blueskye@sun.uucp (Tim Ryan) (01/05/86)
What with all this chit-chat about Samuel Delany's _Stars in my Pocket like Grains of Sand_ (SIMPLGOS), I'd like to offer my own opinion on the book and some of the questions raised in this discussion. I have read SIMPLGOS, as well as almost everything else written by Sam Delany. It is my observation that most of Delany's works are studies on a particular theme. For example, "Time considered as a helix of semi-precious stones" is a study of crime in a homogeneous and fairly controlled society. _Dhalgren_ is a study of dreams, and living in an urban ghetto. "The Star Pit" is a study about the ecology that we all live in; it is a story about enclosure and limits and how we each respond to our limits. _Tides of Lust_ is a no hol[ed]s barred study of sexuality and mythos. Similarly, SIMPLGOS has a theme; several, I think. That the two main characters in SIMPLGOS have "gay" sex is almost beside the point. I see SIMPLGOS as a study of gender and the family. Delany is very good--for about the first 100 or so pages, it seems that most characters (except the protagonist, Rat Korga) are referred to as "she." Except sometimes they also get referred to as "he." I admit I was thoroughly confused as to the characters' genders, and I was delighted that Delany had so confused me. And then he drops the explanation into our laps like a 100 Watt bulb turned on in the middle of the night--people are referred to as "she" until they become the objects of sex, during which they are referred to as "he." All at once, Delany turns our own world upside down, and gives men a sort of come-uppance. Brilliant. As for the dealings with "the family," the background conflict that comes to the forefront as the book progresses, is that between the Dyeth (pronounced like "death" [sneaky, huh?]) and the Thant families. The Dyeth's are members of a stream, a loose association of affectional entities, who, in their case, are not all of the same species. The Thants are members of a group that seems to be much more like the "nuclear family," with roles assigned according to age and physical gender. Delany contrasts these two ideas nicely, and I sense that the next book in his diptych will explore this "family feud" much more. He also hints that this difference in style has more that personal ramifications--it appears to have mass political and psychological impacts. That, too, will be intersting to follow. I think that Delany is one of the best contemporary SF authors. I like his style. He is not afraid to write about the tough issues of our time, like race, gender, the family, the poor, the disenfranchised, and sexuality. His characters are very human and far from perfect. All radical concepts for SF. Only one other contemporary writer compares--Ursual K. LeGuin. As to the questions raised by the original poster, they all strike me as provocative. Others have given the Politically Correct answers, so I won't reiterate. I did want to contribute to this discussion, however, since I seem to be one of the few interested parties who has actually finished the book. I would recommend this book to any and all readers as a worthwhile venture. It is full of surprises (like dragon "hunting") and thought provoking. I can't wait for the second book! - tim ryan {...ucbvax, nsc, ihnp4, hplabs, pyramid}!sun!blueskye "...though many people talked about it, almost no one had read the *whole* of _The Mantichorio_." [an epic narrative with a 30K word intro and 137K lines of alternating heptameter and hexameter] _Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand_