt that there were way too many, and they were way too long. Eventually, I started skipping through them after the first half of the book. There are also several situations with dubious consent, although I think that was purposeful. One positive though, is that there was a ton of queer relationships shown. I have a feeling that Delany was making a point with these scenes and I just wasn’t getting it, but I have a lot of difficulty reading about minor/adult relationships. Additionally, there are a ton of racial slurs, all over the place, so be aware of that as well.
CW: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis, Pregnancy