#AutumnalCity discussion

Discussion of pages 1-50

Help! My ancient copy fell apart and I only have the book on Kindle (very annoying as towards the end you can't tell Kindle errors from genuine Delany [sics].) So I don't know what's on p50. Can you give me a clue?

I've got an older Bantam copy with different pagination so I could also use some help with where the cut offs are. Thanks!

I'm curious, Emma: where'd you get a Kindle version?

I think you could use the top two lines on milestone pages from the Vintage edition as an index. Thus:

Page 1:"to wound the autumnal city. So howled out for the world to give him a name."

Page 10: "at the moon, loped until he had to walk, walked -- gasping -- until he could think. Then he ran some more."

Page 20: "drive up to the city a lot. Bellona used to be a pretty good town.' Tak glanced at a doorway too dark to see if it was open or shut. 'Maybe it"

Page 30: "As she took a shiny blade tip between two fingers, he was aware of his palm's suspension in its harness."

Page 40: "This time he found a rail. He could anticipate landings from the variations in Loufer's gait."

Page 50: "tightening on his chest. Think of her, it would be easy. (Tak's face pressed glass bits into his groin hair.) The insides of his lids were"

Does that help? I don't know if I want to do that for the entire book (it would be spoiler-riffic) but perhaps the above will allow you to calculate some rough proportions from which to gauge future progress in your own editions.

Thanks that will help. Bought it on Amazon...

??? (Looks into it for a bit.) Huh. Yet more reasons to be jealous of the UK. Not only do they have the remarkable SF Masterworks series, but that edition of Dhalgren is available on Kindle for UK readers. There's no electronic edition here in the States that I can find.

Sonia wrote: "I've got an older Bantam copy with different pagination so I could also use some help with where the cut offs are. Thanks!"

The Vintage edition is 801 pages, the Bantam 879, so while it may not track exactly, you would want to read 11 pages in the Bantam for every 10 people are reading in the Vintage.

I've seen the Kindle edition of this book. I wouldn't want to read the last massive chapter in the Kindle edition because the page breaks are all off. One of the things I liked about the last chapter is each reader will choose to follow the different segments of copy in the margins his or her own way. Things break down on the page in much the same way as the story falls apart and each reader will have a unique experience of that. The Kindle version pretty much forces you to experience it in one way.

How does the Kindle represent the multiple parallel pathways on the page? I can see that the text is fragmented but have no idea how it's going to read when I get there...

The Kindle version starts with the larger type on the page and then breaks to the smaller type section. The larger type starts the next page again and then back to the smaller type section. It just keeps alternating that way from one page to the next. In the Kindle version the different parts are separated by typeface and bold. If you're reading from the printed book, you can follow the main text over a few pages, then backtrack and read the smaller type section in its entirety. I hope this made sense.

I suspected that wouldn't go smoothly; I love my Kindle but was glad to already have this book in paper.

I have both the Kindle and the paper version to reference from. I'm enjoying so far. Just finished up to p. 55.

I just started the e-version tonight. I figure I'll read it until I get to the last chapter. This is the fourth time around for me. You can probably tell from my pic and profile, I like it a little. I can't tell you how good it felt to start reading it again. It's like going back to a familiar well-loved vacation spot. Sort of like coming home, but not as familiar as home, so it still has the original magic. I wasn't expecting that.

Yay! I made it through the first rung of the discussion. One of the things I like about this book is the language. Delany introduces us to a falling apart city, a main character who is indistinct. The Kid initially has no name and Tak gives him one that is pretty innocuous. On top of that, we enter the city and the first chapter with him having sex with a woman and end it with him having sex with a man. Delany uses language full of broken sentences and sentences divided with sections in parentheses to mirror what's happening. He leaves us as unbalanced as the Kid in his one sandaled foot. Yet there are also passages that are highly descriptive. We're introduced to the Scorpions and the orchids and a bunch of oddball characters.

It's hard to talk about the beginning of the book and not give away anything else. Who and where (and for that matter when) is the woman he is with at the beginning? The scratch on her leg is important, a recurring theme, but never gives us an answer. I think of her as the gatekeeper to Bellona, but not everyone has come in through her. Daphne-like, she becomes a tree - is this a permanent state?

We are introduced to the (currently nameless) hero's boyish face and hideous hands.

Glancing through I just noticed that the first instance of red eyes is the dog, Muriel. Odd. I don't think I'd noticed that before.

Nothing profound to contribute, just observations.