Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany | Book Review

Third times’ a charm. This reread of Samuel R. Delany’s Dhalgren convinced me without a doubt. This is my favorite book. If you’ve read or never read Dhalgren, this review is spoiler free enough for all.
For “where to start” with Delany, check out this video on my channel:
Also, if you are interested in his other books like Nova, Babel-17, or Empire Star. Check out these reviews:
kzbin.info/www/bejne/eXqWeI2Har-jb9k
Empire Star (Includes Beyonce parody/cover music)
kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmquqIlpbdBjibc
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZfWi5R8iaaEh80
Nova (Includes Fun/We are Young parody/cover music)
kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqfWeq2Om8SWarc
THE SCIENCE FICTION ALLIANCE
FIT2BREAD -kzbin.info
BOOKPILLED
kzbin.info
THE LIBRARY LADDER
kzbin.info...
THE SECRET SAUCE OF STORYCRAFT -kzbin.info/door/mw4...
WORDS IN TIME -kzbin.info
MEDIA DEATH CULT
www.youtube.com/@UChWX1yxVym2kNXMBD1oKo8Q
#scifibooks #booktube
Like, Subscribe and Click the Notification Bell
Contacts and Connections:
Facebook: michael.everts.792
Instagram: fit2bread
Twitter: 2b_read
Email: [e-mail]
FIT Personal Training: www.fit-dc.com
To send books you want to recommend:
FIT
1633 Q Street NW Suite110
Washington DC 20009
#scifibooks #bookrecommendations #speculativefiction
#bookrecommendations #mustreadbooks #scifi

[@wanderinphoenix5566]

One of the best books I've ever read. I first read it in the 70's but re-read it from time to time. I agree that it is one of the best books ever. What was strange to me was a friend lost his shoe on a drunken binge and when I first read this, I thought Delany had met him and wrote about it. Best story ever!

[@FIT2BREAD]

ha! but I bet your friend never led the scorpions on a run.. :)

[@mondostrat]

One of my all time favorites. So vivid yet surreal ... I didn't just read about Bellona, the book transported me there.

[@FIT2BREAD]

so true...and i didnt want to leave

[@_jared]

I think I need to bump this up on my to-read list.

[@FIT2BREAD]

Would love to see your reaction to it

[@lurchEbean]

I've just gotten into Delany this year, and I've really enjoyed Empire Star and Babel-17. I also have Nova and Dhalgren. I'll probably do Nova next, so I can have a good baseline for Delany before jumping into Dhalgren, but this review does make me excited for it.

[@FIT2BREAD]

Awesome. I'd go straight to Dhalgren at this point, but Nova IA also a great read. Thanks

[@AJBell-dh6ry]

Of course this guy is a Delaney fan. They have similar interests.

[@strangebeer]

I love, at around the 4 minute mark, Bunny appears behind you...wonderful. Great video.

[@JohnInTheShelter]

I read it in high school and it was the first novel to blow my mind. Pardon the pun. It's one of the few sci fi novels I've read that I would not hesitate to call literature. I've read it 3-4 times and each time it's like reading a new book. Excellent comments. I'm glad I recently started following.

[@FIT2BREAD]

Great pun...thanks for following. I'll definitely do a 4th read before too long

[@BobHooker]

Though I have never gotten into this book I can see it is that kind of book. Have you read Gravity's Rainbow. I have read that like 5 times and each time I see more in it. I have moved to London and GR has lots about London in it. This kind of book makes you want to do so much research.

[@ramblingraconteur1616]

Such a great review! Delany is a brilliant but incredibly dense writer, and this one has it all. I very much agree that this is not going to be an incredibly rewarding read for everyone, but the way Dhalgren really expands the boundary for what SF can accomplish is phenomenal. Cheers, Jack

[@FIT2BREAD]

Thanks Jack. Likewise, for the right, lucky, reader this will be hugely hugely rewarding

[@jackwalter5970]

A big yes! to your opinion. I first read it when I was 13. It blew my mind. I got a signed copy when I saw Mr. Delaney speak at a local bookstore. He was very modest.

[@FIT2BREAD]

My BookTube dream is to interview the genius

[@YourQueerGreatAuntie]

@@FIT2BREAD Make it happen!!!!

[@reynoldsmathey]

I tried Dhalgren in my early 20's, and while it was not difficult, I found it incomprehensible. Yet I loved Nova, and thought it was one of the best I've read. It's time for me to try again.

[@FIT2BREAD]

ive heard similar sentiments from others. I have to say, that I really liked it the 2nd time i read it. the 1st time i read it, i was too young, this 3rd time tho...ive lived enough life for it to reach me the way i needed it to for me to realize it as my favorite book

[@bookspin]

Thanks for the review! I picked up a copy of this after you recommended it on my channel. Looking forward to it

[@FIT2BREAD]

Hope you like it Robin

[@zg-mzga]

I read Dhalgren while commuting from downtown Los Angeles to Westwood and back on the Wilshire bus. It's about 3.5 hours round trip. I would sometimes doze off and pick up where I had left off reading. Very hypnagogic experience. After watching review vids, I believe I had a great experience reading this book

[@ThirdEyeAwake]

Dhalgren was my favorite of Delany’s until I read Stars in My Pocket (probably because I’m queer). Dhalgren really blew my mind though and really made me think differently about what is possible in literature and fiction. I should do a reread. There’s really only two types of people in this world: people who read Dhalgren and people that haven’t. I like to carry it when I travel. I feel like I can just drop into it for a few chapters easily while sitting in the airport.

[@FIT2BREAD]

I totally get that. Stars in my Pocket also great. I've read most of his work, but might try Hogg next, which I haven't read. Oh and in case you weren't aware... we are freinds now

[@eyeroll-encore]

Great video. Dhalgren is one of my faves. Excellent that you mentioned the critics. Ellison didn't even finish the book! Though he claimed to be bored, the book was probably just way too queer for his liking.

[@FIT2BREAD]

Thanks Robert. Ellison clearly was jealous :)

[@noeditbookreviews]

Who wants to be as lonely as the acquisition of all those objects would make them? I love that. This sounds really cool.

[@FIT2BREAD]

so many lines I could have swiped and included. beautifully written

[@SentimentalHogwash]

Also my #1. I found it at a yard sale as a kid in the 80’s. I read it and was obsessed and passed it to my friends who also became obsessed. Big impact on my life!

[@jscottphillips503]

I was taking a Science Fiction class in college when "Dhalgren" came out. I carried my paperback copy of it into class one day and my professor (Willis McNelly) said to me: "How far did YOU get?" That kinda put me off reading it. I don't think McNelly did me any favors that day.

[@FIT2BREAD]

seriously, you'll apreciate it more now...having lived some beyond-college life and having gone through "stuff"

[@DaisyXMachina]

Well, as you know, I don't disagree! So many layers in the novel. It's always remarkable to me when a plot-less novel still keeps me captured as a reader. Also, the only novel that captures timelessness (to me). Man, I hate that SF Masterworks cover!

[@FIT2BREAD]

Omg totally agree. Two of the 4 covers I'm familiar with are really bad. Ha.

[@secretsauceofstorycraft]

I havent read it, but i can see how much u love it! I also really appreciate some of those beautiful pictures behind you….

[@FIT2BREAD]

Thanks

[@DadaandRoseShow]

Why do you think the character of bill was important enough to name the book after him?

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

Dhalgren is one of my favorite science fiction novels. I first tried to read it in the 80s when I was a teenager. Way too complex for someone that young. I had better success in my 20s and again in my 50s. Do you have an opinion about the identity of the shooter? Another reader mage a suggestion that’s mind blowing but I have made my own conclusion. I’m due for reread. I also mentioned Dhalgren in a video upload today about what is literature or genre fiction.

[@FIT2BREAD]

ooh great question. In all three reads I never seriously dived deep into it. it was so minimal to my experience. but having the question posed..im curious. Without thinking it through, Id go with Fenster. My second pick would be Muriel, Lanya, Dollar.... but Id have to really read it again and focus more on those characters to see if there are events that rule them out

[@FIT2BREAD]

maybe even Kampf or Mr Richards. the only ones I really rule out are Bunny, Pepper, June, George Harrrison, Lady of Spain, Dragon Lady, Newboy

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

@@FIT2BREAD There was a guy that firmly believed it was the Kid from a different time. I’m still on the fence but that would be interesting twist.

[@FIT2BREAD]

@@anotherbibliophilereads i admit it crossed my mind, but i just dont buy it. despite his violence, use of orchid, etc. i think hes uncomfortable with guns

[@sorinmedia1]

I'm here because of the Netflix series "3 Body Problem". In a brief moment one of the characters is reading a book and we know that every prop in a movie has purpose and meaning, it is never there by chance. In "Black Mirror" the same thing happened, the characters were reading Ray Bradbury and Robert Henlein. I watch out for these clues, it's kind of like a game! I must read it now. Oh, they had the cover with the red sun and the decaying city... watch out for it!

[@epone3488]

I love the misused words and the scramble/mash-up/cutout nature of the on the page text. I love the number of levels the text works on. It's really wakadoo in the best possible way.

[@FIT2BREAD]

Completely agree. At first, when the cutout stuff starts near the end of the book, I was tiring of it, but then grew to really love it

[@Coleton2573]

This sounds amazing and awesome. Fantastic review.

[@FIT2BREAD]

Thanks much. I really loved it. There are adult themes throughout...for those who like to know it in advance. The book is such an experience

[@AshFarlow]

I'm not the only one to make this comparison, but the Kid element is strikingly similar to Blood Meridian. Also the dystopian desert Hispanic parts and the impending dread of a fallen world was near identical as well.

[@ogieogie]

The closest thing to my experience of the late 1960s ever written.

[@FIT2BREAD]

Wow. Very interesting.

[@thekeywitness]

I think this is your 2nd review of this book, right? It’s definitely worth a reread. I enjoyed it the first time around and it left a lasting impression-which isn’t something I can say about many other books I’ve read since.

[@FIT2BREAD]

I've talked about it a few times on oth2er episodes, but this is my first full length review of it. I def support a re read :)

[@epiphoney]

Have you read Scott Westerfeld’s Evolution’s Darling? It’s basically a copy of Delany.

[@FIT2BREAD]

I've not read, "evolutions." Also, not to be the grammar police, but you forgot the comma after "Evolution's." :)

[@YourQueerGreatAuntie]

Ooooh, Dhalgren has been on my TBR since my tiny mind was blown by Nova! That also finishes on an incomplete sentence BTW. Will have to come back to this review after I've devoured the book!

[@FIT2BREAD]

Awesome. Also, FYI the 1st half of the review is fully spoiler free...thanks for commenting

[@YourQueerGreatAuntie]

@@FIT2BREAD I finished it last night! Had to instantly start at the beginning again. I feel like it's a Mobius. I can't believe how effectively Delany creates a sense of anticipatory terror - that lift-shaft, the cataclysm towards the end... I can't put a finger on any particular techniques or structures he uses. It's so intense. It's kep me up waaaaay past my bed-time! I feel like Delany is an author that's been hidden from me all my life. I have really been through something in experiencing this unique work of art - I'm going to hang it upside-down now!

[@FIT2BREAD]

@@YourQueerGreatAuntie I'm so glad to hear your reaction. I want to start it again right now and only stop myself because that would be crazy for me to do right now. I so want to go back to Bellona

[@hdood]

I tried this book like 15 years ago, and made it just a little way in. It sounds like I should try again…

[@FIT2BREAD]

Definitely. Give it 60 pages or so and with no expectations. Just meet the characters and follow Kid around

[@nicktankard1244]

Great review! I love Dhalgren. There is nothing like it.

[@FIT2BREAD]

Couldn't agree more! and thank you

[@rubberchicken5670]

Definitely one of the most bizarre dark surrealist novels I've ever read. I couldn't put it down. But, I felt like I needed a shower everytime I did. LOL.

[@kniknayme9865]

I don't have any Delaney. Which probably means everyone is keeping it or trashed it. Best book you ever read... "that's a pretty big matzah ball hanging there". Added to the list.

[@FIT2BREAD]

I hope it lives up to my praise. I was thinking about it and thinking of the reading experience compared to other heavy hitter reads I've loved (Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, Far Pavillions, Pillars of the Earth..etc...) and I def stand by it

[@shawnw8717]

I discovered Dhalgren in high school (the original Bantam paperback edition). I got through it, but while i kinda "get" it, I don't like it. I prefer Babel-17, Triton, and especially Nova over Dhalgren. This is coming from a person who has tackled classic and modern large tomes (War and Peace, Les Miserables, Nicholas Nickleby, most of In Search of Lost Time, Ulysses, The Stand (both the original and the expanded versions), It), book series such as Jack Chalker's Well World, Cixin Liu's Three Body Problem, etc. And " difficult" books like Gravity's Rainbow, House of Leaves, and even Finnegan's Wake. I admit Infinite Jest is beyond me. Tried 4X. Couldnt get past the first 10 pages. Don't see the big deal. And while i like science fiction I prefer hard sf; I really can't stand fantasy. Tolkien, Brooks, Jordan, even Rowling and King's Dark Tower series. Yuck.

[@zoealcolea8141]

I just finish this shit masterpiece magnificent, I feel less lonely after see this video, thank you 💙💙

[@FIT2BREAD]

You are my scorpion sister!

[@peterflom6878]

I tried 3 times. Incomprehensible. But glad you liked it

[@FIT2BREAD]

thanks peter. What was the furthest (page #) u went in?

[@peterflom6878]

@FIT2BREAD about 30, I think. Ibdo like a lot of Delaney's other books. Babel17 is amazing

[@FIT2BREAD]

@peterflom6878 no pressure, but I do think if going in and giving yourself 70 pages, with no expectations, just letting yourself meet the characters, it can really pickup for you...again, it might just not be your type of book, and for me, I think pages 1 thru 30 don't give much clue for what the rest of the book will be.i promise I'm not trying to convert you :)

[@FIT2BREAD]

Oh, and there is a lot of heavy sex tho, so if that dampens the read for you, there is much more of that to expect...just to be transparent

[@CraigDR]

That book is a serious trip. Read it years ago and there are still parts that I think about.

[@FIT2BREAD]

I already miss the scorpions

[@CraigDR]

@@FIT2BREAD Did you enjoy it more on the first read or upon rereading it?

[@FIT2BREAD]

@CraigDeRuisseau on the 3rd read. The first time, I was too young and much was over my head. 2nd reading I really loved it, but it was not the same experience as this recent 3rd read. Everything clicked for me. I feel like even if this was my 1st time reading it, I would have felt the same. So I don't think that having read it 2 previous times gets any of the credit. I feel pretty confident on that

[@snapfinger1]

As tough a read as Gravity’s Rainbow. Congrats.

[@FIT2BREAD]

Thanks

[@stephannaro2113]

Huh? I don't remember when I started reading this - it was a long time ago. I don't remember how many pages I managed - 200? 300? before I got distracted by vastly more interesting stuff to do. A year?, or two? later I tried again. Another 100? or 200? pages? That was a while ago. I am quite capable of ignoring sex - that stuff usually seems pointless to me. My experience of the book was that whatever was happening, even when there were some sort of action scenes, it was described in such a way as to be mind-numbingly... mind-numbing. It was like wading through treacle. I want to finish the bloody thing - because I am a completionist, and because I discovered it via a list of 162 Scifi and Fantasy Classics that I am working my way through these past 25 years, but it is going to be excruciatingly torturous. I was hoping I might find some help understanding what the fuck is the point, but I suppose no one will be willing to share "spoilers". Does it accurately describe some sort of psychiatric condition? Aaarggghhh.

[@epiphoney]

"It's good, because I don't know what it means" isn't enough for me, as William Gibson says in the introduction. Maybe if Benjamin McEvoy does a deep readalong one day, I'll join in, and he can explain all the literary references and post modern techniques. He's doing Gravity's Rainbow in November, and Lord of the Rings now. KZbin deletes all comments with references to outside sites.

[@FIT2BREAD]

I think it's highly accessible. The best parts of the book are the easy parts. The more "challenging" elements are great and all and the deeper layers make it better, but none are essential to enjoying the read. Who's B. McEvoy. Ill take a look. Gravities Rainbow is a much more difficult (and less good) read

[@EndangeredMooseknuckle]

I'm a fan, but haven't read this one yet. Looks like it just made my list!

[@FIT2BREAD]

awesome, EM

[@judokoga2145]

Grrr wanted to watch a book review for this book and this rock spider’s video come up first. You tube take his videos down

[@JohnTLyon]

Always felt that Dhalgren was influenced by Burrough's cut up trilogy.

[@FIT2BREAD]

hmm. I wouldnt have made that connection. interesting to think about

[@JohnTLyon]

@@FIT2BREAD Delaney was waaaay ahead of his time!

[@FIT2BREAD]

@@JohnTLyon couldn't agree more. He was also more influential on other later authors than he is likely given credit for

[@Fell-Purpose]

I've always thought that too

[@chase36chase]

Very nice Channel. Reader-paradise

[@FIT2BREAD]

Thank you

[@mahmuddickson6682]

"promosm"

[@FIT2BREAD]

?

[@BobHooker]

I respect your ability to finish this book. I have read Ulysses, Proust, Gravity's Rainbow, and Infinite Jest but I could not get through this book. I could tell it was brilliant and I love Delany but the two times I tried to get past a few pages I have failed. I hope some day to get through it, everyone says how important it was as like I said it should be up my ally. But books can be strange like that. I have never been able to get anywhere with LotR. I took a class that involved LotR and I had to use the web to read about what happened to write my papers.

[@FIT2BREAD]

What's the furthest you got in it? I really feel like it's and easy book once u get in the flow. Just go in without expecting to know a plot but rather, have an attitude of, "hmm I wonder what character we will see next and what will happen?" And I say this having been stuck at page 200 of Gravitys Rainbow for a while. I'm completely not getting drawn into GR at all. I'm still willing to persevere in hopes that it gets me or I get it.

[@BobHooker]

@@FIT2BREAD page 5. It really didn't connect with me. But I was widowed 2 years ago and during that time I have suffered some concentration problems. I have been able to read many more conventional Great Books including Proust and Moby Dick and I am reading Homer and Plato. But I guess right now at this point in my life its too strange for me. Maybe in the future as heal I will get better.

[@etownsend82]

⁠@@BobHooker It is a slippery novel to latch on to if you are in that certain head space. Have you tried the audiobook? It’s easy to find on KZbin if you’re cool with that. I found popping in my earbuds, letting it spill over me at my own pace, re-listening to sections when needed, made it more accessible. Plus, I find being read to comforting. All the best.

[@BobHooker]

@@etownsend82 Not tried again, I have a copy right by my desk and I am looking at it now. But its a hard one.

[@BobHooker]

Wait Ellison, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is an utter masterpiece. I would go so far as to say its the only really true Sci-Fi novel about the singularity that I have read. It almost could fit into Dante. No author I have read has so clearly painted a picture of humans being toppled by their own technology.

[@FIT2BREAD]

For me Ellison is a talented short fiction writer. To be more specific, I don't think he would have been capable of writing a longer than 500 page novel that could captivate throughout.

[@BobHooker]

@@FIT2BREAD Perhaps but not all great authors have to write long books, in fact it is likely harder to get genius into a smaller section. As a proof said to me once Shakespeare was able to fit more into one of his plays which you can read in a day then Milton could fit into his massive book that took a week.

[@BobHooker]

@@FIT2BREAD But if I had to make my list of Sci-Fi geniuses that really goes beyond Space Opera or cyberpunk cliché would include Ellison, Dick, Stapledon, Vonnegut, Zamyatin and Delany. And Delany would have a good argument to be the best. These authors don't just have the imagination and ability to create characters and places that Asmov lacked and the ability to write in a humanistic style and good prose that Herbert lacks, while keeping the ideas big that Banks lacked. But the novels at this level are mostly not considered Sci-Fi: Gravity's Rainbow or Infinite Jest comes to mind. Given the relatively low revenues that Sci-Fi books have and the markets demand for the same again and again materpieces like this one are miracles.

[@FIT2BREAD]

@BobHooker really well stated, and on your list, I especially appreciate Stapledon. Dick, for me, is inconsistent. His floor is very high tho... Ubik and 3 stigmata are real masterpieces, and while I respect and enjoy Scanner Darkly and Androids Dream...they do not rise to the same level of genius.

[@FIT2BREAD]

@@BobHooker have you read much by Greg Egan. I beleive he's one of the most important scifi authors I've encountered