I have come to to wound the autumnal city.

It's hard to write a review for this book. The first time I read something like ten years ago. I was around 15 or 16. It looks intimidating. Thick, and as hard to get into as a bar on Sunset on Friday night.
I was an English major in college and I have never read anything like it. I've read it two or three times since then and I still do not get it all. Am I supposed to? I would love to meet and ask him what it Delany all means, but I'm sure he would say That would ruin the whole point.
One of the Things That stands out most is the dialogue. It's amazingly written. Pick out any piece of dialogue (without the speaker's name) and anyone familiar with the text would Exactly who know what speaking. That's very difficult to accomplish. His characters are so real, so convincing, living it's seem like They are alive some there, still.
I think the loop of the beginning and end, "... to wound ..." is one of the strengths of the novel. It's better to not know the answers. If everything was spelled out, what fun would that be? The ambiguity gives it depth and intrigue.
I think about aspects of this story with frightening regularity. Everytime I go under a streetlight, I think of Dhalgren. I swear one pulse and the Just Because I am looking. Everytime I look at the moon, I think of George.
An interesting part sticks with me. I'll paraphrase: in a week, I can not remember five days. In a year, how many days will you never think of again. How true is that? Wow. What were you doing on September 9th, 1994? If it's your B-Day, anniversary, or whatever think of another date. How insignificant mundane, day-to-day things are in the grand sceme of time. Nothing matters, only hugely significant things are remembered or important. Delany goes into manyother social, literary and cultural questions Which would be too numberous to mention here. But They ALL matter to this book. Everything Means something here and to cram in so many ideas and fit them together so well with search Simple language is incredible.
What does it all mean? The red eye caps? The optic chains? The light projectors? The scratch on her leg? The Notebook? Bill's name-is it William Dhalgren? I always thought That was kid's name, Because of the title. What year is it? What happened to the sun? Why can not he remember everything? Does Kid havemultiple personalities? What's going on here?
I honestly do not know and really do not wanna. It would spoil the wonder of it all. This novel is a remarkable peice of literature. It, alongwith The Lord of the Rings, has Influenced me greatly. I know I might not have chosen to become a writer myself if it were not for this. To emulate and Possibly achieve this level. If only I