Dhalgren
Samuel R. Delany · 1975
A city called Bellona has been partially destroyed by some unspecified disaster; it exists outside time, outside communication, and may not be real. Delany's 879-page experiment in unreliable city-space is the SF equivalent of *Ulysses*. The most ambitious and divisive American SF novel.
The case against
Eight hundred seventy-nine pages that end mid-sentence and loop back to the beginning, which tells you the contract up front: no plot resolution, no explanation of Bellona, no exit. Long stretches are explicit sex and notebook transcription repeated with variations. Either the most ambitious American SF novel or an endurance test; it is fully both, on purpose.
Science Fiction & Fantasy · the Pro canon
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