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From: crm@duke.UUCP (Charlie Martin)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Samual Delany's Dahlgren
Message-ID: <6085@duke.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 10-Aug-85 12:00:26 EDT
Article-I.D.: duke.6085
Posted: Sat Aug 10 12:00:26 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 12-Aug-85 23:19:33 EDT
References: <124@nte-scg.UUCP> <16107@watmath.UUCP>
Reply-To: crm@duke.UUCP (Charlie Martin)
Distribution: net
Organization: Duke University
Lines: 35
Summary: 

In article <16107@watmath.UUCP> jagardner@watmath.UUCP (Jim Gardner) writes:
... abbreviated here ...
>
>Almost all of Delany's books have a protagonist or major character
>with disfigured hands.  Off the top of my head, this is true of Dhalgren,
>Triton, the first two Neveryon books (and possibly the third, I haven't
>read it yet), and Stars in My Pockets Like Grains of Sand.  I greatly
>suspect the same thing is true of Nova.
	Absolutely.  Prince Red not only has no (right I think) hand, but is
	actually neurologically damaged in a way that makes a conventional
	transplant impossible, so that he requires a prosthesis; this is 
	almost unknown in Prince's universe.

	(I've always wondered how Prince controlled his prosthesis, as I
	suspect from the book's description that Prince would not only
	not be able to control the hand directly (the associated part of
	his brain is missing) but that he would actually have trouble
	conceiving of the idea of using a right hand, just as my dyslexia
	makes it difficult for me to even understand that other people can't
	read mirror writing.  But that's another think entirely.)

>
>Don't ask me why.  Either Delany dislikes his hands, he knows someone
>with disfigured hands, or it's some literary
>allusion I don't understand.
	Here's my frivolous literary theory of the week (I'm trying to
	restrict myself until I a) finish the damn' novel or b) finish
	my damn' thesis): A deformity of the hands could symbolize
	powerlessness -- an inability to "handle" the world or some part of
	it.  That fits with Nova, at least.

-- 

			Charlie Martin
			(...mcnc!duke!crm)