Sources

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A great deal of what I know about writing and criticism, particularly regarding speculative fiction, I learned from reading Delany, particularly The Jewel-Hinged Jaw.

But one of the things I learned from Delany (from the intro to The Motion of Light in Water, I think) is how fallible memory is.

So let me try that again:

A great deal of what I think I know about writing and criticism, particularly regarding sf, I "learned" from misunderstanding and/or misremembering Delany.

Some day I really ought to sit down and re-read The Jewel-Hinged Jaw in its entirety and find out what Delany really says in it.

I highly recommend reading the book (if you can find a copy; my copy remains the only one I've ever seen) even if my memory of what it says is flawed; it contains a lot of stuff Delany wrote in (I think) his late 20s and early to mid-30s, when he was feeling his way to critical stances and to his own ideas about this sf stuff. It seems to me that the late '60s and early to mid-'70s were in general a fertile period for developing new ideas about sf; I've read a fair bit of thoughtful nonfiction written by sf writers during that time. But Delany's stuff in this book is particularly interesting.

Or at least, that's how I remember it.

6 Responses to “Sources”

  1. Vardibidian

    Hmm. If you do re-read it, I’d be curious whether in addition to misunderstanding and misremembering, you just made stuff up and attributed it to Delaney. I do that (not to Delaney, but to random other people I like, Heschel or Stephen Fry).

    If only my memory came with footnotes. The ones with links to the original sources.

    Redintegro Iraq,
    -Vardibidian.

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  2. Karen

    I’ve got a copy too. I got it because I wanted to read what he said about Joanna Russ. He talks about her work in his essay on fantasy (particularly sword-and-sorcery) worlds as in transition between systems of barter and currency. Impressive stuff.

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  3. Jon

    I don’t own a copy, but I’ve read it twice, thanks to my local (at the time) libraries (plug, plug!).

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  4. SarahP

    Jed, I saw a copy at the Colony House in Oregon. Was that one yours? I’ve never seen it anywhere else, but will keep my eyes open now that you’ve recommended it.

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  5. Jed

    Yeah, I’d love to have hyperlinks in my memory.

    The book has a whole piece devoted to Russ, and to the Alyx stories in particular—reading part of that essay was one of the things that led me to Russ in the first place. I ought to read the whole essay now that I’ve read some Russ.

    Good point re libraries, Jon—and presumably people with less enlightened local libraries can order it via interlibrary loan.

    Sarah: Yup, that one was/is mine. I also brought along my copy of Le Guin’s Language of the Night, which I accidentally left behind. Sadness!

    This Delany book was also, btw, one of the sparks that led to our starting to hold story readings way back in high school.

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  6. Tempest

    Delany has a new book coming out about writing (and that’s even what it’s called… amazing) that has several essays from jewel-hinged jaw in it. Doesn’t have the essay devoted to Russ, AFAIK. I think it’s coming out sometime in the next year. It might even be interesting to read it and compare it to some of the essays not included from JHJ, just to see if Delany has majorly revised or refined some of his ideas and opinions over the years. Or, assuming such, to see which.

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