Dhalgren

By: Samuel R. Delany

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

In Dhalgren, perhaps one of the most profound and best-selling science fiction novels of all time, Samuel R. Delany has produced a novel that rivals the best American fiction of the 1970s.

Bellona is a city at the dead center of the United States. Something has happened there...the population has fled. Madmen and criminals wander the streets. Strange portents appear in the cloud-covered sky. And into this disaster zone comes a young man - a poet, a lover, and an adventurer - known only as the Kid.

Tackling questions of race, gender, and sexuality, Dhalgren is a literary marvel and a groundbreaking work of American magical realism.

©1975 Samuel R. Delany (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

A great book

This is a thoughtful and great piece of literature. I don't typically like stories with explicit sex and vulgar language in it. I don't know why but Samuel Delany and William S. Burroughs are exceptions for me. It is as though those parts of their books blend in with the.parts I focus on and enjoy.

Absolutely enthralling and insane.

The writing style, subject matter, characters and setting create a vision of confusing beauty and palpable terror. A precious gem and my new all time favorite novel

Excruciatingly Boring

I kept hoping it would get better. Even the graphic sex within the first 5 minutes was uninteresting. 1 hour in and I have no idea what this is about. I can’t take another.

Magnum opus

This novel is unique. I say that having read lots of novels. Delany takes us to a fictional city where something has happened. No one knows exactly what has happened. The laws of physics are not as applicable here as elsewhere. The main character is already struggling with his own perception of reality, and when you add the circumstances of the "autumnal city" to the mix, things get really bizarre. If you are looking for a linear plot, look elsewhere. If you don't mind having your brains scrambled a bit, and finding yourself amazed at the final pages, go for it. If you don't think you like SF, don't worry. This is SF, but it is so far removed from the traditional conventions of SF that lots of SF people trashed this book when it came out. Yet it is his most popular book, and with good reason. It is probably his most remarkable book, but he is a remarkable writer, so it's hard to say.

What a ride!

Gritty, surreal, poetic imagery that teases with questions that are never quite answered, a kaleidoscopic epic of a narrative as seen from the eyes of a schizophrenic amnesiac.