50books_poc | 11) Tales of Neveryon (Reply)

Tales of Neveryon,by Samuel Delany is my second foray into the Neveryon series. It's the first book published, though I can't say it's the first chronologically. Chronology is fuzzy in Neveryon, which takes place in a civilization near the beginning of time. Such questions as the origins of money and commerce are explored, among many others.

The stories here are not as polished as some of the later stories, I felt, nor as delicately interconnected. They also tended to cover topics I am less interested in- I found the explorations of love and loss in The Bridge of Lost Desire incredibly powerful, and there is less romance here. But they are still beautiful stories.

The thinking about the ways that technology influences society in The Tale of Old Venn is fascinating. There is also a character plot, of growing up and of growing old, which is really rich and multi-layered, sad and hopeful at the same time. But embedded just beneath the surface is a sharp critique of the philosophical structures that have guided the Western World. First, Old Venn builds up a version of Mosaism and demolishes it. Then, she builds up a version of Marxism and demolishes it. Then she builds up a version of Freudianism and demolishes it. And by the end, I couldn't help thinking to myself, "Hell, Chip, are there any Jews you do like?"

But hell, the story works if I can suppress my most cynical impulses.

I didn't understand "The Tale of Small Sarg", and that fatal lack of understanding kept me from fully getting "The Tale of Dragons and Dreamers." But I loved "The Tale of Potters and Dragons" so, so much. The surprise revelation there probably should have been obvious, but it wasn't- and it illuminated all the other stories. The hidden structures of female power that Delany assembles are startling.