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09-17-2020, 01:50 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-17-2020, 01:51 PM by King Bob.)
I read this back in high school and had forgotten almost all of it. It's kind of a post-modern space opera, with a quest/race for a rare substance that can be most easily found in a sun going nova, and a power struggle between two rich families. It was fairly entertaining but not great. The characters are pretty flat, although I think he meant them to be more symbolic than naturalistic, and he wants to drag in a lot of stuff. One character is taking notes for the ancient art form of the novel, and his notes are ideas about dissolution of shared culture etc. and we get to read them. There are description of Tarot cards and a whole reading gets done. There are some fake tech descriptions, which is something I can't stand. Technical jargon explanations of things that the author just made up anyway? No! In the end it ended abruptly, with a possible twist on the story (see spoiler below), but possibly not since it's not explicitly said.
SPOILER:
at the end, it seems we may be reading the novelist's novel
the hands that guide me are invisible
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I read a couple of Samuel Delaney, but I quit after Dhalgren.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
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I remember there were three that I used to see a lot at the used book store: Dhalgren, Nova and Triton. I remember my brother and the Yeti disagreeing about whether Dhalgren was any good. Or was it Triton?
I've also seen praises for Babel-17 and the story collection Driftglass but have read neither.
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I also might be confusing Delaney with Brunner. Stand on Zanzibar.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
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I always meant to read that but never did. I think I may have read The Sheep Look Up, or maybe only part of it, but didn't understand it. Those are also books that always used to be on the shelf at the used book store, but no more.
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Brunner’s Shockwave Rider was fun.
Knowing what I know now, I would have to reread Dhalgren to see if it was good. It was not written for teens
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
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(09-17-2020, 02:54 PM)Greg Wrote: I also might be confusing Delaney with Brunner.
My brain went to Zelazny. Y'all are much more well read in this genre. I gave up on it after High School and I can't really remember much of High School.
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09-17-2020, 03:33 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-17-2020, 03:35 PM by Greg.)
That's because, like all the other cool kids in High School, we devoted ourselves to Science Fiction.
I might have read Shockwave Rider as well which made me read Zanzibar. Zanzibar hurt my head.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
