Dhalgren

Dhalgren is a science fiction novel by Samuel R. Delany.

Publishing history

Dhalgren was originally published in 1974 as a paperback original (a Frederik Pohl selection) by Bantam Books. The Bantam edition went through 19 printings, selling close to a million copies.

Subsequently, Dhalgren was republished by Gregg Press (1977), Grafton (1992), Wesleyan University Press / University Press of New England (1996), and Vintage Books, an imprint of Random House (2001), the latter two with an introduction by William Gibson.

Textual accuracy and redaction

Dhalgren is a typographically complex novel. The accuracy of the text of the Bantam edition suffered because of logistical delays beyond anyone's control, Delany had only three days to correct the nearly 900 pages of publisher's proofs prior to the book's first publication. As a consequence, there were hundreds if not thousands of typographical errors in the first edition. Over the years, Delany managed to have corrections made to the text on several occasions, often with the help of dedicated readers and colleagues. Though the 17th Bantam printing (1985) marked a new high in the novel's textual accuracy, the gain became a loss when Bantam let the book go out of print. The 1996 Wesleyan edition constituted an entirely new typesetting, complete with its own unique errors and inconsistencies. Fortunately, Vintage Books was able to license the Wesleyan typesetting for use in its edition, and twice allowed extensive corrections to be made.

Four times in the twenty years from 1982 to 2002, editor Ron Drummond proofread and redacted the text of Dhalgren, the latter two times at Delany's specific behest. Dozens of Drummond's corrections were incorporated into two late Bantam printings, and hundreds more in the first and third printings of the Vintage Books edition. Because of Drummond's work, the third and later printings of the Vintage edition are considered by the author to be the most accurate rendering of the text ever published. Nevertheless, in a rather stunning exemplar of Murphy's Law, the early submission by Delany of a mistaken correction to the publisher and the publisher's prompt (if promptly forgotten) response led, months later, to the inadvertent introduction of the single worst, most meaning-obliterating multi-paragraph error in the novel's entire convoluted publishing history, an error that Vintage has failed to correct in subsequent printings. Ironically enough, even with that error, the current Vintage edition of Dhalgren remains the most accurate ever published.

Critical reaction

Critical reaction to Dhalgren has ranged from high praise (both inside and outside the science fiction community) to extreme dislike (mostly within the community). Its lack of a linear plot, or even a discernable chronological narrative, its graphically-described homo-, hetero-, and bisexuality, Delany's "modernist" verbal pyrotechnics, and use of stream of consciousness writing has given it a reputation as a difficult novel. It has often been compared to Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon because of the surreal style in which it is written.

Theodore Sturgeon called Dhalgren "The very best ever to come out of the science fiction field ... a literary landmark." By contrast, fellow writers such as Philip K. Dick and Harlan Ellison hated the novel. Said the latter: "When Dhalgren came out, I thought it was awful, still do ... ^* I was supposed to review it for the L.A. Times, got 200 pages into it and threw it against a wall."

Description

The story can be read as a circular text much like the epic work, Finnegans Wake by James Joyce.

It begins with a famous passage:

to wound the autumnal city.
So howled out the world to give him a name.
The in-dark answered with wind.

What follows is an extended and increasingly hallucinatory trip through Bellona -- a city divorced from reality and reason. Some catastrophe has befallen Bellona. Cut off from the rest of the country, the city is a place unlike any other. Another moon appears in the evening sky, the size of the sun appears to change markedly during a day, street signs and landmarks shift constantly, and time appears to contract and dilate. The few people left in Bellona struggle with survival, boredom, and each other.

The story's narrator is a nameless, left-shoeless drifter nicknamed Kid (also referred to as the Kid, Kidd, or just kid). He begins the novel apparently awakening from unconsciousness, and seems to have suffered significant memory loss, which recurs throughout the story. He also may be schizophrenic, for there are references to memories of what may have been a stay in a mental hospital, and his perception of the "changes in reality" is inconsistent with the other characters'. He has extremely unusual urges, including necrophilic tendencies (which rise when another character dies). Poet, hero, liar, Kid is a fascinating realization of the very instincts of the city itself.

It is not until the final chapter of Dhalgren that the meaning of the entire experience is laid out, and even then it is elusive.

The story ends:

But I still hear them walking in the trees: not speaking. Waiting here, away from the terrifying weaponry, out of the halls of vapor and light, beyond holland into the hills, I have come to

As with Finnegans Wake, the unclosed closing sentence can be read as leading into the unopened opening sentence, turning the novel into an enigmatic circle.

Dhalgren and Mythology

Dhalgren abounds with references to Roman mythology, many of which are quite blatant. "Bellona" is undoubtedly a reference to the goddess Bellona, the Waster of Cities. The woman encountered by the protagonist at the very beginning of the novel is certainly a reference to the dryad Daphne, a reference stated explicitly by the protagonist later, in the truck.

The protagonist himself may be associated with Apollo. Like Apollo, he is a poet, is bisexual, and has a youthful face. Also, the strange celestial happenings (the double moon and the immense sun) can be associated with the sun (Apollo) and the moon (Diana). Apollo is also often associated with the goddess Bellona, and the protagonist plays Apollo's role in the replaying of the Daphne myth. Apollo is also credited with sending the scorpion Scorpio to kill Orion in some versions of the Orion myth, while the gang the protagonist leads call themselves Scorpions. The song Lanya composes throughout the story might be interpretable as a paean, and Lanya's harmonica, also known as a blues harp, may represent the lyre or kithara. This song, like the paeans, is played at the celebration for the protagonist.

George and June are probably representative of Jupiter and Juno. George's affinities with the god are evidenced by his association with lightning and his many consorts and children. June's affinity with the goddess are most strongly evidenced by similarities in name and association with George, but also in aspects of personality, especially her jealousy. Additionally, when the protagonist talks with George about June, he describes George's response, "His eyes will explode like blooming poppies." Poppies are associated with Juno, and here with June.

Quotes

William Gibson calls Dhalgren "A riddle that was never meant to be solved."

External links

1974 novels | Science fiction novels