2025 Reading Round-Up

 

Ten years since Bowie died

Last year was a curious year, with 90% of my books packed away in piles of boxes while our new house was being built. I kept a select few out, ready to read, but, of course, quickly added to that number via digs in second hand bookstores in Perth and Melbourne and in op shops in Subiaco. This situation led to me reading one of my many long-held books, A Landing on the Sun (1991) by Michael Frayn, which I deliberately left out of the boxes in order to finally read it, and I’m pleased that I did. This novel didn’t end up as the best book of the year, however, that honour goes to what is considered to be a perfect novel, Stoner (1965) by John Williams. A beautiful, brilliant novel that everyone should read. Another great discovery was Paul Auster, an author I had long known about, but it took finding Leviathan (1992) in an op-shop for me to finally read him. Once again, thoroughly recommended. I also managed make progress in my Martin Amis project, with Money (1984) coming close to being my book of the year, and the short story collection, Einstein’s Monsters (1987) being a worthy read. I finally got around to reading one of the classics I’d long wanted to read, Childhood’s End (1953) by the great Arthur C. Clarke, which didn’t disappoint. City (1952) by Clifford D. Simak also falls under that classification.

Stoner - book of the year

It was great year for reading generally, with some great books resulting from the library book club; Our Evenings (2024) by Alan Hollinghurst, There are Rivers in the Sky (2024) by Elif Shafak and Stoner being notable examples. As aways there were some lesser books, with Dark Magus (2006) by Gregory Davis being the worst, a poorly written account of being Miles Davis oldest son, which was fascinating, but hamstrung by repetition and cliché. Stars in my Pocket like Grains of Sand (1984) by the eccentrically brilliant Samual R. Delany was a mild disappointment; it was complex and unique, but ultimately a bit pedestrian. Still, I’m pleased to have read it and the same can be said for many of the others I read in the last year, an adventure as always. This year promises a better organised personal library when I unpack all of my books and organise more shelving, you can’t just have piles of books balanced against walls in the corner of the room in a new house can you? Who knows what literary adventures await…?

Addenda: So, why a picture of Bowie on this post? Well, it's the ten year anniversary of his passing - 10th January 2016, he was a renowned lover of books and literature, a great lyricist and cultural mavin. Besides, I read a Bowie book this past year, We Could Be...Bowie and his Heroes (2021) by Tom Hagler, so that makes it legit!

Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand - Samuel R. Delany (1984)

 

Rating: Admirable

Samuel R. Delany is unlike most other science fiction writers, not only is his densely descriptive writing style highly erudite, but his work is conceptually sophisticated and quite often oblique. His themes explore gender norms, sexuality, sociology and cultural mores, especially relating to social politics and government bureaucracy. Delany has more in common with Ursula Le Guin than the likes of most other science fiction authors, particularly from the era in which he produced the majority of his published work, the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s. Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand takes place in a distant future in which humanity is spread across some 6000 planets. There are alien species, but only one shares humanity’s ability to harness faster than light travel, a xenophobic race known as XLv. Sounds simple enough, but Delany adds in two competing quasi-religious factions, the Family and the Sygn, both of which become only marginally understood as the novel progresses. One of the handful of main protagonists is Rat Korga, a gangly misfit who voluntarily undergoes a process called Radical Anxiety Termination, in which his brain is permanently altered to take away all mental suffering, but he effectively becomes a slave on a desert planet which is eventually destroyed in mysterious circumstances. The first section of the novel is taken up with his story, told in third person, until the narrative switches to first person, told from the perspective of the other principal protagonist, Marq Dyeth on the plant Velm.

The novel is an intense exercise in comprehensive and detailed world building in which the reader is totally thrown in the deep end. There’s very little in the way of background information regarding the Family or The Sygn, how humanity came to be spread across the stars, the nature of their space travel, but most significantly, the culture and society of Velm in which humans live alongside the Evelm, a reptilian species with a multitude of forms and social norms, including ‘dragons’ that live in the north of the planet. We get to know Marq Dyeth quite well, however her (Marq is actually a male, but it seems that everyone on the planet is referred to as a female, but at other times as a male, depending on sexual preferences…) interactions with her family and the Evelm are exceedingly complex. The array of cultural and societal norms is bewilderingly detailed and is explored comprehensibly throughout the latter half of the novel. It’s very easy to get lost and overwhelmed by such world building, as such it is both the novel’s strength and its weakness. The best way to approach Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand is to just go with it and enjoy some of the novel’s more manifest joys, such as the literary elements, like the poetry recited at a social gathering, from where the title of the novel is taken, or Rat Korga’s experience with information cubes that transfer their data directly into the brain (many of which are great literary epics that sound fascinating - of course Delany goes into them in detail). There’s also the dragon hunting undertaken by Rat Korga and Marq Dyeth on Velm, which is unlike any hunting practice that you could reasonably consider. Delany also explores an internet like technology called the General Information Service, which reminds you that the novel was written and published during the early years of the Cyberpunk genre.

Samuel R. Delany, contemplating being oblique

Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand demands a great deal from the reader, to the extent that it would simply be too frustrating for many readers; the XLv race is barely explored in the end, despite its obvious promise; there are just too many long detailed passages describing social customs and there's also the matter of confusing gender pronouns and a plot in which not much really happens in terms of action or typical plot devices that move the narrative forward in a dramatic fashion. Also, the novel was meant to be the first in a diptych, but the second novel, The Splendor and Misery of Bodies, of Cities has never been completed, meaning that there is a number of loose ends that are never resolved, as they were no-doubt going to be explored further in the second novel. Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand is fascinating, beautiful, frustrating and even maddening. I really don’t know whether I fully enjoyed it, but three weeks after finishing it I’m still thinking about it, so I’d say it’s worth reading, but be prepared to be both bewildered and challenged.

End of Times (Well, this year anyway...)

By the end of the year all the words just pile up, so there’s a need to assess the situation so we can all move on. Looking back I note that my reading this year was reasonably eclectic, but unfortunately not always satisfying. Thankfully there weren’t any books read that were as noxiously offensive as the infamous Finkler Question (I will not even reference it - you just don’t want to know...); but probably the least worthy was Sarah Dunant’s Sacred Hearts. That was a book club read, so I had no choice in the matter - the things I do! Enforced reading has its benefits however, with Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites proving to be one of the best novels I have ever read, and that’s no mean feat. Other highlights include The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis, J.G.Ballard’s The Complete Short Stories, Samuel Delany’s The Einstein Intersection and Annabel Smith’s The Ark, which achieves that rare feat of pushing at the boundaries of the novel.

Do I have any New Year’s resolutions? No - I just want to read.

The Einstein Intersection - Samuel R. Delany (1967)

Samuel Delany’s Nebula Award winning novel from 1967 has one of the best titles in science fiction. Delany is quite a character, a black American homosexual, a professor of english since 1975; a critic, editor and winner of the Nebula Award four times and the Hugo Award twice. Delany’s 1975 novel Dhalgren is recognized as one of the most complex and difficult science fiction novel’s in the genre’s history. Unsurprisingly The Einstein Intersection transcends perceived pulp limitations of science fiction with the kind of themes and metaphorical layering usually found in literary fiction; exploring the nature of mythology, discrimination and identity.

The Einstein Intersection is a wild mythologically inspired psychedelic ride into Earth’s deep future. Humanity has left for the stars, leaving behind vestiges of their civilization, both ancient and advanced, for an array of weird lifeforms to pick through. The principle protagonist is Lo Lobey, an Orpheus type character who is also the most human-like of the various lifeforms. Lo Lobey is an engaging first person narrator who wields a sword that doubles as a flute whilst he navigates the wonders and dangers of a radioactively transformed Earth. In his village he is given the title of Lo because of his genetic advantage of being humanoid and functional, compared to those who reside in the kage, an enclosure housing those who, due to the radiation, are less genetically fortunate. Much like Orpheus, Lo Lobey charms with his musical skills and embarks on a quest. In Lo Lobey’s case it is to rescue his beloved Friza from a colourful character called Kid Death. Lo Lobey’s fighting skills with his musical blade come to the fore during one of the novel’s most inspired sequences in which he battles with a giant creature that resembles a Minotaur in mysterious underground ruins.

Throughout the novel the sense of surreal adventure is palpable. Delany’s clipped prose is highly visual without being excessively descriptive. Earth’s far future landscape, the underground ruins and Lo Lobey’s travels with dragon herders whilst on his quest are all rendered beautifully. The narrative pace is well balanced, never resting too long or burdened by over explaining. Delany’s characters are vivid and authentic, despite their alien weirdness. Spider, the seven foot red skinned, four handed dragon herder is particularly charismatic; as is Kid Death, who appears on and off with dangerous impetuosity throughout the narrative. 

For such short novel (a novella really), The Einstein Intersection packs a literary punch. Delany indulges himself in some metafiction, inserting his own musings about writing the novel and his travels in Europe into the quotes that begin each chapter. Fortunately rather than being pretentious it’s a gambit that actually pays off. It is unclear just how the Greek myths that litter the narrative fit into Delany’s overall vision, however they are powerfully rendered. Much clearer are the analogies for the racism and perhaps homophobia that Delany would have been exposed to growing up in mid twentieth century America. The writhing marginalized genetic freaks who inhabit the kages provide some sharp social commentary to balance out the speculative flourishes.

The Einstein Intersection is an excellent science fiction novel and if the rest of his work is of a similar vein then Delany is up there with some of the past’s greatest science fiction writers. I’ll be hunting down his books in dusty second hand book stores run by ancient curmudgeons (much like this one). As for the title? Delany does reveal its meaning and it is intriguing enough to encourage some research. It’s exactly what you want from a science fiction novel, it both stimulates your imagination and your intellect. If I had a beard like Delany’s I would be stroking it thoughtfully right now.