extremely subtle, occasionally difficult, and enigmatic, but 1st rate scifi

books:


	• Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand Samuel R. Delany Wesleyan, 2004 - 376 pages average customer review:based on 17 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A disappointment, sorry to say

Delany is a highly-regarded science fiction author known for his notoriously hard-to-read novels (such as this one, or Dhalgren). As a voracious reader of sci-fi, I had to eventually give him a try. Stars in My Pocket is the book I tried, and I hate to say it, but it was disappointing. The book has an Agenda, big time, and really very little story. It seems that, back in 1984, Delany, a gay black man, decided to try to shake up the "straight" world with a book that turns our notions of "normal" sexualtiy inside out. But even in 1984, this was familiar territory, and the trail had been blazed by James Baldwin Another Country in "mainstream" fiction, and of course Heinlein in Time Enough for Love and I Will Fear No Evil, among others. So, the "strangeness" factor is not enough to carry the book, which is too bad, since there's not much of a story here. And as Heinlein and others have shown, a novel need not lack a plot while investigating what it means to be human. Though the preface proclaims that the book is "the most truly galactic novel ever written", I'd have to say I've seen it done much better elsewhere. A good recent example is the Golden Age trilogy by John C. Wright [start here:The Golden Age (The Golden Age, Book 1) ]. The 6000-world backdrop of this book are just part of the Agenda, which is to force diversity down the reader's throat, and damn the sales figures. It's a shame, because I happen to be sympathetic to Delany's cause. But if you want to change the world, why not write something that will be widely read? From what I've read here, I'm guessing Delany is not capable of seeing beyond the bounds of his race and sexual gender. Either that, or he is just writing for himself, and doesn't care who buys his books. In either case, I will pass on Professor Delany from now on.

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As thought-provoking today as it was when first published

Samuel R. Delany is a novelist and critic, currently teaching English and creative writing at Temple University. A renowned author of science fiction, he has won both Hugo and Nebula awards. Now the Wesleyan University Press has published a 20th anniversary edition of one of Delany's very best science fiction epics, Stars In My Pocket Like Grains Of Sand. The central issues Delany addresses in a fictional format (technology, globalization, gender, sexuality, multiculturalism) have become even more center stage with the passage of time. This anniversary edition will serve to introduce a whole new generation of readers to Delany's imaginative and superbly skilled storytelling abilities with a science fiction novel that is as entertaining and thought-provoking today as it was when first published in 1984.

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Delany has a lot more than 5 stars in his pocket

Delany is one of the greatest writers of any genre. This novel is simply brilliant, and every time I read it I find more reasons to love it. Although I'd love to see a sequel, I've always thought that leaving us all hanging for a book that will never come only strengthens the point of the book in the first place. Go back to it and read it again; everything you need is already there. The writing is alive and every word is packed with beauty and meaning. The passage near the end discussing the many possible meanings of arriving on a new world at dawn is just about one of the most effective---and affective---passages ever written in a science fiction novel. Delany's work is entertaining and important. But be prepared to think and wonder and stretch your mind.

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extremely subtle, occasionally difficult, and enigmatic, but 1st rate scifi

I wrestled with this novel more than usual. It is vividly written, a genuinely beautiful style that evokes a brilliantly conceived future world without completely explaining what is going on. If this is something you enjoy unravelling - even re-reading - this is a true masterpiece of scifi that can stand on its own as a fine novel. It is of the same caliber as Octavia Butler or Frank Herbert, in my view.

This novel plays with the reader in a number of unusual ways. First, there is the race of the protagonists: it makes a difference in the plot and meaning depending on how you picture it in your mind's eye. Second, there are so many basic plot/theme inferences that there are many different ways to connect the dots. While confusing, it is also a challenge. Third, there are many seemingly unrelated incidents, which may indeed form a whole if you can recognise the overall pattern of the tapestry. It is deliciously mysterious and fearfully evocative.

Spoiler warning. My reading of it is that there is a crisis, with the strangely destructive and apparently unknowable aliens. Into this, a learning disabled man miraculously survives a completely destroyed planet and with the help of technology assumes the charisma of an enlightened despot, which establishes a cult following of a frightened populace. But what is so amazing about this is the detail of the world as imagined, from the turtle-like nature species to the bizarre practices of an elite family (they taste rocks while hunting).

Warmly recommended.

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An entertaining, thought provoking read

This novel starts out slow, as many of Delany's novels do. His creative use of language takes a couple of chapters to comprehend, but then his narrative and storytelling grabs you and keeps you completely involved in the story. The main character is "human" and there is the familiar human side of the story, but this is intertwined with the alien side of the story in a universe of many planets with different cultures.
I found myself filling in the many "blanks" Delany did not include in the story. Believe me, I am not complaining about the lack of details, he provides plenty. This novel is thought provoking and entertaining.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand is a science fiction masterpiece, an essay on the inexplicability of sexual attractiveness, and an examination of interstellar politics among far-flung worlds. First published in 1984, the novel's central issues--technology, globalization, gender, sexuality, and multiculturalism--have only become more pressing with the passage of time.

The novel's topic is information itself: What are the repercussions, once it has been made public, that two individuals have been found to be each other's perfect erotic object out to "point nine-nine-nine and several nines percent more"? What will it do to the individuals involved, to the city they inhabit, to their geosector, to their entire world society, especially when one is an illiterate worker, the sole survivor of a world destroyed by "cultural fugue," and the other is--you!

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