For no obvious reason, an amnesiac is walking to the hitherto unknown American city of Bellona, where civil order has unaccountably collapsed, most reFor no obvious reason, an amnesiac is walking to the hitherto unknown American city of Bellona, where civil order has unaccountably collapsed, most residents have fled, and a few squatters carry on in the abandoned buildings, living on canned goods. Inexplicably, no-one either inside or outside the city is doing anything to restore normal life. Some of the residents are enjoying the anarchy, others have apparently lost their minds and are pretending life is normal. Our traveler walks barefoot on one foot and a sandal on the other, for no reason that I could find. He seems to have no goal, but does odd jobs for money that somehow still has value. Meanwhile, the reader is treated to such things as a gruesome sadomasochistic sex scene and a long monologue by an habitual rapist justifying his actions (the victims really want it, you see). No doubt all this is deeply symbolic of the alienation of modern man or some such rot. I finally gave up in disgust after forcing myself a quarter of the way through this 800-page brick. A writer's first duty is to provide a coherent story, and Delany fails. The story does not make sense. I started this book because I found it high on a list of greatest science fiction novels of all time, and because I've enjoyed other works by Delany, but I'll be damned if I can see what the attraction is in this insane meandering story of lunatics in an unsupervised city-sized asylum. I very rarely give up on a book once started--I guess I feel I owe that much to the author. But the author owes something to me too. Perhaps if I stuck with it I would eventually see the coherence and rich meaning in this work. Alas, I never shall. Instead, I will spend the required time reading Austen, or Cervantes, or Hardy, or Tolstoy, or Melville, or other authors who can write deeply meaningful novels that actually make sense and are pleasurable to read....more
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