The existence of this piece had me worried that he'd passed away. It's always nice when people get to be appreciated before they die.
Samuel R. Delany Reimagined Sci-Fi, Sex, and the City
31–40 of 68 posts
Re: Samuel R. Delany Reimagined Sci-Fi, Sex, and the City
#32I love all of Delany's earlier SF writing, but felt that after getting praise and recognition for it, he decided he should be a more "serious" writer and started writing things like Dhalgren, which to me was basically unreadable and more about calling attention to the writing than telling a story.
Re: Samuel R. Delany Reimagined Sci-Fi, Sex, and the City
#33My ten year old son loves sci-fi. And, it sounds like many of Delany's stories deal with adult-ish subject matter (of a sexual nature). I know he has a complicated history as a gay man in America, and I'm interested in knowing if there are good stories for young adults? My son can handle complicated things, but as his dad I want to be cautious as well.
Have you considered sending him some of Nnedi Okorafors Binti series? You might also think Iron Widow by xiran jay zhao (giant mechs vs aliens), anything by marie lu, aurora rising by amie kaufman & jay kristoff, invictus by ryan graudin
Re: Samuel R. Delany Reimagined Sci-Fi, Sex, and the City
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
I notice you skipped “Dhalgren”. Probably for the best.
I have read many of his books, including Dhalgren, which is a complex and dense book that does not make for easy reading. I recommended the ones that were more "hard science fiction" that were full of interesting ideas. The protagonist in Triton is not really a hero but Delany's world building is very thought provoking.
I love Dhalgren so much. but also in non-fiction, _Times Square Red, Times Square Blue_, on public sex and sociality, is pretty amazing.
He has a few other memoirs too, that are really insightful looks into ways of living I would not ordinarily have a view on.
Re: Samuel R. Delany Reimagined Sci-Fi, Sex, and the City
#35This is an excellent article on a writer that more people need to know about.
Just know that if you support Delany you're supporting the sexual abuse of children. “I read the NAMBLA [Bulletin] fairly regularly and I think it is one of the most intelligent discussions of sexuality I’ve ever found. I think before you start judging what NAMBLA is about, expose yourself to it and see what it is really about. What the issues they are really talking about, and deal with what’s really there rather th…
Is "support" always transitive? To support someone is necessarily to support everything they support? What does "support" mean, anyway?
To read and enjoy a book by him necessarily means I'm "supporting" everything he has ever supported, including in the past?
Why would it work that way?
(This is not meant to say anything either way on whether Delany "supports the sexual abuse of children". I suppose that's another transitive property of support... if I 'support' Delany who 'supports' NAMBLA which 'supports'... )
Re: Samuel R. Delany Reimagined Sci-Fi, Sex, and the City
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have read many of his books, including Dhalgren, which is a complex and dense book that does not make for easy reading. I recommended the ones that were more "hard science fiction" that were full of interesting ideas. The protagonist in Triton is not really a hero but Delany's world building is very thought provoking.
I love Dhalgren so much. but also in non-fiction, _Times Square Red, Times Square Blue_, on public sex and sociality, is pretty amazing. He has a few other memoirs too, that are really insightful looks into ways of living I would not ordinarily have a view on.
The Neveryon books and 'Times Square Red, Times Square Blue' are my favorite Delany.
My introduction to Delany was randomly stumbling on the first Neveryon book in the stacks of a university library, being intrigued by the (wholly untrue) intro about Linear B translations of ancient stories, and then getting completely sucked in by the storytelling. The world needs more pan-sexual barbarians, IMO.
The Neveryon story about the invention of writing and its complex set of unintended consequences was perhaps my favorite in the series. ("The Tale of Old Venn" in Tales of Neveryon.)
Re: Samuel R. Delany Reimagined Sci-Fi, Sex, and the City
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
I notice you skipped “Dhalgren”. Probably for the best.
I have read many of his books, including Dhalgren, which is a complex and dense book that does not make for easy reading. I recommended the ones that were more "hard science fiction" that were full of interesting ideas. The protagonist in Triton is not really a hero but Delany's world building is very thought provoking.
I would say Dhalgren's not particularly difficult to read, or complex - the Kid's experience in Bellona is not comparable to Bloom's allusive and metaphore laden journey through Dublin in Ulysses. Bellona is just fucking weird.
Re: Samuel R. Delany Reimagined Sci-Fi, Sex, and the City
#38Re: Samuel R. Delany Reimagined Sci-Fi, Sex, and the City
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have read many of his books, including Dhalgren, which is a complex and dense book that does not make for easy reading. I recommended the ones that were more "hard science fiction" that were full of interesting ideas. The protagonist in Triton is not really a hero but Delany's world building is very thought provoking.
I would say Dhalgren's not particularly difficult to read, or complex - the Kid's experience in Bellona is not comparable to Bloom's allusive and metaphore laden journey through Dublin in Ulysses. Bellona is just fucking weird.
I haven't read Dhalgren, but "It's not as difficult as Ulysses" isn't saying much.
Re: Samuel R. Delany Reimagined Sci-Fi, Sex, and the City
#40I recently listened to the Stuff You Should Know episode on Afrofuturism, and the mentioned Samuel R Delany as revolutionizing sci-fi. Sounds like I need to add him to my reading list. Great episode: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-you-should-know-269...