Book Review: Samuel R. Delany's "Dark Reflections."

This post was submitted by Craig Laurance Gidney, a native Washingtonian who blogs and publishes the occasional piece of fiction.

Samuel R. Delany (pictured) is an iconoclastic man of letters who, along with Philip K. Dick and Ursula K. LeGuin, has managed to earn speculative fiction a place at the table with literary fiction. He is a widely admired writer, one who is lauded by both science fiction fan boys, queer theorists and authors such as Michael Cunningham and the recent Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz. (Cunningham's foray into speculative fiction, "Specimen Days," was partly influenced by Delany; and you can't get Diaz to shut up about the author!)

When Delany burst on the scene on the 1960s, he was the vanguard of Science Fiction 'New Wave' movement, and blasted a hole in the mostly white, male firmament of Science Fiction, fearlessly and controversially introducing themes of race and sexuality into the field. His early SF novels were decidedly literary, with poets and bohemians taking center stage, rather than the usual muscle-bound heroes and pontificating scientists. By the 70's, Delany was creating vibrant, experimental fiction as much influenced with French theorists as it was by social extrapolation. His short fiction described alternative sexualities, and his stream of conscious style stood up in a field crowded with pedestrian prose; he began to get the notice of the mainstream.

His 1975 novel Dhalgren, following an amnesiac poet in a time-shifting apocalyptic city, uneasily straddled the line between postmodern fiction and science fiction and was controversial for its exploration of sadomasochism and bisexuality. In the '80s, Delany used the tropes of the 'low' fantasy swords and sorcery genre to explore the development of culture, language, gender, and eventually, the AIDS epidemic. Other works include cerebral queer erotica, a couple of memoirs, and transgressive fiction that makes similar work by Dennis Cooper seem tame, along with a large body of nonfiction works of critical theory.

Delany has moved away from overt speculative fiction, writing historical and autobiographical fiction, and his latest novel, "Dark Reflections," belongs in that part of his oeuvre. The novel examines three episodes in the life of Arnold Hawley, an African American gay poet who lives in the East Village. The first section, 'The Prize' follows the aging Hawley when he wins a prestigious prize for his poetry. The fear of aging as a gay man, the marginalization of creative people and the politics of the literary world run through this section. 'Vashti In the Dark' explores Arnold's marriage to psychotic girl in the 1970's, before he comes to terms with his sexuality. This is the most active part of the novel, not full of self reflection. And 'The Book of Pictures' describes his first experience with a man during his college days, which affects both his creative and personal life.

"Dark Reflections" is a sad novel, an intense character sketch. Hawley is a likable character who never really comes to terms with sexuality, in spite of being around during the beginning of the gay liberation movement. Subtle racism plagues his literary career and he has a naiveté that stymies his reason. Sexual repression, the plight of the artist and East Village living are major strands throughout the book. Part of the joy of the novel is the way it mirrors Delany's own. Like Arnold, Delany married a young woman—but his relationship with his ex-wife was strong. Arnold never warms to the sexual experience, and his attempt at bathroom cruising ends up disastrously—a stark contrast to Delany's own sex life, chronicled in the memoir, "The Motion of Light In Water." In a way, it's a kind of parallel world memoir—of a young, hyper-literate gay African American who took a different path than the author. The prose, is as usual, quirky and poetic, a melding of cerebral and erotic and humorous imagery that is Delany's hallmark. Dark Reflections is a great introduction to this groundbreaking author's work.