Re: Reading Phallos

Right now, Phallos is my favorite Delany novel(la). Just this past
week, on Wikipedia, a new article was posted on Phallos. A lot of it
is just plot synopsis, but toward the end, it has some interesting
things to say. It might be a good place to start a discussion, and it
has a link to S. Shaviro's article on the novella, which is also
thought-provoking. As an example of what Harold Bloom calls "wisdom"
writing, I think Phallos requires a slightly different approach to it
that does most ficition--although articulating what that difference is
is a little hard for me. I do it (automatically) when I read it, but
I'm not sure yet how to say exactly what it is I'm doing. Perhaps it
has something to do with reading the story as a more direct commentary
on my actual day to day life--my relationship with my lover of the
last seven years [I'm a gay man, though I've read at least two on-line
reviews where the reviewer has gone out of the way to say he's
straight and still finds the book both meaningful and moving--like
Shaviro], my goals at work, things of that sort--than I do with most
fiction. In general, because Delany writes so vividly, his stories
tend to stay with me. And he manages to convince me that what he's
talking about is important. That's quite a trick. I like living in his
head--even in works like Hogg, simply because of the clarity it
affords. (Though, yes, I like Phallos more than Hogg--which, I
suppose, I tend to respect, more than like, even when it turns me
on.)That's an overall response. What about responses to the various
sections of the story? I'd be curious to hear what parts talked most
directly to folks and why?

 





------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
See what's inside the new Yahoo! Groups email.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/si.u7A/bOaOAA/Zx0JAA/DtIolB/TM