When I first read Dhalgren, also by Delany, I was surprised to discover how much Gene Wolfe had cribbed for his Book of the New Sun.
Now, after finishing The Einstein Intersection, I am beginning to think that Wolfe might just be a Delaney impersonator.
Between the two books, Delany covers much of the same ground as Wolfe in the way that he examines, subverts, builds up and destroys our past and present mythologies, while simultaneously building his own. In The Einstein Intersection, Delany juxtaposes science fiction with fantasy and the myths of Orpheus and Eurydice with Elvis and the Beatles, and Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett, all set in a post-post apocalyptic setting in which a race of aliens with unstable genetic codes have usurped humanity's place on Earth. To describe the plot in any kind of cohesive detail would take a feat of mental gymnastics that I am unprepared for at this time, nor would the effort do the work justice. There is a ton of stuff crammed into this short 130 page novel.
To put it simply: it's a total mind-melter.
It's also poetic and beautiful, violent and nasty, and simultaneously mean and uplifting. There were more than a dozen times in which I put the book down just to think about a certain idea or phrase, and it is ultimately rewarding and thought-provoking. Also, like Dhalgren, I'll be thinking about this one a lot, and plan to re-read it in the near future.
