Texts Featured:
Samuel Delany, “About 5,750 Words”
Samuel Delany, Trouble on Triton
Disclaimer: I include this blog post mainly to demonstrate the close reading technique of Samuel Delany, which demonstrates the distinctions between reading sf and reading regular fiction. In sf, even mundane phrases and words can challenge the mind with alternative images/interpretations. For those who enjoy reading sf, I strongly recommend Delany’s “About 5,750 Words” (referred to in blog post).
Close reading, Trouble on Triton pp. 135
“They pushed through into a cement stairwell. He protested once and got a shove for it; they hurried him up. The walls and steps and banisters were grimed to an extent for which neither youth on Mars nor maturity on Triton had prepared him.”
After rereading Delany’s “About 5,750 Words,” each sentence in this book has a certain type of value to me. I find myself reading sometimes word by word, like Delany’s “red sun, blue sun” example. In this way, I acknowledge that Delany chose each word specifically and that, with different words of the same meaning, the book might have a similar plot, but it just would not be the same. I like to imagine this sentence taken completely out of context from the book, because I think that even with no context of the culture or settings on Triton and Mars given to us earlier on, a reader could still come to understand multiple things from this sentence. If we start with the word “they,” then first of all we know that there is a person or possibly multiple people, and that they are not identified to the speaker (in this case, Bron). Let’s keep in mind that since this is a work of sf, there could be numerous possibilities as to how we can imagine this ‘they.’ For example, in regular fiction, we would most likely assume this is referring to a human, but in a work of sf such as this one, ‘they’ could refer to a robot or to a non-human form.With the next words, “pushed through,” at least to me, there is a sense that this “they” are moving quickly. Of course, with only this information, we could again assume a number of things in the context of sf. Yes, maybe they’re just pushing through a door, but they could also be pushing through radioactive plasma or a portal to a different dimension. Moving on to the next sentence: “He.” This “He” shows the reader two things out of context. One, that this story is told from a third person point of view, and two, that this person chasing after the “They” identifies as a man. Now, if we move on to the rest of the sentence: “[he] got a shove…” This particular detail shows the reader that the “They” in the lead are still arm’s reach from Bron, and that they are using force. The end of the sentence: “they hurried him up,” serves to confirm what I originally said; this person or people in front are moving swiftly. Moreover, to be in a “hurry” would require something that they are hurrying to, so this sentence shows us that these people are moving with a purpose- that there is somewhere that they need to be that will be revealed to us as the story moves on. This last sentence: “The walls and steps and banisters were grimed to an extent for which neither youth on Mars nor maturity on Triton had prepared him.” interests me the most, because I think this gives tons of information outside of the context. First of all, that the grime of the walls and steps and banisters is even noticed says two possible things: either that this person is incredibly observant and concerned with his surroundings, that the grime is so much that it is palpable, or both. We also come to understand from the comparison of the grime here and what his living on Mars and Triton prepared him for that Mars and Triton must be considerably cleaner than wherever we are now. This comparison also shows that we cannot possibly be on Mars or Triton now, so we must be on a different planet unknown to this man. Having read the sentences in this way, I again turn back to Delany’s “About 5,750 Words,” where he says “…when I write I often try to say several things at the same time.” I think these 3 sentences prove this point.
(Nov. 30, 2020)