Rockhurst Sentinel

Some of you might be familiar with House of Leaves, a book that can be quite easily described as "Labyrinthine." It has a definite precursor in Samuel R. Delaney's Dhalgren, a complex, dream-like book that might be a precursor to cyberpunk and might just be the author attempting to confuse us.

The story follows a nameless man referred to only as "The Kid" as he explores Bellona, a Midwestern city cut off from the rest of the world. As the nameless protagonist explores the amorphous city, he is faced with proof that the world is not as it seems, but that he is not sane. It is a long, convoluted narrative filled with things that would be considered transgressive themes in the time it was written (the early seventies), namely: gang activities, descriptions of homo-, hetero-, and bi-sexual relationships, interracial relations, and violence. Throughout this, the author maintains a sense of mystery and a poetic flare.

The story opens with the Kid walking toward Bellona; he meets with a woman, and an episode mirroring the story of Apollo and Diana takes place. From her, he receives a chain made from prisms and mirrors. From a group of women he meets on the road, he receives a strange, bladed object called an "orchid."

With this "armor" and this "weapon," he ventures into a strange, science-fictional city where time and space do not function as they do outside. In the city, every desire can be met, should the Kid be willing to look for it. And should he decide to brave the smoke-filled streets and the violence that surrounds him.

As time goes on, he meets a large cast of characters that live in Bellona: an engineer with a horrifying secret, a traveling poet laureate, a gang that uses strange technology to transform into holographic chimerae, a family trying to maintain appearances, and George, the emerging moon-god-king of Bellona.

In short, this book was the genesis of the modern strain of fantastic urban landscapes found in Perdido Street Station, Viriconium and Scar Night. Coupled with the maze-like narrative, and the influence that William Gibson reports in the foreword, it might be one of the most significant speculative fiction books of the last forty years.

 I enjoy this book--I say "enjoy" rather than "enjoyed" because I am not yet fully done with it--because it is a fascinating puzzle. I'm not sure if anyone truly understands all that Delaney put into the book. Not the smallest part would be the title. Thus far in my reading, the surname "Dhalgren" has appeared once, nestled inside a long list of names, and it has not appeared in any synopses that I've read. As I try to figure out where everything fits together, I feel a thrill of discovery. I read a lot, and the fact that this book can both maintain my interest and make me want to discover its secrets is wonderful.

 Next issue I will answer an important question you all might've been asking as you skim over this column on your way to the security reports: Why Speculative Fiction?

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