The most difficult book I've talked about on the channel: Hogg by Samuel R Delany 

“Iwouldn’t want to share a cup of tea with anyone who got aroused while reading it.” What a perfect blurb for the front of the book ha ha.

Was watching this in bed last night, my wife on her phone was listening, half way through the video she asked me “what are you watching?” I replied “It’s a review of a book I have just finished”, another 5 minutes or so pass and she asks me, “Why would you read a book like that?”. My response “He made me read it” 😊

I stayed the entire 25 minutes for a book review of a book that I knew I never wanted to read. Really, well done, Olly. Nice job. I Hope you read something fluffy and cute after it. - 📚MJ

I’ve been binge watching all your reviews for hours and adding so many to my TR list over the summer. Keep up the great content 🖤

Hello! I just wanted to thank you for all of your disturbing book reviews. I am pretty easily freaked out by a lot of the topics in these stories, but listening to you talk about them in a calm and honestly pretty soothing way has helped me a lot with my personal fears. Keep making great stuff!

I read this book in middle school 😢 Big mistake. My parents didn’t preview my books before I read them because I was well behaved and did well in school.

I mentioned this before, but this is such a thoughtful and measured review of an extremely difficult book. Great video!

Really excellent review Olly, fascinating. Definitely don't plan to read this but I really enjoyed listening to your thoughts

That was a very thoughtful and useful review, Olly -- thank you! I appreciate the way you acknowledge the process of "sitting with" a book after you're done with the actual reading. Of course there are books we love immediately, and books that make us wonder why we read them, much less why someone wrote them. But I think it's important to give a story time to settle in, to let our minds pick at it and figure out our relationship to the material, especially if it's something upsetting. Even if we decide we hate it, the process allows us to fulfill our part of the author/reader "contract."

I accidentally own five copies of Hogg. It's such a wacky situation to be in.

Thank you a great review Olly , you explained very well. It helps me along the way if I finish this book Hogg .

This is probably my favorite video of yours, very well-presented and thought out. I am also thankful that you put a small bit of reading stress to bed for me. Delany's "Dahlgren" is one of my absolute favorite novels, and I have been thinking about "Hogg" for a long time, wondering if I should read it because I love Delany's other work and because I am something of a completist when it comes to my favorite writers, or if I should leave it alone due to its subject matter. I think I'll skip it, based on this review.

Thank you Olly for taking one for the team when it comes to these disturbing books. I do hope you are taking breaks in between to read something a little more pleasant.

Your content is exceptional, Olly! Insightful as always. "Hogg" sounds more difficult than even Dennis Cooper, but based on the information that you provided about the author, I just might give this novel a try. It might be too much for me, but your review was very compelling and I'm a big fan of trangressive literature. Thanks for all the great videos!

Such a great review! I read this year's ago and went in blind. I barely made it through. It still makes me feel icky thinking about it.

hmmmm...I survived reading The Marquis when I was 12. Not sure this book would leave me unscathed at 70. Too busy trying to find a reason for not sticking my head in the oven as is.😱

I actually prefer hearing about peoples reactions more than the analysis. It's good to have both, but it's also something so personal the way we experience a book. I actually read very little horror nowadays, and haven't read really 'hard' horror like you do a lot, so listening to it is a good way for me without having to read (potentially triggering) books. :) thank yew

I felt your explanation was absolutely solid and I very much agreed for why this book would exist. Thank you for your time!

When I first started listening to this review I thought to myself 'Samuel R Delany' that name sounds familiar. Then I realised that I read some of his SF stuff from a speculative fiction class I did in University. I had no idea he'd written something like this. Kinda caught me off guard

What a fantastically detailed and informative review! There should very RU-vid awards!!

I think Delany is half white. it’s my understanding that he’s biracial not just African American, he’s also white American. And He did share that he was sexually assaulted at 6. He also supported the controversial group NAMBA. I do agree his experiences with Racism and colorism and navigating white gay society as a biracial man played a roll in the writing of the book. When you’re half white you don’t fit in completely with white society, and you’re not completely accepted in black communities either. Causing all kinds of identity and belonging issues. I’m a Black American ( 2 black parents) btw. I do worry that books like this could push boundaries for exploitation of children. Lowering the age of consent, child marriage, etc. unchecked Patriarchy is dangerous. Even if they are gay men, they still wield power and influence. This was great content. I had never heard of Hogg or Delany until you. Thank you 🙏🏾

I felt the same way with 100 days of sodom. Apparently its supposed to be a comedy but I took it very literally when I was in my 20's and was quite disgusted/horrified with it. When in fact it was written deliberately just to shock people with its vulgarity. I still loath it, regardless. And cannot scrub some of the lines out of my brain.

First video of yours alive seen, popped up in my feed. No desire to ever read this, not even out of curiosity, but really enjoyed your thoughts and moving on to binge your videos lol

thanks for this, it really gave me something to think about!

I am a huge Delaney fan (I think his book Dhlagren is likely to be seen as one of the great classics) but I could not read this. I tried, but I did not get far. Like you I really struggle to understand why he even wrote it.

A super, thoughtful reveiw. I think Samuel Delany is a fascinating man and you are probably very correct in saying that he was working through things in his writing of this book. Thank you for such an intelligent,rational, non exploitative review.

Kudos to you for writing such an objective and thoughtful review on such extraordinarily difficult subject matter. While I do enjoy books with disturbing or dark topics, I think this is certainly one that I will skip.

I still don't know if I'd actually read this book - again, the question is always "why would I subject myself to this?" But your video was very interesting and definitely gave me a different perspective on it.

Just started reading this. Challenging is the word! The only reason I've had for DNFing books in the past was due to them not piquing my interest, but the whole introduction to Hogg was turning my stomach. Wish me luck...

I just bought it, I'm curious as to weather I can finish it or not, so thank you for this.

My brother bought me a copy of Bertín Roueche’s Feral on your recommendation because he knows how much I like The Birds. Read it on a flight to New Hampshire this weekend. Great recommendation!

Among the other things Samuel R. Delany wrote were issues 202 and 203 of _Wonder Woman_ in 1972.

This is the kind of book that makes me wish you could sell "used" ebooks, that's the easiest way to get stuff like this but then you're stuck with it forever. I know my e-library is already deeply tainted, but I don't like adding more filth to it.

Interesting to listen to your take on the content. I hope the tea helped ☕️… I need to lie down having just watched your video 🥺

I read this once, and promptly gave away my copy 😅

The difference between gay sex and the rest of the book is that gay sex between two consenting adults isn’t violent. Books like this didn’t normalize it. I sincerely hope none of the rest of the book “becomes a little more normalized.” Violent rape, incest, and pedophilia should never be normalized. It has no place in this world. The author lived with a hellscape in his mind, each story a deep jagged scar. I can’t imagine the damage you do to yourselves reading these books. How can you heal from that?

Fascinating. No idea how looking for a Gene Wolfe audio book brought me to this video, but this was a genuinely interesting watch. The book is absolutely not for me, but I think you raise a lot of interesting points about the motivation. I think there is also a big disconnect between fiction/ fantasy and real life that many find impossible to surmount. This, coupled with the understandable revulsion many feel about extreme topics such as abuse, lead many to say something is bad and wrong because they don't like it and for it to happen in real life would be awful. This doesn't have to be the case. I believe the leading research and experts reiterate that fantasy and fiction do not have causation with real acts, but there is the inability for some to hear this and only to focus on correlation. Anyways, great video and thanks for discussing a book I would never want to read, but find fascinating.

Great review, great conclusion. Thanks

Great job. That took a lot of courage and strength of character.

21:31 You are the least pretentious RU-vidr I’ve seen. You’re very patient and humble. I really appreciate your thorough explanations. You’re brilliant at explaining things in a way that makes it simple for us, without patronising us. 😊

Thanks for reading this so I don't have to. I won't read this in the foreseeable future but I enjoyed hearing your thoughts about it. I also looked up other covers and some of them are certainly.... interesting

This is a book I've known only by reputation, and it's unlikely I'll ever try to steel myself to actually find it and read any of it. That said, Delany certainly has a secure position as one of the most esteemed science fiction writers of his generation, so I don't doubt his literary talent and seriousness. I was thinking during this discussion of the philosophy of aesthetics that developed in classical India, involving the concept of 'rasa', which in Sanskrit literally means 'flavor'. The 'rasa' of a work of art is the dominant emotional mood inspired in the witness by the work of art, there being at least eight such recognized moods, namely the erotic, the marvellous, the heroic, the wrathful, the sad, the mirthful, the odious, and the quiescent. A work of art was held to be successful insofar as it aroused at least one of these 'rasas' in the witness. According to these criteria, a work such as 'Hogg' could be held up as an artistic triumph merely by inspiring disgust in the reader, such an aim and reaction being recognized in this system as perfectly legitimate goals by an artist. Art was seen as fundamentally a field for the play of emotions rather than cerebral intellectual realization, and all human emotions were worthy attributes in an artist's palette.

Wow.... That was SO interesting.... I am definately gonna pick up that book 😍 Sound like an absolute nightmare to read..... Pheeew..... Thanks.... A LOT ❤️

I appreciate your videos because I’m interested in disturbing books in theory, but I have no desire to read them in reality. I have nightmares already, I don’t need to read something that’s gonna give me constant new ones.

Fascinating. I have no intention of reading Hogg but it’s existence conflicts somewhat with some views I have held for a long time. Firstly I am completely pro freedom of speech. People should be allowed to think and say whatever they believe even if the vast majority of people don’t like it. This is why I currently hate the modern trend to bar people with views different to your own. If you are unable to debate logically opposing views on any matter but to just say I am right and you aren’t and thus can’t speak shows you to be a weak intellectual coward. Secondly the natural consequence of believing in freedom of speech is an opposition to censorship. The opposition of freedom of speech and the piling on of censorship and propaganda are the first steps taken by the worst kind of totalitarian dictatorships. But maybe just maybe there is stuff that crosses a line (if such a line exists). That is why things like Hogg conflict me.

As an airport employee I recommend picking up a pulp, manga, or novella at a local comic book or regular bookstore for your carry on. Something light and easy to read while waiting for take-off. Not a big fan of airport bookshops, since they nothing but Crihton and King.

New sub here. I'm looking forward to many more of your very interesting reviews and introspection 💜

There are so many "Disturbing" daily events happening....the problem is... will these events be "Normalized" because we're so used to hearing about them ?

Unironically, this review makes me want to get a copy of this book ASAP 😂

Hogg is the only novel I have read that genuinely rattled my cage. And I consider myself a hardened reader. I'm not expecting a faithful adaptation to the big screen anytime soon or ever. 😂

I read “Wham, George Michael and me.” right after this book, it helped, a little. My mind still drifted back to Hogg

Wonderful review!

Fancy meeting you here! 🤘 Also wanted to let you know the algorithm recommended it to me so yay! It's working how it should (for once lol)

I love your thoughtful, measured reviews Olly. I read Hogg during a period exploring transgressive literature in my early 20s. My main reaction to it was simple disgust which says more about me at that time than it - I found 120 Days of Sodom mostly dull, for example. I see so much more to Hogg through your eyes, which is a mark of a truly successful piece of art criticism I think. I'm not going to reread it, but you've left me with a richer experience of it.

I learned so much from this video, thank you! :) COWS scars me to this day....I dropped the book off at the Goodwill after reading it because I felt weird having it in my house (Apologies to whatever unfortunate, unsuspecting soul picked that one up on their thrift run lol ) Looking forward to giving Story of the Eye a shot though!

I think you did a wonderful job dissecting a very difficult book to discuss. And one I don't think I can actually read.

Wow....The Twits is one of my all time favorites! Glad to hear it mentioned.

This is a fascinating discussion. I think you might have something about moving the line in people's minds. And it is a good point I wish more people understood. Why should people care if it is two consenting adults.

One thing about the book covers of Kindle editions of books is that no matter when you had purchased the book Amazon can change the cover entirely and you will have to look at a cover that is entirely different from what you remember purchasing. I remember purchasing the digital version of Stephen King's IT in 2014 or 2015, before the 2016 It Chapter 1 movie (Atrocious movie with some good scenes, but still atrocious IMO). The cover I had originally was an all white background over which, in addition to text there was a graphic which you knew represented something like a clown's face, but not obviously. It had a red circle in the center for what was supposed to be the clown's red nose , but could pass as a red balloon, and a symmetrical toothy red smile. I liked it because it was abstract enough to be interpreted as something else that isn't related to a clown's face. Then there was basic stylized text. When the movie had come out in 2016 shortly after that the cover was changed. Also white background, but now there was a clear face of the clown from the movie. I really hated how they just switched my kindle book cover to the movie tie in cover. It means that if the publisher of some book, or some other party had the power to make Amazon change the written contents of digital books they could do that too. I am assuming they probably do that already. Like imagine if either Stephen King, or some other persons decided to remove the most infamous and distasteful part from that book? They probably would. But I think its not right to do that.

Hi Olly, it was written in 1969 but not published until 1995 after some rewrites so even until recently (1995 is recent to me!) Delaney must have still thought it had important things to say, which I find very interesting. and the word you where looking for is coprophagia - which my spell checker refuses to acknowledge, big fat red line under it even though it is spelt correctly. Now THAT I find very interesting! It's almost as if by denying the word the act cannot exist.

Thanks for sharing. I won’t be reading it but it’s interesting to hear about without having to immerse yourself in it. On your random book from the shelf you mentioned ‘cursed film’ which immediately put me in mind of Marisha Pessl’s ‘cursed director’ book Night Film well worth a look if you have the time. Which I’m sure you don’t 😊.

11:29 Thank you so much for explaining- so eloquently- what transgressive literature is. I heard you reference it in another video and you’ve saved me having to Google. 😅

Thanks for your videos i feel so brave when i find a book we have both read lol

This is interesting Olly, of course I just cut out of your video to have a look at Samuel Delaney and he looks and sounds to be a really intelligent, thoughtful man. But I want to hear the rest of your take on this.

Excellent review, very interesting points and i will not be reading it! The cursed art book sounds interesting though, currently re-reading Ring and do enjoy occult investigation stories, The Exorcist has a bit of that in to I think

Very interesting review of it, not that I've read it, but based on the description you gave of the book's content, an example of context of the author's life completely recontextualizing their creation. Apparently reconteztualizing isnt a word. Woopsies

ive never heard of this book before, out of curiosity i went to read the plot of it and while reading i could hear my heart beating as i was in just so much horror, shock and utter disgust over how someone wrote and published this?! i think if the narrator was aged up to be 18 i wouldn't have felt as uncomfortable as i did when i was reading the plot, that said big thanks and props to you for reading it and making a review, ill steer clear of this one i think...

Thank you for reading and reviewing this book I will never read!

Just subbed. I won't read the book but I appreciate your review. What is the name of the book you mentioned at the end, the vampire one, please?

I read "Dhalgren" in the 1980s when I was in my late teens. It is, I believe, Delany's most commercially successful book. I am not sure how it came into my possession, but I still have the paperback. It concerns a wandering schizophrenic protagonist in a ravaged landscape who has random sexual encounters with various women and boys. Eventually he becomes leader of a gang that beats him up initially and has a triangular sexual relationship with a woman and a boy named Denny. It has been compared to Joyce. I cannot say the comparison is warranted but its plausible. I confess to having been turned off by the homoerotic pedophilic content which I had not encountered before. Despite my keen teen interest in sex, I found it very dull. I recall feeling kind of disgusted with myself for finishing it, as if I'd been tricked into wasting my time by a peep show. I recently read long short story by Delany called "The Star Pit" in a sci-fi collection. It was full of intriguing ideas and the writing was superior to some pulp I read with pleasure. It was not trash but not great. "Hogg" is apparently transgressive pornography. Pornography is evil but I find it alluring though ultimately repetitive and boring. Delany is brilliant and an imaginative and unique writer of fiction. Nevertheless, much of what he writes seems to be self-indulgent garbage. I won't read "Hogg". Even the best made pornography degrades its consumers, inflaming the worst in us and gradually depriving us of the joy in sexual relations with another person.

I was off RU-vid for a bit so I'm coming late to the party here, lol, but I just wanted to say I think you hit the nail on the head about the purpose of this book. Its literary merit lies in the fact that his purpose in writing it was to gain more mainstream acceptance for homosexuality and homosexual erotica in the pornographic "mainstream". He never shied away from erotic content, especially later in his career, and I think his resentment and anger (justified) was festering within him. This book was practically an act of sexual exorcism. It is disgusting, repetitive and filled with transgressive material, but I think it was like a boil he felt he had to lance. You put it perfectly. This is a book more people should be aware of, even if few of them read it. Thanks for devoting your time to it so some of us don't have to, lol. Also, if you like the whole "Cursed film" trope (moving on to your book from the shelves), "Experimental Film" by Gemma Files is a great supernatural detective story involving a lost, supposedly cursed film with a truly creepy folk horror bent. Love the channel!!

Thanks for this. I'll give Hogg and Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders another chance.

I think the first time I heard about Hogg was in a J.G. Ballard interview where he praised it. I get your read about closeted Delany using the novel to take a swing at cultural norms. It's also interesting that Delany was hiding within a cultural norm of being married (given, an open marriage) to a woman and had a baby daughter when the book was coming together in the 1970s.

Interesting video... I am not sure I want to read Hogg... I am really interested in reading Throat Sprockets, but so far I couldn't find a copy ...

I am not one of those people that corrects people especially over trivial spelling, pronunciations or periods of time especially if they are only off one or two or more years but I believe the book came out in 1994/1995 and not in 1969 which is considerably and specifically 25 years later than you mentioned which are totally different times and environments in America between 1969 and 1994/1995…But I have read Delany and Dhalgren and Babel-17 are my favorites…Never read this one and not sure I want too…I am not prudish in any way just it will take me being in the right mindset to digest a book with this content…Thank You for the video and keep up the good works 👍🏻

I haven't read the book, I had to take a peek about its contents. I'm a lawyer currently practicing Civil Rights Law in NYC however we are a nation turning more violent everyday. I do hold several degrees, one being in psychopathology and practiced a different law previously. I was never a defense lawyer, although those that are don't ever want to handle these cases. I think people read books of this nature to come to terms with evil. They know it exists, but does it really exist on this level? Is it really possible? What drives a person? Rape...how can there be ANY defense? Its not about sex. Rape is about power. This is the most primal example. Torture, bodily fluids and materials are unimaginable to the majority of people but it comes from a dark place in a person's psychological make-up. However it doesn't give the right to commit crimes as other live normal lives and come from heinous backgrounds. I love horror movies and horror books but not with children or animals being hurt or rape, or gratuitous sex. I want a scare but not to be traumatized, I am daily in reality.

I read Delaney’s absolutely fantastic science fiction books before (albeit VERY hesitantly) picking up Hogg and I couldn’t help but feel as if I was being transported into another world again, but one whose morals were the complete opposite of ours. I’m not sure if this was a coping mechanism on my part lol that was just how I processed it. The world of Hogg was THAT alien to me in terms of how nonchalantly depraved it is.

I had a senior seminar in college about Samuel Delaney and he was a very interesting guy! Babble 17 is great and there is no nasty bits in it.

Strictly speaking Erotica is a type of pornography which is grossly misunderstood in what it actually means, and is really more of an umbrella term. The Red Shoe Diaries and Young Throats are both pornography in the same way that Led Zeppelin and Infant Annihilator are both Heavy Metal.

i hope i will get my hands on a German audiobook version.. sounds like a must read to me XD.. Since i'm new to your channel..did u review "Les Chants de Maldoror" as well? Speaking of disturbing books..

Wow! I read all the Edge books as a teenager in Jr. High.

Went searching online for Throat Sprockets - only two copies in all the world to be found, both priced over $200. Makes me want to read it more! Too bad.

Yours was a well-reasoned, sound hypothesis about the author’s likely motivation. And thanks for the overview- I feel sufficiently cautioned to absorb the lesson without undergoing the ordeal of consuming the tale.

Made it to the end of your review! Phew! And I will never read this book! Thanks Olly for reading it for us! 😂 Carol

Excellent discussion of a difficult book. Delany has many other wonderful books for those that prefer not to go down that rabbit hole. Babel-17 is one I often recommend for people who enjoy reading but don’t generally read science fiction.

The actual quote was in response to the Judge being asked, 'Can you define pornography?' to which he replied, "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it."

I am Asher Farlow, I am a Transgressive author. This genre can be meld into pornography, erotica, horror, dystopia, adventure, many many things including grimdark. I am very careful about walking a thin lime between realism and extremism. I do not wish to shock people but to be as raw and real as possible depending on what the situation is I never hold back the content but the wording mustn't ever cross the line into absurdity or evil.

I’ve always been able to separate the art from the artist, could listen to a Micheal Jackson tune without thinking he’s a kiddy fiddler, which he probably was. I think that disconnect means I can just about read anything without being mortified. The key for me is does the story move, not where it goes particularly. Another great vid. A lot of sci fi writers have very dodgy pasts though..

Skip to @13:00 if you actually want to know what the book is about… bc geez

ah i think i suggested this in comments a while ago! lol. just started the video so im excited to see your thoughts :D

Really interesting Olly, thanks. As someone who has liked Delany's SF but has shied away from his full-on transgressive sexual books it's great to get such thoughtful insights. PS I accidentally pressed the down thumb a couple of times 😳

What a great review Olly. Not a book I'm interested in and would not want to read as there are so many other books on my TBR list. So little time so many books. Do I read disturbing books ... absolutely but I'm really picky and want great writing. I love speculative fiction but I don't want a book that is ALL shock for shocks sake. I am very open minded but know myself well enough that this book would not interest me. The subject matter does not interest me. Having said that I can't read harlequin romance novels either. Romance in general is not usually a genre I enjoy. Palinuik and Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian being in my top ten favorite books) are so well written and imho incredibly fascinating and beautifully written novels. Moshfegh and Tokarczuk are starting to fill my book shelves. I have tried to find a copy of Notice by H Lewis but have not as yet been successful. You did a great job with this review. Huge respect for you Olly. Books are meant to open our minds and explore new ways of thinking about things. Your channel gives us so many choices and helps do exactly that. Thanks for all the hard work you put into each video.

My friend Greg @Another Bibliophile Reads DNF'd it . . . Good God what a horrific book!

I couldn’t finish the second chapter. This book is really something else

Where does that line end, I wonder. Interesting topic.

It's been about a year since I started this one. It's not quite a DNF yet; more like an ETR (Endure This Read). I have to remember that it's meant to be countercultural.

Hi Olly, the word for Bataille's book is Neurotica, I think..

Hmmm, cant find it on audible for some reason...

I'm around 30% through Hogg on the kindle. It's beyond ridiculous so far. ..I've laughed out loud a few times. Its just sick.😫