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Stories of Your Life and Others
What if men built a tower from Earth to Heaven-and broke through to Heaven's other side? What if we discovered that the fundamentals of mathematics were arbitrary and inconsistent? What if there were a science of naming things that calls life into being from inanimate matter? What if exposure to an alien language forever changed our perception of time? What if all the beliefs of fundamentalist Christianity were literally true, and the sight of sinners being swallowed into fiery pits were a routine event on city streets? These are the kinds of outrageous questions posed by the stories of Ted Chiang. Stories of your life . . . and others.
281 pages, ebook
First published July 5, 2002
15570 people are currently reading
154918 people want to read
About the author
Ted Chiang
113 books11.2k followersTed Chiang is an American science fiction writer. His Chinese name is Chiang Feng-nan. He graduated from Brown University with a Computer Science degree. He currently works as a technical writer in the software industry and resides in Bellevue, near Seattle, Washington. He is a graduate of the noted Clarion Writers Workshop (1989) and has been an instructor for it (2012, 2016). Chiang is also a frequent non-fiction contributor to the New Yorker, where he writes on topics related to computing such as artificial intelligence.
Chiang has published 18 short stories, to date, and most of them have won prestigious speculative fiction awards - including multiple Nebula Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, and British Science Fiction Association Awards, among others. His short story "Story of Your Life" was the basis of the film Arrival (2016). He has never written a novel but is one of the most decorated science fiction writers currently working.
Chiang's first eight stories are collected in "Stories of Your Life, and Others" and the next nine, in "Exhalation: Stories".
Chiang has published 18 short stories, to date, and most of them have won prestigious speculative fiction awards - including multiple Nebula Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, and British Science Fiction Association Awards, among others. His short story "Story of Your Life" was the basis of the film Arrival (2016). He has never written a novel but is one of the most decorated science fiction writers currently working.
Chiang's first eight stories are collected in "Stories of Your Life, and Others" and the next nine, in "Exhalation: Stories".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 15,214 reviews
August 24, 2025
“Reading is nothing; comprehension is everything”.
Sarah Richards
I read the title short story while away at a conference for technical writers. The quote above came from a presentation about transforming the Government Digital Service, but the issues of communication (context and audience) that are at the heart of this story are key to technical writing and had echoes in many of the presentations. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Ted Chiang is also a technical writer.
Note: This review is just the title story. I've reviewed the others in this collection HERE.
Same Old, Same Old? No
Aliens arrive. They are suitably weird-looking: radially symmetric, with seven eyes and seven limbs on a barrel-shaped body, topped by a puckered orifice, but with no face and no front and back. They seem keen to communicate via devices humans nickname looking glasses. The military take charge. Of course they do. That’s what always happens. Then things escalate...
But this is different. Linguist Dr Louise Banks tells, in linear fashion, how she and colleagues learned the alien languages. But that narrative is interspersed with non-chronological episodes from her daughter’s life.
The heptapods’ spoken and written languages are unrelated to each other, and the latter has strange properties that affect Louise’s consciousness, specifically her perception of time and free will. This shapes the telling and curious grammar of her daughter’s story, “I remember [past tense] what it’ll [future] be like to…” It is a Borgesian paradox.
Linguistic Relativity - Sapir-Whorf
The story is underpinned by the idea that the structure of a language can affect the cognition of those who use it: Linguistic Relativity.
Heptapod A (spoken) is relatively straightforward and uninteresting; it “sounded vaguely like that of a wet dog shaking the water out of its fur”.
But Heptapod B (written) is very different. It is a totally separate language: the symbols don’t relate to individual spoken words (logographic) or objects (picture writing), and there is no word order, in part because there are no words as such. Heptapod B has its own visual syntax (semasiographic), akin to mathematical equations, some sign languages, and the notation of music or dance.
It is written in a single smooth, sinuous, and rippling style that reflects the heptapods’ own physical movements. It’s also described as an Escheresque lattice and being like psychedelic posters. More significantly, it is not sequential. This seems to reflect the heptapods’ modes of thought and it certainly comes to affect Louise’s perception of the world and the way she tells the story of her daughter’s life.
China Mieville's sci-fi novel, Embassytown, also features aliens with a totally different sort of language to those known to humans. I reviewed it HERE.
Orwell takes the idea of linguistic relativity to an extreme with Newspeak making “thoughtcrime literally impossible”. See Nineteen Eighty Four, reviewed HERE.
Fermat’s Principle of Least Time
Fermat, Sapir-Whorf, free will, and Heptapod B are intricately connected. At times, I wondered if the linguistics and maths/physics was getting too esoteric, but it didn't quite jump the shark and it all wove together brilliantly.
The detail below is for reference, and is spoilered, because understanding this is what the story is about (on the page, though not on screen).
UPDATE re Film
A good film, but not a great one, imo, and it makes more sense if you've read the story first. It was released in November 2016: Arrival. I feared, from the trailers, there would be very little linguistics, physics, or philosophy, and that it would be mostly a standard CGI-heavy, alien-action movie, with the world at risk, and a Hollywood ending.
The soundtrack is slightly ethereal, but not distractingly so, and Heptapod B looks beautiful and equally ethereal. There were some new and heightened plot threads, which is OK when adapting for a different medium (a new, dramatic intervention, and more international geo-political stuff).
I liked the way it didn't shy away from some of the technicalities of the linguistics, but what was really odd was that Ian's position as a theoretical physicist made no sense, because he never explained, or even mentioned, the maths/physics stuff about perception of time that was key to it all (see spoiler re Fermat’s Principle of Least Time, above)!
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised, though people wanting standard Hollywood fare might be disappointed.
There's a really informative video about what changes were made for screen, and how those decisions were reached: here. It's 13 minutes, with captions if you can't listen.
Other Links
This is the title story of a collection that I reviewed HERE.
That collection includes a story with a non-linear, ideogramatic language, Understand, which I reviewed here.
Posts about the linguistic aspects on Language Log (one of the few sites where it’s worth reading comments):
1. Language is Messy (includes film trailer)
2. Language is Messy part 2, Arabic script
3. Alien Encounters
See also this interview about the linguistics in the film with Prof Betty Berner.
4. A novel featuring Arecibo and learning an alien language is Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow, which I reviewed HERE.
NY Review of Books on the book, the film, and the physics: here.
Other sic-fi books with a linguistic theme on this GR list.
Thoughts to Ponder
• If you could read a Borgesian Book of Ages that records every event, past and future, would you?
(Overview of JL Borges stories reviewed HERE.)
• We know we’re all going to die, but would you knowingly choose ? Except that knowing the future and having free will are mutually exclusive, which presumably means you have no choice in the matter.
• So, if you had a choice between knowing the future and having free will, which would you choose?
• “The rabbit is ready to eat.”
Who will be eating what? Context is all, and one interpretation excludes the equally valid other.
• “The only way to learn an unknown language is to interact with a native speaker… No alien could have learned human languages by monitoring our broadcasts.”
So is there any point in the Pioneer Plaque, illustrated at the top, or Carl Sagan’s Arecibo Message?
February 10, 2017
Update: Saturday the 12th, November 2016
I just watched the movie The Arrival and OMG it was amazing. :) :) :)
I cried. Like, a lot. I had chills and sat on the edge of my seat and I was totally engaged.
What's worse? The personal aspects of the movie just blew me away. And even worse? The mental ones were profound and beautiful and amazing. :) I AM SQUEEEING!!!!
Now here's the big question: Am I a fanboy because the movie only improved my appreciation of the original story? Or am I just blown away by the better presentation of the original story?
The mathematical implications in the original story and the way it described what was going on is not to be discounted at all, mind you. I loved what the text could do and did. But the movie got me on a whole different level and I was laughing and crying and it was soooo damn bittersweet and glorious all at the same time. I was MOVED. Jeeze. I'm amazed, even.
So? Best movie of the year? I think so. There were a lot of great ones out there, too, but this one took the cake. *shiver* :)
Old Review:
I can't believe that I took so long to check out this story collection.
In fact, I don't believe it. For one good reason: I read one of his short stories when it came out and hadn't remembered that I had until a few pages in. AND I remembered loving it! Golems! Names of God! MURDER. :) That was one hell of a pleasant surprise.
As for the rest, I admit to wanting to know the story that The Arrival is based on before I watched the movie this weekend. And here's the strange part: While I loved it, I loved all the other stories even more!
*shock*
Seriously, this man is a walking powerhouse of sharp-as-hell storytelling and erudition, all wrapped up in an utterly fascinating intensity and focus on singularly awesome issues. I'll skip discussion on the stories that didn't blow me away, but that still leaves almost all the stories in the book!
What do I mean? Okay, take Tower of Babylon. If having a world where the building of the tower wasn't hampered, where reaching the city of God at the top takes more than a full year of pilgrimage, where we're immersed in ancient Babylon is twisted with one singular difference, can you guess what that difference is? I laughed-out-loud after I discovered it. Just imagine the old joke of half glass full/empty when applied to engineers. The glass didn't meet design specifications. Oh my god.
Anyway. :) Then there was Understand, which made me think of Flowers for Algernon with a seriously different bent. Let's go ultimate intelligence with the focus on understanding the real nature of thought. Hell yeah. I mean, we didn't even need the techno-thriller aspects of this modern retelling or the fight between ultimate intelligences. Not really. But it was also fun as hell.
What about Stories of Your Life? The one that is tied to the new movie? It's about linguistics and the nature of similar concepts linking the ways we think about higher physics and the fact that we need to make that bridge before we could even speak to this alien intelligence. Or how our conception of time, of cause and effect, is completely useless inside their language. If we actually begin to understand it that heavy concept, how can that change our lives? It really is gorgeous.
Seventy-Two Letters: Golems as a great twist on artificial intelligence, featuring the problems of reproduction and natural selection as a linguistic issue, focusing on the Kabbalah as the key to unlock the power and creative force of God. And it's a great adventure, too! :)
Liking What You See: A Documentary: Oh goodness, this was a blast. It's all focused on the nature and the use and misuse of beauty with a major twist. What if we could block the paths in our brains that let us see and feel the effects of beauty? Purpose: To see people as they really are below the skin. No more pre-judging assholes as really great people because they're pretty. No more ignoring the uglies who might be great people. Level the playing field and judge people by their actions.
Great, huh? Well this documentary focuses on pilot schools and whole social movements for the treatment and the backlash of whole industries that want the slavery to continue. Really great thought-experiment, and beautifully written.
Cult of personality, indeed! How much of it is skin-deep?
Sorry. I got really excited about all this. :) I love it when I read really great books. :)
I just watched the movie The Arrival and OMG it was amazing. :) :) :)
I cried. Like, a lot. I had chills and sat on the edge of my seat and I was totally engaged.
What's worse? The personal aspects of the movie just blew me away. And even worse? The mental ones were profound and beautiful and amazing. :) I AM SQUEEEING!!!!
Now here's the big question: Am I a fanboy because the movie only improved my appreciation of the original story? Or am I just blown away by the better presentation of the original story?
The mathematical implications in the original story and the way it described what was going on is not to be discounted at all, mind you. I loved what the text could do and did. But the movie got me on a whole different level and I was laughing and crying and it was soooo damn bittersweet and glorious all at the same time. I was MOVED. Jeeze. I'm amazed, even.
So? Best movie of the year? I think so. There were a lot of great ones out there, too, but this one took the cake. *shiver* :)
Old Review:
I can't believe that I took so long to check out this story collection.
In fact, I don't believe it. For one good reason: I read one of his short stories when it came out and hadn't remembered that I had until a few pages in. AND I remembered loving it! Golems! Names of God! MURDER. :) That was one hell of a pleasant surprise.
As for the rest, I admit to wanting to know the story that The Arrival is based on before I watched the movie this weekend. And here's the strange part: While I loved it, I loved all the other stories even more!
*shock*
Seriously, this man is a walking powerhouse of sharp-as-hell storytelling and erudition, all wrapped up in an utterly fascinating intensity and focus on singularly awesome issues. I'll skip discussion on the stories that didn't blow me away, but that still leaves almost all the stories in the book!
What do I mean? Okay, take Tower of Babylon. If having a world where the building of the tower wasn't hampered, where reaching the city of God at the top takes more than a full year of pilgrimage, where we're immersed in ancient Babylon is twisted with one singular difference, can you guess what that difference is? I laughed-out-loud after I discovered it. Just imagine the old joke of half glass full/empty when applied to engineers. The glass didn't meet design specifications. Oh my god.
Anyway. :) Then there was Understand, which made me think of Flowers for Algernon with a seriously different bent. Let's go ultimate intelligence with the focus on understanding the real nature of thought. Hell yeah. I mean, we didn't even need the techno-thriller aspects of this modern retelling or the fight between ultimate intelligences. Not really. But it was also fun as hell.
What about Stories of Your Life? The one that is tied to the new movie? It's about linguistics and the nature of similar concepts linking the ways we think about higher physics and the fact that we need to make that bridge before we could even speak to this alien intelligence. Or how our conception of time, of cause and effect, is completely useless inside their language. If we actually begin to understand it that heavy concept, how can that change our lives? It really is gorgeous.
Seventy-Two Letters: Golems as a great twist on artificial intelligence, featuring the problems of reproduction and natural selection as a linguistic issue, focusing on the Kabbalah as the key to unlock the power and creative force of God. And it's a great adventure, too! :)
Liking What You See: A Documentary: Oh goodness, this was a blast. It's all focused on the nature and the use and misuse of beauty with a major twist. What if we could block the paths in our brains that let us see and feel the effects of beauty? Purpose: To see people as they really are below the skin. No more pre-judging assholes as really great people because they're pretty. No more ignoring the uglies who might be great people. Level the playing field and judge people by their actions.
Great, huh? Well this documentary focuses on pilot schools and whole social movements for the treatment and the backlash of whole industries that want the slavery to continue. Really great thought-experiment, and beautifully written.
Cult of personality, indeed! How much of it is skin-deep?
Sorry. I got really excited about all this. :) I love it when I read really great books. :)
December 14, 2018
The greatest living short story writer in my humble opinion.
April 24, 2017
3.5* for the 4 stories I read
I am not the number 1 expert or fan of short stories so please take my review with a grain of salt. This is the first SF anthology that I read so I am basically a newbie in this genre. I will review 2-3 stories at the time as I am going through other books at the same time and I would not want to forget what I read.
Tower of Babylon 2.5*
As synopsis the story is about people in the Old Testament reality which are building a tower to heaven and a surprise waits when they get there. The question behind this strange subject could be: How far should people go in the pursuit for knowledge?
"Perhaps men were not meant to live in such a place. If their own natures restrained them from approaching heaven too closely, then men should remain on the earth."
Understand 4*
A guy left with brain damage from an accident is treated with an experimental drug in order to regain his normal functions. The results are far better than expected. This story reminded me of Flowers for Algernon, a book I recommend to anyone. The main question here is again about knowledge. I one would get infinite knowledge what it should do with it? The story is very sciency and dense.
Division by Zero 3.5*
A genius mathematician discovers that she can prove that 1=2 and realizes that all she knew about mathematics will never be the same.
Story of Your Life 4*
This one was the best of the 4 stories I read, the inspiration for the Arrival movie.
Although I liked the stories I read, I wasn't to impressed. I lost the interest to continue with the other stories so I decided to give it up. I might come back to the remaining stories some other time but I doubt it.
***
I just saw The Arrival which is based on Stories of Your Life story. It was amazing! You should go see it! Now I need to read the whole collection.
I am not the number 1 expert or fan of short stories so please take my review with a grain of salt. This is the first SF anthology that I read so I am basically a newbie in this genre. I will review 2-3 stories at the time as I am going through other books at the same time and I would not want to forget what I read.
Tower of Babylon 2.5*
As synopsis the story is about people in the Old Testament reality which are building a tower to heaven and a surprise waits when they get there. The question behind this strange subject could be: How far should people go in the pursuit for knowledge?
"Perhaps men were not meant to live in such a place. If their own natures restrained them from approaching heaven too closely, then men should remain on the earth."
Understand 4*
A guy left with brain damage from an accident is treated with an experimental drug in order to regain his normal functions. The results are far better than expected. This story reminded me of Flowers for Algernon, a book I recommend to anyone. The main question here is again about knowledge. I one would get infinite knowledge what it should do with it? The story is very sciency and dense.
Division by Zero 3.5*
A genius mathematician discovers that she can prove that 1=2 and realizes that all she knew about mathematics will never be the same.
Story of Your Life 4*
This one was the best of the 4 stories I read, the inspiration for the Arrival movie.
Although I liked the stories I read, I wasn't to impressed. I lost the interest to continue with the other stories so I decided to give it up. I might come back to the remaining stories some other time but I doubt it.
***
I just saw The Arrival which is based on Stories of Your Life story. It was amazing! You should go see it! Now I need to read the whole collection.
May 1, 2018
I don't read very many short stories collection but after this one I feel like I now need to.
This one contains the most mind bending and original sci-fi stories I've read in a while.
My favorite what the last one!
This one contains the most mind bending and original sci-fi stories I've read in a while.
My favorite what the last one!
August 1, 2022
Ted Chiang asks brilliant questions, of this there is no doubt.
What if someone developed an undeniable proof that demonstrated that mathematics is unreliable? That everything we thought about geometry and physics was built on an inconsistent structure? What would that do to a brilliant, mathematical mind?
What if science developed the ability to create ‘beauty blindness’? What if society were given the ability to turn on and off the ability to perceive physical attractiveness in others?
What if the Tower of Babylon was real? What would it be like to make the ascent? And what would mankind find when they reached the vault of heaven?
What if a pharmaceutical treatment expanded intelligence to the maximum limit of the brain? What if it allowed full self-awareness, true enlightenment?
What if evidence of Heaven and angels were regularly physically manifested on Earth? What if the existence of God was undeniable?
I find this review maddening. Once again, I find myself up against the inadequacy of my own ability to control my expectations. This collection of short stories is full of Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. Reviews on the cover and inside of the book include phrases such as, “most anticipated short story collection of it’s generation”, “best and smartest writers working today”, and “explode into your awareness with shocking, devastating force.” So, forgive me if I went into this one with the highest of expectations. In some ways, the collection succeeds, but overall, I couldn’t help but be disappointed.
Again, Chiang’s ability to ask massive, thought provoking questions is clear-cut. His intelligence shines through his story, despite his unpretentious, straightforward prose. He discusses mathematics, linguistics, and physics with an ease that only one with a robust grasp can achieve. I adored some of the stories. “Liking What You See: A Documentary” is a fascinating exploration of human’s bias of beauty. The documentary format allows Chiang to explore it from every angle, like examining an idea through the many facets of a diamond. “Story of Your Life” is a brilliant tale of a language expert attempting to understand and translate alien communication. The aliens have an astonishingly different perception of reality that impacts the main character in profound ways. The story is also interspersed with a very tender and human backstory (sort of) of said main character. So, without my absurd expectations, these two stories alone might have carried the collection. However, the rest of the stories honestly disappointed me.
While I believe a great writer asks more questions than they answer, I think it’s not enough to ask the big questions. I want an exceptional story to also provide some insights, whether they are explicit or implicit. “Tower of Babylon”” and “Hell is the Absence of God” dances around the implication of a verifiable God, but never really reach a conclusion. I found the ending of “Hell is the Absence of God” to be cold and disappointing (maybe that’s the point?). With “Seventy-Two Letters,” I kept waiting for a punchline that never came. “The Evolution of Human Sciences” read more to me like the author’s notes of a story, waiting to be written. “Understand” was smartly written, but I felt the ending was telegraphed and anti-climactic.
In summary, an excellent collection of short speculative fiction stories that I found to be intriguing but in total did not live up to my (somewhat irrational) expectations of a near perfect collection.
What if someone developed an undeniable proof that demonstrated that mathematics is unreliable? That everything we thought about geometry and physics was built on an inconsistent structure? What would that do to a brilliant, mathematical mind?
What if science developed the ability to create ‘beauty blindness’? What if society were given the ability to turn on and off the ability to perceive physical attractiveness in others?
What if the Tower of Babylon was real? What would it be like to make the ascent? And what would mankind find when they reached the vault of heaven?
What if a pharmaceutical treatment expanded intelligence to the maximum limit of the brain? What if it allowed full self-awareness, true enlightenment?
What if evidence of Heaven and angels were regularly physically manifested on Earth? What if the existence of God was undeniable?
I find this review maddening. Once again, I find myself up against the inadequacy of my own ability to control my expectations. This collection of short stories is full of Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. Reviews on the cover and inside of the book include phrases such as, “most anticipated short story collection of it’s generation”, “best and smartest writers working today”, and “explode into your awareness with shocking, devastating force.” So, forgive me if I went into this one with the highest of expectations. In some ways, the collection succeeds, but overall, I couldn’t help but be disappointed.
Again, Chiang’s ability to ask massive, thought provoking questions is clear-cut. His intelligence shines through his story, despite his unpretentious, straightforward prose. He discusses mathematics, linguistics, and physics with an ease that only one with a robust grasp can achieve. I adored some of the stories. “Liking What You See: A Documentary” is a fascinating exploration of human’s bias of beauty. The documentary format allows Chiang to explore it from every angle, like examining an idea through the many facets of a diamond. “Story of Your Life” is a brilliant tale of a language expert attempting to understand and translate alien communication. The aliens have an astonishingly different perception of reality that impacts the main character in profound ways. The story is also interspersed with a very tender and human backstory (sort of) of said main character. So, without my absurd expectations, these two stories alone might have carried the collection. However, the rest of the stories honestly disappointed me.
While I believe a great writer asks more questions than they answer, I think it’s not enough to ask the big questions. I want an exceptional story to also provide some insights, whether they are explicit or implicit. “Tower of Babylon”” and “Hell is the Absence of God” dances around the implication of a verifiable God, but never really reach a conclusion. I found the ending of “Hell is the Absence of God” to be cold and disappointing (maybe that’s the point?). With “Seventy-Two Letters,” I kept waiting for a punchline that never came. “The Evolution of Human Sciences” read more to me like the author’s notes of a story, waiting to be written. “Understand” was smartly written, but I felt the ending was telegraphed and anti-climactic.
In summary, an excellent collection of short speculative fiction stories that I found to be intriguing but in total did not live up to my (somewhat irrational) expectations of a near perfect collection.
April 3, 2024
3.5 stars
I don’t often read science fiction, and when I do, those I’ve chosen in the past are more appropriately labeled as speculative fiction. Stories that take place right here on our planet, without an alien being in sight. Or, if they do happen to occur in other worlds, what is being examined is not so much the ‘aliens’ themselves, but the nature of our own humanity in comparison to these other beings. These are the best kinds of stories, and I’ve found some of my very favorites in this genre. Having once read a short story by Ted Chiang in the past and finding it quite brilliant, I was game for giving this collection a go. What I discovered was that Chiang has an inquisitive mind and a love for math and science which I thoroughly admire! He makes you think and expand your mind to the point you will need to sit and ponder each story for quite some time before moving on to the next. Like an all-you-can eat buffet. You want to take it all in, but if you go too quickly, you will be overwhelmed by your overindulgence. Each story is so unique. Because I had very different reactions to each one, I'll share some thoughts on each one individually.
"Tower of Babylon" (5 stars): Based on the Old Testament story, but with a fresh angle, this one transcends any time period. Men try to reach the vault of heaven in order to better understand the secrets and mysteries of God. The world building in this one was my favorite – so visual and rich in detail, especially for a short story. What happens when you break through the floor of heaven? I loved how this one ended. "Perhaps men were not meant to live in such a place. If their own natures restrained them from approaching heaven too closely, then men should remain on the earth."
"Understand" (2.5 stars): After suffering from a traumatic brain injury, a man is given hormone K therapy to regenerate the damaged neurons. As a result, the man’s intelligence is enhanced exponentially. What does he do with this new gift, and how does it isolate him from others? I liked the concept of this one better than the actual execution. One of my favorite books ever, Flowers for Algernon, handles this idea with the added benefit of a pulling-at-the-heartstrings kind of emotional draw that I’ll never forget. Here, the constraints of the short story just don’t allow it to achieve that greatness. "I’m reminded of the Confucian concept of ren: inadequately conveyed by ‘benevolence,’ that quality which is quintessentially human, which can only be cultivated through interaction with others, and which a solitary person cannot manifest."
"Division by Zero" (4 stars): 1 ≠ 2. What if you could prove otherwise? What if you could prove that all numbers are equal to one another?! A gifted mathematician grapples with a mathematical proof in conjunction with her ideas of love and marriage. If all that we believed about mathematics is proved false, then order no longer exists and chaos rules. This brought me back to my lonely days sitting in a math library pulling out obscure books in order to prove some confounding theorem. "She, like many, had always thought that mathematics did not derive its meaning from the universe, but rather imposed some meaning onto the universe."
"Story of Your Life" (5 stars): This story contains more elements of what we naturally consider when we hear the term ‘science fiction.’ Aliens visit Earth, and teams of linguists and physicists, among others, are formed to communicate and learn from these so-called heptapods. This is the stuff that really intrigues me. So much of our own communication among humans is not conveyed properly, misunderstandings abound, and cultures and countries are always in discord with one another. How the hell are we supposed to ever truly understand an alien race should we ever make contact with one? The concept of time is brilliantly explored. Louise, the linguist, discovers more than she could ever imagine after breaking down some of the boundaries between these beings and our own species. A twist on time left me stunned. "I know how this story ends; I think about it a lot. I also think a lot about how it began, just a few years ago, when ships appeared in orbit and artifacts appeared in meadows."
"Seventy-Two Letters" (2 stars): This story just tried to do a bit too much. It could have been made into two individual stories and been more impactful, perhaps. Victorian England automata combined with golems, ideas on preformation as a means of continuing the human species, and the practice of eugenics. Some of the ideas reminded me of certain tyrannical leaders of the past and present. Scary stuff indeed. "By exercising some judgment when choosing who may bear children or not, our government could preserve the nation’s racial stock."
"The Evolution of Human Science": (1 star): A very brief story examining hermeneutics and the idea of metahumans. I think I fell asleep reading this one. Only this caught my attention: "… what is the role of human scientists in an age when the frontiers of scientific inquiry have moved beyond the comprehension of humans?"
"Hell is the Absence of God": (4 stars): I wasn’t sure where this one was going initially, but once it clicked, I was delighted. Angels visit earth on a regular basis, inflicting pain on some and dispensing miracles to others. A thought-provoking insight into heaven and hell and the randomness of catastrophes, death, and the saving of souls. Believers beware! "… he’s always assumed his destination was Hell, and he accepted that. That was the way of things, and Hell, after all, was not physically worse than the mortal plane."
"Liking What You See: A Documentary" (3 stars): If you could essentially turn off your capacity to see physical attractiveness, would you do so? That’s what calliagnosia can do for you. And vice versa – would it be better if others couldn’t see you based on your ‘beauty’ or lack thereof? One would see past the surface and into the depths of a person instead, eliminating discrimination based on looks alone. The idea was fascinating, but the style of this as a series of little interviews didn’t quite appeal to me as a straightforward narrative might. "When you see a smile that’s genuine, you’ll see beauty. When you see an act of courage or generosity, you’ll see beauty. Most of all, when you look at someone you love, you’ll see beauty."
Ted Chiang is clearly an ‘ideas’ kind of writer. And those ideas are rather genius! Being a certain kind of reader, I found the emotionally charged language and dialogue I so love to be lacking in most of the stories. If you put characterization at the top of your list, you may be disappointed because that is not what Chiang is after here. He excels at challenging your mind to stretch itself farther than you could possibly imagine from a set of little stories. For that reason, I will most definitely read his work again.
I don’t often read science fiction, and when I do, those I’ve chosen in the past are more appropriately labeled as speculative fiction. Stories that take place right here on our planet, without an alien being in sight. Or, if they do happen to occur in other worlds, what is being examined is not so much the ‘aliens’ themselves, but the nature of our own humanity in comparison to these other beings. These are the best kinds of stories, and I’ve found some of my very favorites in this genre. Having once read a short story by Ted Chiang in the past and finding it quite brilliant, I was game for giving this collection a go. What I discovered was that Chiang has an inquisitive mind and a love for math and science which I thoroughly admire! He makes you think and expand your mind to the point you will need to sit and ponder each story for quite some time before moving on to the next. Like an all-you-can eat buffet. You want to take it all in, but if you go too quickly, you will be overwhelmed by your overindulgence. Each story is so unique. Because I had very different reactions to each one, I'll share some thoughts on each one individually.
"Tower of Babylon" (5 stars): Based on the Old Testament story, but with a fresh angle, this one transcends any time period. Men try to reach the vault of heaven in order to better understand the secrets and mysteries of God. The world building in this one was my favorite – so visual and rich in detail, especially for a short story. What happens when you break through the floor of heaven? I loved how this one ended. "Perhaps men were not meant to live in such a place. If their own natures restrained them from approaching heaven too closely, then men should remain on the earth."
"Understand" (2.5 stars): After suffering from a traumatic brain injury, a man is given hormone K therapy to regenerate the damaged neurons. As a result, the man’s intelligence is enhanced exponentially. What does he do with this new gift, and how does it isolate him from others? I liked the concept of this one better than the actual execution. One of my favorite books ever, Flowers for Algernon, handles this idea with the added benefit of a pulling-at-the-heartstrings kind of emotional draw that I’ll never forget. Here, the constraints of the short story just don’t allow it to achieve that greatness. "I’m reminded of the Confucian concept of ren: inadequately conveyed by ‘benevolence,’ that quality which is quintessentially human, which can only be cultivated through interaction with others, and which a solitary person cannot manifest."
"Division by Zero" (4 stars): 1 ≠ 2. What if you could prove otherwise? What if you could prove that all numbers are equal to one another?! A gifted mathematician grapples with a mathematical proof in conjunction with her ideas of love and marriage. If all that we believed about mathematics is proved false, then order no longer exists and chaos rules. This brought me back to my lonely days sitting in a math library pulling out obscure books in order to prove some confounding theorem. "She, like many, had always thought that mathematics did not derive its meaning from the universe, but rather imposed some meaning onto the universe."
"Story of Your Life" (5 stars): This story contains more elements of what we naturally consider when we hear the term ‘science fiction.’ Aliens visit Earth, and teams of linguists and physicists, among others, are formed to communicate and learn from these so-called heptapods. This is the stuff that really intrigues me. So much of our own communication among humans is not conveyed properly, misunderstandings abound, and cultures and countries are always in discord with one another. How the hell are we supposed to ever truly understand an alien race should we ever make contact with one? The concept of time is brilliantly explored. Louise, the linguist, discovers more than she could ever imagine after breaking down some of the boundaries between these beings and our own species. A twist on time left me stunned. "I know how this story ends; I think about it a lot. I also think a lot about how it began, just a few years ago, when ships appeared in orbit and artifacts appeared in meadows."
"Seventy-Two Letters" (2 stars): This story just tried to do a bit too much. It could have been made into two individual stories and been more impactful, perhaps. Victorian England automata combined with golems, ideas on preformation as a means of continuing the human species, and the practice of eugenics. Some of the ideas reminded me of certain tyrannical leaders of the past and present. Scary stuff indeed. "By exercising some judgment when choosing who may bear children or not, our government could preserve the nation’s racial stock."
"The Evolution of Human Science": (1 star): A very brief story examining hermeneutics and the idea of metahumans. I think I fell asleep reading this one. Only this caught my attention: "… what is the role of human scientists in an age when the frontiers of scientific inquiry have moved beyond the comprehension of humans?"
"Hell is the Absence of God": (4 stars): I wasn’t sure where this one was going initially, but once it clicked, I was delighted. Angels visit earth on a regular basis, inflicting pain on some and dispensing miracles to others. A thought-provoking insight into heaven and hell and the randomness of catastrophes, death, and the saving of souls. Believers beware! "… he’s always assumed his destination was Hell, and he accepted that. That was the way of things, and Hell, after all, was not physically worse than the mortal plane."
"Liking What You See: A Documentary" (3 stars): If you could essentially turn off your capacity to see physical attractiveness, would you do so? That’s what calliagnosia can do for you. And vice versa – would it be better if others couldn’t see you based on your ‘beauty’ or lack thereof? One would see past the surface and into the depths of a person instead, eliminating discrimination based on looks alone. The idea was fascinating, but the style of this as a series of little interviews didn’t quite appeal to me as a straightforward narrative might. "When you see a smile that’s genuine, you’ll see beauty. When you see an act of courage or generosity, you’ll see beauty. Most of all, when you look at someone you love, you’ll see beauty."
Ted Chiang is clearly an ‘ideas’ kind of writer. And those ideas are rather genius! Being a certain kind of reader, I found the emotionally charged language and dialogue I so love to be lacking in most of the stories. If you put characterization at the top of your list, you may be disappointed because that is not what Chiang is after here. He excels at challenging your mind to stretch itself farther than you could possibly imagine from a set of little stories. For that reason, I will most definitely read his work again.
August 29, 2021
Como su otro libro de relatos, “Exhalación”, libro que me gustó algo más que este, “La historia de tu vida” es un heterogéneo conjunto de textos con resultados dispares. Aunque hay belleza en algunos de los cuentos, su fuerte vuelven a ser las ideas que sugiere, el debate que plantea en cada uno de estos ensayos “relatizados”, especulaciones que, no hay duda, son presentadas de una forma muy atractiva.
El hecho de que en conjunto me hayan gustado menos se debe en buena parte a que algunos de ellos pecan de un excesivo desarrollo de la idea, de una profusión de detalles que no aportan nada a lo realmente importante, lo que esa idea implica para nosotros, lo que dice de nosotros o del sito al que nos dirigimos de tomar tal o cual camino. Entre estos está Comprende (¿qué seríamos de aumentar nuestro nivel de inteligencia?) o Sesenta y dos letras (el que menos me gustó de todos).
También estaría entre estos La historia de tu vida, relato que, aunque se me hizo algo pesado todo el pródigo análisis del lenguaje de los extraterrestres y me pareció inverosímil la falta de curiosidad que se les atribuye, disfruté bastante. A pesar de todo, como digo, me encantó la forma del relato, como une en un mismo plano pasado y presente, me interesó todo lo relacionado con la forma en la que nos determina el lenguaje, hasta me pareció meritorio el intento de solución de la paradoja que aparece en una situación en la que, teniendo libre albedrío, se conoce el futuro de antemano, lo que no quiere decir que me fuera satisfactoria.
La torre de Babilonia, es uno de los relatos más bellos y más interesante del libro, bien desarrollado y maravillosamente culminado (un final digno del universo Escher). La insaciable curiosidad humana, nuestra casi infinita capacidad de adaptación al medio, hasta se puede interpretar todo el relato como una metáfora de la imposibilidad de escapar de ciertas cosas, la realidad o nosotros mismos, por más que lo intentemos, aquí estamos y así somos.
Dividido entre cero. Me gustó su estilo, menos el tema y no acabé de entender el desenlace. Quizás el problema con el tema es que se centra en las matemáticas, alguien que descubre que no son el mundo tan perfecto y ordenado que creía y sin cuya condición se ve incapaz de vivir, y me cuesta pensar que este descubrimiento sea tan determinante.
La evolución de la ciencia humana ni siquiera puede considerarse como relato, en él, y en muy pocas páginas, se presenta el problema que supone la frontera del conocimiento, comprensible ya para muy pocas inteligencias, y cómo tal situación se puede complicar muchísimo en el momento en el que se consigan inteligencias artificiales más potentes que lleguen a conclusiones totalmente incomprensibles para nosotros.
El infierno es la ausencia de dios es otro de mis favoritos. ¿Cómo reaccionaríamos si Dios se manifestase de forma indudable?, ¿si se descubriera que el infierno no es tan malo, que es muy parecido a seguir vivos?, ¿si se supiera a ciencia cierta que nuestros seres queridos ya están en ese infierno?, ¿si se descubriera que Dios es en gran parte caprichoso a la hora de enviarnos al cielo o al infierno? Un conocimiento que resalta aún más una idea que es para mí incomprensible, incluso si se tratara del dios cristiano, justo y bueno (me refiero al del nuevo testamento, naturalmente, el del antiguo testamento sería más parecido al del relato): el amor incondicional hacia él, algo que parece ponderar mucho el autor.
Por último, ¿Te gusta lo que ves? es un relato interesantísimo en el debate que plantea. ¿Sería deseable que el aspecto físico de los demás no nos influyera, que el nuestro no influyera en los demás? Psicológicamente está más que demostrado que la belleza física nos predispone en favor del individuo en no pocas circunstancias, ¿sería bueno eliminar esta discriminación? Como en otros de sus relatos, mi opinión difiere de la del autor que, a pesar de que ha tratado de ser justo a la hora de presentar los pros y los contras de tal situación, se le ve claramente el plumero (y después lo confiesa abiertamente en los comentarios a los relatos que hay en las últimas páginas del libro). Por ello, me parece loable la inclusión del comentario que atribuye a un profesor de estudios religiosos:
Y es del todo incierto que defienda esta postura, como he escuchado por ahí, solo porque soy muy guapo, pensaría igual aunque fuera feo.
El hecho de que en conjunto me hayan gustado menos se debe en buena parte a que algunos de ellos pecan de un excesivo desarrollo de la idea, de una profusión de detalles que no aportan nada a lo realmente importante, lo que esa idea implica para nosotros, lo que dice de nosotros o del sito al que nos dirigimos de tomar tal o cual camino. Entre estos está Comprende (¿qué seríamos de aumentar nuestro nivel de inteligencia?) o Sesenta y dos letras (el que menos me gustó de todos).
También estaría entre estos La historia de tu vida, relato que, aunque se me hizo algo pesado todo el pródigo análisis del lenguaje de los extraterrestres y me pareció inverosímil la falta de curiosidad que se les atribuye, disfruté bastante. A pesar de todo, como digo, me encantó la forma del relato, como une en un mismo plano pasado y presente, me interesó todo lo relacionado con la forma en la que nos determina el lenguaje, hasta me pareció meritorio el intento de solución de la paradoja que aparece en una situación en la que, teniendo libre albedrío, se conoce el futuro de antemano, lo que no quiere decir que me fuera satisfactoria.
La torre de Babilonia, es uno de los relatos más bellos y más interesante del libro, bien desarrollado y maravillosamente culminado (un final digno del universo Escher). La insaciable curiosidad humana, nuestra casi infinita capacidad de adaptación al medio, hasta se puede interpretar todo el relato como una metáfora de la imposibilidad de escapar de ciertas cosas, la realidad o nosotros mismos, por más que lo intentemos, aquí estamos y así somos.
Dividido entre cero. Me gustó su estilo, menos el tema y no acabé de entender el desenlace. Quizás el problema con el tema es que se centra en las matemáticas, alguien que descubre que no son el mundo tan perfecto y ordenado que creía y sin cuya condición se ve incapaz de vivir, y me cuesta pensar que este descubrimiento sea tan determinante.
La evolución de la ciencia humana ni siquiera puede considerarse como relato, en él, y en muy pocas páginas, se presenta el problema que supone la frontera del conocimiento, comprensible ya para muy pocas inteligencias, y cómo tal situación se puede complicar muchísimo en el momento en el que se consigan inteligencias artificiales más potentes que lleguen a conclusiones totalmente incomprensibles para nosotros.
El infierno es la ausencia de dios es otro de mis favoritos. ¿Cómo reaccionaríamos si Dios se manifestase de forma indudable?, ¿si se descubriera que el infierno no es tan malo, que es muy parecido a seguir vivos?, ¿si se supiera a ciencia cierta que nuestros seres queridos ya están en ese infierno?, ¿si se descubriera que Dios es en gran parte caprichoso a la hora de enviarnos al cielo o al infierno? Un conocimiento que resalta aún más una idea que es para mí incomprensible, incluso si se tratara del dios cristiano, justo y bueno (me refiero al del nuevo testamento, naturalmente, el del antiguo testamento sería más parecido al del relato): el amor incondicional hacia él, algo que parece ponderar mucho el autor.
Por último, ¿Te gusta lo que ves? es un relato interesantísimo en el debate que plantea. ¿Sería deseable que el aspecto físico de los demás no nos influyera, que el nuestro no influyera en los demás? Psicológicamente está más que demostrado que la belleza física nos predispone en favor del individuo en no pocas circunstancias, ¿sería bueno eliminar esta discriminación? Como en otros de sus relatos, mi opinión difiere de la del autor que, a pesar de que ha tratado de ser justo a la hora de presentar los pros y los contras de tal situación, se le ve claramente el plumero (y después lo confiesa abiertamente en los comentarios a los relatos que hay en las últimas páginas del libro). Por ello, me parece loable la inclusión del comentario que atribuye a un profesor de estudios religiosos:
“Verán, los cimientos de nuestra cultura provienen de la Grecia clásica, donde la belleza física y el cuerpo eran celebrados. Pero nuestra cultura también está completamente permeada por la tradición monoteísta, que desprecia el cuerpo en favor del alma. Estos viejos impulsos en conflicto han vuelto a ponerse de manifiesto, esta vez en el debate sobre la caliagnosia.”Entender el cuerpo como una carcasa ajena a nosotros mismos, o incluso que juega en contra de nosotros, ya saben, las tentaciones de la carne, me parece del todo equivocada, no solo “filosóficamente” sino también biológicamente. Como me parece injusto pensar que no hay ningún mérito en ser atractivo y sí lo hay en ser inteligente o simpático, como me parece arbitrario ponderar otras cualidades mientras se desprecia la belleza.
Y es del todo incierto que defienda esta postura, como he escuchado por ahí, solo porque soy muy guapo, pensaría igual aunque fuera feo.
February 10, 2017
No accounting for taste especially your own.
This book has had rave reviews and not from the usual sources. It has won a few well regarded awards. And I hated it.
The overall writing style I found to be flat. The characterisation was awful. Has this author ever met another human and talked to them? It has the same warmth as an IT support manual.
Quite a bit of science fiction is not exactly literary but it more than makes up for it by exploring ideas. This collection of short stories had ideas but maybe a third had overt religious overtones. Not just the way religious ideas, philosophy and science may have a meeting point, no just straight up religion.
There was no wit to the stories, no fun with ideas. The narrative voice was a flat monotone only relieved by vain attempts at horror.
I just don't get this book but yet so many others do.
This book has had rave reviews and not from the usual sources. It has won a few well regarded awards. And I hated it.
The overall writing style I found to be flat. The characterisation was awful. Has this author ever met another human and talked to them? It has the same warmth as an IT support manual.
Quite a bit of science fiction is not exactly literary but it more than makes up for it by exploring ideas. This collection of short stories had ideas but maybe a third had overt religious overtones. Not just the way religious ideas, philosophy and science may have a meeting point, no just straight up religion.
There was no wit to the stories, no fun with ideas. The narrative voice was a flat monotone only relieved by vain attempts at horror.
I just don't get this book but yet so many others do.
November 20, 2019
Loving Imperfections
If arithmetic were consistent, love could not exist. That is to say, if arithmetic were undeniably logical in its foundations, logic would rule the worild and love would be eliminated as the irrational thing it is. This is how I read the moral of Chiang‘s marvellous story.
Mathematicians tend to view numbers as the natural constituents of the universe, existing independently in a Platonic realm of perfection. Such a universe is orderly, reliable and comprehensible even if it is more than occasionally painful.
But the existence of love is overwhelming evidence that the universe is not constructed according to entirely consistent principles. Love appears to have no principles. It arrives randomly and dissipates the same way. Love contradicts itself by denying its own self-interest and inherent irrationality.
The existence of love, therefore, brings into question the fundamentals of mathematics, even the most basic idea that 1+1=2. Love demonstrates that one number can be equivalent to any other number one wishes. Love exists, in short, because arithmetic is inconsistent.
If arithmetic were consistent, love could not exist. That is to say, if arithmetic were undeniably logical in its foundations, logic would rule the worild and love would be eliminated as the irrational thing it is. This is how I read the moral of Chiang‘s marvellous story.
Mathematicians tend to view numbers as the natural constituents of the universe, existing independently in a Platonic realm of perfection. Such a universe is orderly, reliable and comprehensible even if it is more than occasionally painful.
But the existence of love is overwhelming evidence that the universe is not constructed according to entirely consistent principles. Love appears to have no principles. It arrives randomly and dissipates the same way. Love contradicts itself by denying its own self-interest and inherent irrationality.
The existence of love, therefore, brings into question the fundamentals of mathematics, even the most basic idea that 1+1=2. Love demonstrates that one number can be equivalent to any other number one wishes. Love exists, in short, because arithmetic is inconsistent.
January 26, 2025
Ted Chiang is a technical writer in the software industry (as many of the best people are). He occasionally publishes short stories, a remarkably high proportion of which have won major sci-fi awards, including 4 Nebulas and 4 Hugos for only 15 works.
That indicates the quality of what’s within these pages, but may mislead about the genre, content, and style. Some are set in the far past, and the only aliens and space-faring are in the title story, though there is futuristic technology in most. Speculative fiction, more than sci-fi.
Instead, these stories are primarily about inner space and ideas, especially seeking meaning by analysing patterns of language, maths, and nature. That leads to more theological and philosophical questions about good, evil, God, and what it means to be human - and at what point we cease to be such (see also Vonnegut’s Galapagos).
The reviews of individual stories are in spoiler tags for easy scrolling, but don't contain spoilers.
Tower of Babylon, 4*
Drilling through the vault of heaven in ancient Babylon.
Understand, 4*
Exponential intelligence enhancement.
Division by Zero, 4*
The devastating consequences of realising one’s love object is fundamentally flawed.
The Story of Your Life, aka Arrival, 5*
Language Whorfs (warps) your mind. ;)
Made into a pretty good film. Full review of story HERE.
Seventy-Two Letters, 2*
Silly steampunk biotech.
The Evolution of Human Science, 3*
What's the point of humans when there are metahumans?
Hell is the Absence of God, 3*
Alpha Course studies Job in a world where angelic visitations are real. How to love God in an unjust world?
Liking What you See: A Documentary, 5*
Eliminating lookism.
See my review HERE
That indicates the quality of what’s within these pages, but may mislead about the genre, content, and style. Some are set in the far past, and the only aliens and space-faring are in the title story, though there is futuristic technology in most. Speculative fiction, more than sci-fi.
Instead, these stories are primarily about inner space and ideas, especially seeking meaning by analysing patterns of language, maths, and nature. That leads to more theological and philosophical questions about good, evil, God, and what it means to be human - and at what point we cease to be such (see also Vonnegut’s Galapagos).
The reviews of individual stories are in spoiler tags for easy scrolling, but don't contain spoilers.
Tower of Babylon, 4*
Drilling through the vault of heaven in ancient Babylon.
Understand, 4*
Exponential intelligence enhancement.
Division by Zero, 4*
The devastating consequences of realising one’s love object is fundamentally flawed.
The Story of Your Life, aka Arrival, 5*
Language Whorfs (warps) your mind. ;)
Made into a pretty good film. Full review of story HERE.
Seventy-Two Letters, 2*
Silly steampunk biotech.
The Evolution of Human Science, 3*
What's the point of humans when there are metahumans?
Hell is the Absence of God, 3*
Alpha Course studies Job in a world where angelic visitations are real. How to love God in an unjust world?
Liking What you See: A Documentary, 5*
Eliminating lookism.
See my review HERE
December 12, 2017
"Interfering Gremlin of GR" Alert!
This review was originally of the anthology Stories of Your Life and Others, then recently I wrote a separate review for the individual story "Story of Your Life". Today I woke up to find GR have merged the two reviews. WTF? Now it looks super long-winded! OK, I'd better reorganize this review a bit.
Review of the novella "Story of Your Life"
Story of Your Life is one of Ted Chiang’s best stories. Ted Chiang is one of the greatest sci-fi short stories writers ever (in many SF readers’ estimation), he has won numerous Hugo and Nebula awards. This short(ish) story (novella) has been adapted into a into a film called Arrival. It is part of Chiang’s legendary anthology Stories of Your Life and Others.
Story of Your Life has a twin narrative timelines or plot strands. Here is an example from each timeline:
“There's no easy way for us to write our own sentences in their language. We can't simply cut their sentences into individual words and recombine them; we'll have to learn the rules of their script before we can write anything legible. It's the same continuity problem we'd have had splicing together speech fragments, except applied to writing.”
“It'll be when you first learn to walk that I get daily demonstrations of the asymmetry in our relationship. You'll be incessantly running off somewhere, and each time you walk into a door frame or scrape your knee, the pain feels like it's my own.”
The writing of the two timelines not only seems to be from different books, but also by different authors. One of the timelines deals with the main story arc. Aliens are orbiting Earth in their craft for unknown purposes (certainly not to invade), they initiate communication with humans through mysterious “looking glasses” devices. Neither humans or aliens have any understanding of each other’s language, so the military enlists ace linguist Dr. Louise Banks to study and somehow learn their language.
It turns out that the “radially symmetrical aliens”, nicknamed “heptapods” by the humans, have separate spoken and written languages, called (by Louise) Heptapod A and Heptapod B respectively. The Heptapod B language is based on the aliens’ perception of time as simultaneous, not sequential like how humans perceive it*. In learning Heptapod B Louise also learns to perceive time as they do. The other timeline is a more intimate story of Louise’s life with her daughter, curiously written in second person future tense.
The narrative switches back and forth between the two timelines. Diehard sci-fi fans are likely to find the business with the aliens more interesting than the story of Louise’s daughter’s life. Personally, I find both timelines interesting, with very different appeals. Fans of China Miéville’s excellent Embassytown will find the linguistic and philosophical explorations of this story quite fascinating. On the philosophical side, the story explores the idea of predestination, free will and how these things can affect the key decisions we make in life.
Story of Your Life was previously legitimately available free to read online or download, but I suspect the movie studio has put a stop to that**. It is a well-deserved Nebula Award and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award winner. Ted Chiang is a wonderfully versatile writer he can be erudite, technical, philosophical, or lyrical as the story requires. I also highly recommend that you buy his amazing anthology Stories of Your Life and Others (see review further down this page). There are mind-boggling wonders to be found there.
Notes:
*Similar to how Kurt Vonnegut’s Tralfamadorians aliens perceive time in Slaughterhouse-Five.
** There are still some great Ted Chiang stories that you can read online or download. One is The Lifecycle of Software Objects is a brilliant story that you should not miss. Try Googling for others.
• Among other things, this story is also a nice tribute to Jorge Luis Borges, who is one of Chiang’s influences.
• Ted Chiang reveals how Arrival went from page to screen.
• Update Jan 22, 2017: The movie Arrival is not too shabby, more of a Departure than Arrival (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), but the changes are tolerable. The military crisis they added on seems superfluous to me but the general filmgoers may need that kind of tension, I don’t know. I certainly think you would appreciate the movie better after reading “Story of Your Life” first.
Quotes:
“I remember once when we'll be driving to the mall to buy some new clothes for you. You'll be thirteen.”
“It was strange trying to learn a language that had no spoken form. Instead of practicing my pronunciation, I had taken to squeezing my eyes shut and trying to paint semagrams on the insides of my eyelids.”
“The semagrams seemed to be something more than language; they were almost like mandalas. I found myself in a meditative state, contemplating the way in which premises and conclusions were interchangeable. There was no direction inherent in the way propositions were connected, no “train of thought” moving along a particular route; all the components in an act of reasoning were equally powerful, all having identical precedence.”
If you want to keep up with the Joneses in the sci-fi reading community you will have to read this short story collection. Considering he has published less than 50 stories and not a single novel Ted Chiang is one of today's best-known sf authors among sf readers, this does not make him a household name but he is a force to be reckoned with. It is also remarkable how many major sf awards he has won given the relatively small number of stories he has published. In other words, he is terrific without being prolific.
Stories of Your Life and Others is the only collection Mr. Chiang has published at the time of writing, he also has a few other stories published which are not included in this volume. Having read this collection it is easy to see why he is so revered among the sf readership. All these stories are based on ideas which range from damn clever to ingenious, they are all beautifully written and most of them feature well-developed characters. I will just briefly comment on each one:
"Tower of Babylon" (Nebula Award winner)
The collection starts with a wonderful fantasy story that reads like sci-fi thanks to the logic employed. Imagine climbing the Biblical Tower of Babel to the very zenith, way above the clouds, all the way to where you would imagine heaven to be. Well, you don't have to imagine it, Mr. Chiang has done it for you with some amazingly visual description and immersive storytelling.
"Understand"
A sort of Flowers for Algernon crossed with the Cronenberg movie "Scanners" with a literally mind-blowing climax. It is very intelligently written and fast paced. I do wonder if Ted Chiang himself is a recipient of "Hormone K" therapy, his intellect does seem to be superhuman. A riveting novella-length tale.
"Division by Zero"
Obsession with maths can drive you mad. Not really my favorite story here, but like all the others it is clever and well written, short too!
"Story of Your Life"
(This is my original mini-review for this story, I'm keeping it!) One thing I hate about aliens on sci-fi TV is how goofy and anthropomorphic they tend to be. If they didn't have green skin or furry faces you would not know they are aliens. They are often just money grubbing, lusty, greedy, noble, heroic or vain as the human characters, and their language tends to be just as translatable into English as Chinese or Italian. The aliens in this story are very alien, they are beyond comprehension and if you want to speak their language you have to alter your entire way of looking at the world. This story is about more than just "first contact" however, it is also about the perception of time, fate, and predestination.
"Seventy-Two Letters" (Sidewise Award winner)
Another weird story set in a world where golems can be animated when embedded with names. This story is more about ideas than plot and moves at a stately pace. Again not a personal favorite but it is still interesting and not very long.
"The Evolution of Human Science"
More like an essay or journal article written in a fictional world than a (very) short story. It is basically about posthumanism and well worth reading and pondering afterward.
"Hell Is the Absence of God"
Another gobsmacking story, the fourth one in this short volume! A mind blowing fantasy set in a world where angel visitations and miracles are well known and documented facts. Religion, faith, good and evil are portrayed here in an intelligent, compassionate and logical manner. The most emotionally charged story in this collection. This one will stay with you for the rest of your days.
"Liking What You See: A Documentary"
Not really a documentary, but a story about how different our perception may be if we can filter out facial beauty and how "lookism" is ingrained in our lives. Written from multiple viewpoints and partly in journal style for that "macro" effect. Another excellent thought experiment.
This collection of stories is generally very readable, erudite, fascinating and memorable. A book like this is the reason most of us read sf/f books. What we have here is a real "sensawunda" merchant, one of the all-time greats.
After finishing this collection I immediately downloaded and read Chiang's The Lifecycle of Software Objects which the author and publisher have kindly made available to be read online. It is also amazing and a must-read.
This review was originally of the anthology Stories of Your Life and Others, then recently I wrote a separate review for the individual story "Story of Your Life". Today I woke up to find GR have merged the two reviews. WTF? Now it looks super long-winded! OK, I'd better reorganize this review a bit.
Review of the novella "Story of Your Life"
Story of Your Life is one of Ted Chiang’s best stories. Ted Chiang is one of the greatest sci-fi short stories writers ever (in many SF readers’ estimation), he has won numerous Hugo and Nebula awards. This short(ish) story (novella) has been adapted into a into a film called Arrival. It is part of Chiang’s legendary anthology Stories of Your Life and Others.
Story of Your Life has a twin narrative timelines or plot strands. Here is an example from each timeline:
“There's no easy way for us to write our own sentences in their language. We can't simply cut their sentences into individual words and recombine them; we'll have to learn the rules of their script before we can write anything legible. It's the same continuity problem we'd have had splicing together speech fragments, except applied to writing.”
“It'll be when you first learn to walk that I get daily demonstrations of the asymmetry in our relationship. You'll be incessantly running off somewhere, and each time you walk into a door frame or scrape your knee, the pain feels like it's my own.”
The writing of the two timelines not only seems to be from different books, but also by different authors. One of the timelines deals with the main story arc. Aliens are orbiting Earth in their craft for unknown purposes (certainly not to invade), they initiate communication with humans through mysterious “looking glasses” devices. Neither humans or aliens have any understanding of each other’s language, so the military enlists ace linguist Dr. Louise Banks to study and somehow learn their language.
It turns out that the “radially symmetrical aliens”, nicknamed “heptapods” by the humans, have separate spoken and written languages, called (by Louise) Heptapod A and Heptapod B respectively. The Heptapod B language is based on the aliens’ perception of time as simultaneous, not sequential like how humans perceive it*. In learning Heptapod B Louise also learns to perceive time as they do. The other timeline is a more intimate story of Louise’s life with her daughter, curiously written in second person future tense.
The narrative switches back and forth between the two timelines. Diehard sci-fi fans are likely to find the business with the aliens more interesting than the story of Louise’s daughter’s life. Personally, I find both timelines interesting, with very different appeals. Fans of China Miéville’s excellent Embassytown will find the linguistic and philosophical explorations of this story quite fascinating. On the philosophical side, the story explores the idea of predestination, free will and how these things can affect the key decisions we make in life.
Story of Your Life was previously legitimately available free to read online or download, but I suspect the movie studio has put a stop to that**. It is a well-deserved Nebula Award and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award winner. Ted Chiang is a wonderfully versatile writer he can be erudite, technical, philosophical, or lyrical as the story requires. I also highly recommend that you buy his amazing anthology Stories of Your Life and Others (see review further down this page). There are mind-boggling wonders to be found there.
Notes:
*Similar to how Kurt Vonnegut’s Tralfamadorians aliens perceive time in Slaughterhouse-Five.
** There are still some great Ted Chiang stories that you can read online or download. One is The Lifecycle of Software Objects is a brilliant story that you should not miss. Try Googling for others.
• Among other things, this story is also a nice tribute to Jorge Luis Borges, who is one of Chiang’s influences.
• Ted Chiang reveals how Arrival went from page to screen.
• Update Jan 22, 2017: The movie Arrival is not too shabby, more of a Departure than Arrival (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), but the changes are tolerable. The military crisis they added on seems superfluous to me but the general filmgoers may need that kind of tension, I don’t know. I certainly think you would appreciate the movie better after reading “Story of Your Life” first.
Quotes:
“I remember once when we'll be driving to the mall to buy some new clothes for you. You'll be thirteen.”
“It was strange trying to learn a language that had no spoken form. Instead of practicing my pronunciation, I had taken to squeezing my eyes shut and trying to paint semagrams on the insides of my eyelids.”
“The semagrams seemed to be something more than language; they were almost like mandalas. I found myself in a meditative state, contemplating the way in which premises and conclusions were interchangeable. There was no direction inherent in the way propositions were connected, no “train of thought” moving along a particular route; all the components in an act of reasoning were equally powerful, all having identical precedence.”
If you want to keep up with the Joneses in the sci-fi reading community you will have to read this short story collection. Considering he has published less than 50 stories and not a single novel Ted Chiang is one of today's best-known sf authors among sf readers, this does not make him a household name but he is a force to be reckoned with. It is also remarkable how many major sf awards he has won given the relatively small number of stories he has published. In other words, he is terrific without being prolific.
Stories of Your Life and Others is the only collection Mr. Chiang has published at the time of writing, he also has a few other stories published which are not included in this volume. Having read this collection it is easy to see why he is so revered among the sf readership. All these stories are based on ideas which range from damn clever to ingenious, they are all beautifully written and most of them feature well-developed characters. I will just briefly comment on each one:
"Tower of Babylon" (Nebula Award winner)
The collection starts with a wonderful fantasy story that reads like sci-fi thanks to the logic employed. Imagine climbing the Biblical Tower of Babel to the very zenith, way above the clouds, all the way to where you would imagine heaven to be. Well, you don't have to imagine it, Mr. Chiang has done it for you with some amazingly visual description and immersive storytelling.
"Understand"
A sort of Flowers for Algernon crossed with the Cronenberg movie "Scanners" with a literally mind-blowing climax. It is very intelligently written and fast paced. I do wonder if Ted Chiang himself is a recipient of "Hormone K" therapy, his intellect does seem to be superhuman. A riveting novella-length tale.
"Division by Zero"
Obsession with maths can drive you mad. Not really my favorite story here, but like all the others it is clever and well written, short too!
"Story of Your Life"
(This is my original mini-review for this story, I'm keeping it!) One thing I hate about aliens on sci-fi TV is how goofy and anthropomorphic they tend to be. If they didn't have green skin or furry faces you would not know they are aliens. They are often just money grubbing, lusty, greedy, noble, heroic or vain as the human characters, and their language tends to be just as translatable into English as Chinese or Italian. The aliens in this story are very alien, they are beyond comprehension and if you want to speak their language you have to alter your entire way of looking at the world. This story is about more than just "first contact" however, it is also about the perception of time, fate, and predestination.
"Seventy-Two Letters" (Sidewise Award winner)
Another weird story set in a world where golems can be animated when embedded with names. This story is more about ideas than plot and moves at a stately pace. Again not a personal favorite but it is still interesting and not very long.
"The Evolution of Human Science"
More like an essay or journal article written in a fictional world than a (very) short story. It is basically about posthumanism and well worth reading and pondering afterward.
"Hell Is the Absence of God"
Another gobsmacking story, the fourth one in this short volume! A mind blowing fantasy set in a world where angel visitations and miracles are well known and documented facts. Religion, faith, good and evil are portrayed here in an intelligent, compassionate and logical manner. The most emotionally charged story in this collection. This one will stay with you for the rest of your days.
"Liking What You See: A Documentary"
Not really a documentary, but a story about how different our perception may be if we can filter out facial beauty and how "lookism" is ingrained in our lives. Written from multiple viewpoints and partly in journal style for that "macro" effect. Another excellent thought experiment.
This collection of stories is generally very readable, erudite, fascinating and memorable. A book like this is the reason most of us read sf/f books. What we have here is a real "sensawunda" merchant, one of the all-time greats.
After finishing this collection I immediately downloaded and read Chiang's The Lifecycle of Software Objects which the author and publisher have kindly made available to be read online. It is also amazing and a must-read.
August 23, 2021
Thought provoking.
Award winning writer Ted Chiang demonstrates in this 2002 collection why he wins awards.
Eight of Chiang’s earliest short works are collected in this science fiction / fantasy anthology and the diversity of subject matter and themes further reveals the author’s great range and talent.
Most notable for me was the Flowers for Algernon-like novelette “Understand” which describes a situation where a man has taken a drug that substantially enhances his mental powers, developing superhuman skills and cognizance.
“Story of your Life” was reminiscent of China Mieville’s Embassytown. Actually, Chiang’s story pre-dates Mieville’s novel by about 13 years. This describes a first contact setting where our protagonist learns to communicate with the aliens and then, by learning to think like them, she is able to dramatically understand her relationship with her daughter. This also somewhat reminded me of Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five. This was the inspiration for the 2016 film Arrival.
“Seventy-two Letters” is a smooth steampunk creation that incorporates Golem mythology and “Hell is the Absence of God” is a disturbing theological exploration of justice that reminded me of Heinlein’s Job: A Comedy of Justice.
Chiang’s clear, evocative language and a mastery of erudite prose is central to all of these stories. Chiang’s intelligence and inventiveness are reminiscent of William Gibson’s writing and I will read more from him.
Award winning writer Ted Chiang demonstrates in this 2002 collection why he wins awards.
Eight of Chiang’s earliest short works are collected in this science fiction / fantasy anthology and the diversity of subject matter and themes further reveals the author’s great range and talent.
Most notable for me was the Flowers for Algernon-like novelette “Understand” which describes a situation where a man has taken a drug that substantially enhances his mental powers, developing superhuman skills and cognizance.
“Story of your Life” was reminiscent of China Mieville’s Embassytown. Actually, Chiang’s story pre-dates Mieville’s novel by about 13 years. This describes a first contact setting where our protagonist learns to communicate with the aliens and then, by learning to think like them, she is able to dramatically understand her relationship with her daughter. This also somewhat reminded me of Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five. This was the inspiration for the 2016 film Arrival.
“Seventy-two Letters” is a smooth steampunk creation that incorporates Golem mythology and “Hell is the Absence of God” is a disturbing theological exploration of justice that reminded me of Heinlein’s Job: A Comedy of Justice.
Chiang’s clear, evocative language and a mastery of erudite prose is central to all of these stories. Chiang’s intelligence and inventiveness are reminiscent of William Gibson’s writing and I will read more from him.
February 18, 2017
Stories of Your Life and Others is a very interesting collection of stories. I think you really need to be into the “Sci” part of Sci-fi to truly enjoy them; they are thick with scientific terminology and theorems. For me, that reduced my enjoyment of a few of the stories while others had the perfect balance for me.
My favorites were Tower of Babylon, Hell is the Absence of God, and Liking What You See: A Documentary. One story (The Evolution of Human Science) was only 3 pages and, therefore, too short to rate. My least favorite story was The Story of Your Life, which is disappointing as it is the story the movie Arrival is based on and I was looking forward to seeing that.
I took all my ratings for each story and got the average – I give this book 4 stars even!
Tower of Babylon - 4.5 stars - A very strong start. The writing is great and comfortable to read. Chiang's speculative fiction set in biblical mythology is thought provoking and fascinating!
Understand - 4 stars - An interesting but complex and heavy story. This what-if? scenario just might drive you insane! Limitless anyone?
Division By Zero - 3 stars - Another story of mathematics and madness. I didn't really feel like a while lot happened here, but it was kind of interesting to think about what would happen if everything you have always fundamentally believed was proven, without a doubt, to be wrong. I believe if I was a little more into math, I would have connected to it more.
The Story of Your Life - 2.5 Stars - Quite drawn out for so little resolution. Mysterious for the sake of being mysterious. Interesting premise, but the confusion that comes when it gets really technical is not balanced by an enthralling story.
Seventy-two Letters - 4 stars - the premise of this story was fascinating and it was the first story in this collection with something that could be considered an action sequence. Still heavy on complex theorems, but still interesting when not too confusing.
The Evolution of Human Science - no rating - 3 pages so too short to rate. Lots of big complicated words crammed together. I believe the concept is that the world where it takes place is so advanced, they have to restrict development so humans don't get too smart.
Hell is the Absence of God – 5 Stars - Best story so far - pacing was great and the premise was fascinating: what if Heaven and Hell existed on the same plane as Earth and we had the potential to interact with angels on a frequent basis? This one got my brain juices flowing the most.
Liking What You See: A Documentary - 5 stars - my favorite out of the collection. A perfect balance of speculative science and storytelling. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder . . . or is it?
My favorites were Tower of Babylon, Hell is the Absence of God, and Liking What You See: A Documentary. One story (The Evolution of Human Science) was only 3 pages and, therefore, too short to rate. My least favorite story was The Story of Your Life, which is disappointing as it is the story the movie Arrival is based on and I was looking forward to seeing that.
I took all my ratings for each story and got the average – I give this book 4 stars even!
Tower of Babylon - 4.5 stars - A very strong start. The writing is great and comfortable to read. Chiang's speculative fiction set in biblical mythology is thought provoking and fascinating!
Understand - 4 stars - An interesting but complex and heavy story. This what-if? scenario just might drive you insane! Limitless anyone?
Division By Zero - 3 stars - Another story of mathematics and madness. I didn't really feel like a while lot happened here, but it was kind of interesting to think about what would happen if everything you have always fundamentally believed was proven, without a doubt, to be wrong. I believe if I was a little more into math, I would have connected to it more.
The Story of Your Life - 2.5 Stars - Quite drawn out for so little resolution. Mysterious for the sake of being mysterious. Interesting premise, but the confusion that comes when it gets really technical is not balanced by an enthralling story.
Seventy-two Letters - 4 stars - the premise of this story was fascinating and it was the first story in this collection with something that could be considered an action sequence. Still heavy on complex theorems, but still interesting when not too confusing.
The Evolution of Human Science - no rating - 3 pages so too short to rate. Lots of big complicated words crammed together. I believe the concept is that the world where it takes place is so advanced, they have to restrict development so humans don't get too smart.
Hell is the Absence of God – 5 Stars - Best story so far - pacing was great and the premise was fascinating: what if Heaven and Hell existed on the same plane as Earth and we had the potential to interact with angels on a frequent basis? This one got my brain juices flowing the most.
Liking What You See: A Documentary - 5 stars - my favorite out of the collection. A perfect balance of speculative science and storytelling. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder . . . or is it?
April 30, 2024
Eight unique stories from the super talented Ted Chiang: His ability to marry science (math, physics, biology) with human experience (philosophy , psychology, sociology) is truly unique.
Tower of Babylon: startling – mesmerizing: the continuity of earth and heavens. A tower – a thread suspended in the air. “Hillalum despaired, feeling displaced and estranged from the world; it was as if the earth has rejected him for his faithlessness, while heaven disdained to accept him”
Understand: boundless control over mind…limitless possibilities, distortion of realty, manipulation of experiences, and choices to be made: I guess with great power comes great responsibility …or not!
Division By Zero: on the intellectual beauty of mathematics! What is the limit of human understanding? What is the absolute truth? 1=2
Story of Your Life: Causal vs teleological formulation of physical laws. Time symmetry, variation principles and linguistic ideologies intertwine in a hypnotic mesh. “The existence of free will meant that we couldn’t know the future…what if the experience of knowing the future changed a person? What if it evoked a sense of urgency, a sense of obligation to act precisely as she know she would?”
“Be Patient. Your future will come to you and lie down at your feet like a dog who knows and loves you no matter what you are.”
Seventy-Two Letters: Homunculi , Automatons and the commitment to life: the language as a vehicle of existence, an ontogenic encoding for the species. Hell yeah!
The Evolution of Human Science: Can/Should humanity transcend the limitations of the physical world? humans vs meta-humans = non-zero sum game
Hell is the Absence of God: What is the nature of faith and suffering, and the relationship between God and humanity? The glories of mortal and heavenly pains! Everything in life is love, even pain. Virtue is not always rewarded. If you wish to love God , should be prepared to do so no matter what His intentions: “God is not just, God is not kind, God is not merciful, and understanding this is essential to true devotion”…Boom!
Liking What You See: A Documentary: A brilliant social experiment and a great debate of Lookism vs Calliagnostics. The isolation that can come with being different from the rest of society is tantalizing . The prejudice against unattractive people is incredible pervasive! Time to correct this with an..app! Beauty Agnosia: “Calliagnoasia as a kind of assisted maturity. It lets you do what you know you should: ignore surface, so you can look deeper” …but is eliminating beauty the answer to oppression; is really subjugation of beauty actually protection?
“The future is already here; its just not evenly distributed” (William Gibson)
4.8/5
Tower of Babylon: startling – mesmerizing: the continuity of earth and heavens. A tower – a thread suspended in the air. “Hillalum despaired, feeling displaced and estranged from the world; it was as if the earth has rejected him for his faithlessness, while heaven disdained to accept him”
Understand: boundless control over mind…limitless possibilities, distortion of realty, manipulation of experiences, and choices to be made: I guess with great power comes great responsibility …or not!
Division By Zero: on the intellectual beauty of mathematics! What is the limit of human understanding? What is the absolute truth? 1=2
Story of Your Life: Causal vs teleological formulation of physical laws. Time symmetry, variation principles and linguistic ideologies intertwine in a hypnotic mesh. “The existence of free will meant that we couldn’t know the future…what if the experience of knowing the future changed a person? What if it evoked a sense of urgency, a sense of obligation to act precisely as she know she would?”
“Be Patient. Your future will come to you and lie down at your feet like a dog who knows and loves you no matter what you are.”
Seventy-Two Letters: Homunculi , Automatons and the commitment to life: the language as a vehicle of existence, an ontogenic encoding for the species. Hell yeah!
The Evolution of Human Science: Can/Should humanity transcend the limitations of the physical world? humans vs meta-humans = non-zero sum game
Hell is the Absence of God: What is the nature of faith and suffering, and the relationship between God and humanity? The glories of mortal and heavenly pains! Everything in life is love, even pain. Virtue is not always rewarded. If you wish to love God , should be prepared to do so no matter what His intentions: “God is not just, God is not kind, God is not merciful, and understanding this is essential to true devotion”…Boom!
Liking What You See: A Documentary: A brilliant social experiment and a great debate of Lookism vs Calliagnostics. The isolation that can come with being different from the rest of society is tantalizing . The prejudice against unattractive people is incredible pervasive! Time to correct this with an..app! Beauty Agnosia: “Calliagnoasia as a kind of assisted maturity. It lets you do what you know you should: ignore surface, so you can look deeper” …but is eliminating beauty the answer to oppression; is really subjugation of beauty actually protection?
“The future is already here; its just not evenly distributed” (William Gibson)
4.8/5
November 12, 2020
Moved to gwern.net.
May 7, 2020
Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
I had hazy memories of reading the title story of this collection, “Story of Your Life,” when it won the Nebula and was nominated for the Hugo in 1999, and have been wanting to reread it for ages. I finally got my hands on it again as part of this collection, and reread “Story of Your Life” first. It didn’t disappoint… in fact, I thought it was absolutely brilliant. Chiang combines linguistics, psychology, and sociology with alien first contact and loving vignettes about a mother’s relationship with her daughter. It blew my mind how well he did it. That novella was a clear five-star read for me (and now I really want to see the film Arrival).
So I dove into the rest of this collection, which was, for the most part, a slight letdown. Chiang is still brilliant — his ideas sometimes fly a little over my head — but the actual storytelling frequently falters, with a few of the stories striking me more as focused on exploring a particular idea (in a thin fictional setting) than on telling a compelling story.
Here’s the list of stories in this collection, along with my ratings and comments:
5 stars for “Tower of Babylon”: This novelette, which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, retells the events of building the Biblical tower of Babel. A group of miners takes the months-long climb to the top of the tower so that they can cut through the “vault of Heaven,” which is a ceiling over the earth that the builders of the tower have reached. The twist is that, in this world, all of the beliefs about our cosmos that held sway thousands of years ago are actually real, including a flat earth. The normal rules of physics and what we know about our universe don’t apply. It’s not as mind-blowing as “Story of Your Life,” but came pretty close. I enjoyed it immensely.
4 stars for “Understand”: An introspective novelette and another Hugo Award winner, about a self-absorbed artistic man who is given a spinal injection of “hormone K” when he’s left brain-dead in the aftermath of an accident. It not only revives his brain but rebuilds his neurons in a far better way, giving him superhuman levels of intelligence. It felt rather remote and slow-paced until the rousing ending. Though that ending was fascinating, I couldn’t quite buy into the justification for the final conflict.
3 stars for “Division by Zero”: This story is an exploration of suicidal tendencies that can strike when a person’s worldview is completely upended. It’s told from a mathematician’s point of view, who discovers a proof that mathematics is inconsistent and illogical. The math elements whooshed over my head and, perhaps partly because of that lack of understanding, the rest of the story wasn’t compelling.
5 stars for “Story of Your Life,” as discussed above. It’s interesting that I loved this so much more the second time I read it. Maybe the ideas needed some time to seep into my brain.
5 stars for “Seventy-Two Letters”: In this Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning novella, Victorian steampunk is crossed with Jewish “golem” mythology, which is treated as serious science here. Chiang’s approach here is similar to that in “Tower of Babylon,” in that the way science (here, biology) works in this world is far different than in the real world. It can a while to really wrap your brain around that, and I’m not sure my brain ever entirely got there. “Seventy-Two Letters” contains several interesting ideas — especially when eugenics pops up its nasty head — but I got a little lost in the weeds.
3 stars for “The Evolution of Human Science”: This is a 3-page short-short in the form of a science journal article, discussing and analyzing what has happened to normal human scientific research now that there are “metahumans” (another subset of super-intelligent humans among us) whose scientific research and knowledge are unimaginable leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of humanity’s. The tone is highly analytical, as befits a scientific article; the subtext seems to be that normal humans are in a pathetic place now but trying to make the best of it.
5 stars for “Hell is the Absence of God”: Yet another “what if the world really worked in a different way that some people believe in” type of literary exploration (Chiang seems taken with this approach). In this disturbing novelette, yet another Hugo and Nebula winner, Chiang assumes the reality of old-style Judeo-Christian beliefs. Heaven and hell, as traditionally envisioned, are indisputably real. Powerful angels periodically appear, wreaking havoc and physical destruction whenever they do. Hell also puts in regular appearances: the ground becomes temporarily transparent every so often, and you can “see Hell as if you were looking through a hole in the ground.” But there’s very little spiritual comfort to be found in this world, along with physical blindness that’s a clear symbol of spiritual blindness. In the end we are faced with a God who is inconsistent, unfair and indifferent. It’s a well-crafted story, but personally I found the hostility to religion distasteful.
5 stars for “Liking What You See: A Documentary”: What happens when scientists figure out a way to sidestep “lookism,” turning off people’s ability in our brains to evaluate the physical attractiveness of others? It’s another piece of fiction that struck me as more of a thought experiment, built around a particular idea. Chiang goes down some less-expected paths, but here again I found the style of his story-telling to be overly analytical and remote.
I had hazy memories of reading the title story of this collection, “Story of Your Life,” when it won the Nebula and was nominated for the Hugo in 1999, and have been wanting to reread it for ages. I finally got my hands on it again as part of this collection, and reread “Story of Your Life” first. It didn’t disappoint… in fact, I thought it was absolutely brilliant. Chiang combines linguistics, psychology, and sociology with alien first contact and loving vignettes about a mother’s relationship with her daughter. It blew my mind how well he did it. That novella was a clear five-star read for me (and now I really want to see the film Arrival).
So I dove into the rest of this collection, which was, for the most part, a slight letdown. Chiang is still brilliant — his ideas sometimes fly a little over my head — but the actual storytelling frequently falters, with a few of the stories striking me more as focused on exploring a particular idea (in a thin fictional setting) than on telling a compelling story.
Here’s the list of stories in this collection, along with my ratings and comments:
5 stars for “Tower of Babylon”: This novelette, which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, retells the events of building the Biblical tower of Babel. A group of miners takes the months-long climb to the top of the tower so that they can cut through the “vault of Heaven,” which is a ceiling over the earth that the builders of the tower have reached. The twist is that, in this world, all of the beliefs about our cosmos that held sway thousands of years ago are actually real, including a flat earth. The normal rules of physics and what we know about our universe don’t apply. It’s not as mind-blowing as “Story of Your Life,” but came pretty close. I enjoyed it immensely.
4 stars for “Understand”: An introspective novelette and another Hugo Award winner, about a self-absorbed artistic man who is given a spinal injection of “hormone K” when he’s left brain-dead in the aftermath of an accident. It not only revives his brain but rebuilds his neurons in a far better way, giving him superhuman levels of intelligence. It felt rather remote and slow-paced until the rousing ending. Though that ending was fascinating, I couldn’t quite buy into the justification for the final conflict.
3 stars for “Division by Zero”: This story is an exploration of suicidal tendencies that can strike when a person’s worldview is completely upended. It’s told from a mathematician’s point of view, who discovers a proof that mathematics is inconsistent and illogical. The math elements whooshed over my head and, perhaps partly because of that lack of understanding, the rest of the story wasn’t compelling.
5 stars for “Story of Your Life,” as discussed above. It’s interesting that I loved this so much more the second time I read it. Maybe the ideas needed some time to seep into my brain.
5 stars for “Seventy-Two Letters”: In this Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning novella, Victorian steampunk is crossed with Jewish “golem” mythology, which is treated as serious science here. Chiang’s approach here is similar to that in “Tower of Babylon,” in that the way science (here, biology) works in this world is far different than in the real world. It can a while to really wrap your brain around that, and I’m not sure my brain ever entirely got there. “Seventy-Two Letters” contains several interesting ideas — especially when eugenics pops up its nasty head — but I got a little lost in the weeds.
3 stars for “The Evolution of Human Science”: This is a 3-page short-short in the form of a science journal article, discussing and analyzing what has happened to normal human scientific research now that there are “metahumans” (another subset of super-intelligent humans among us) whose scientific research and knowledge are unimaginable leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of humanity’s. The tone is highly analytical, as befits a scientific article; the subtext seems to be that normal humans are in a pathetic place now but trying to make the best of it.
5 stars for “Hell is the Absence of God”: Yet another “what if the world really worked in a different way that some people believe in” type of literary exploration (Chiang seems taken with this approach). In this disturbing novelette, yet another Hugo and Nebula winner, Chiang assumes the reality of old-style Judeo-Christian beliefs. Heaven and hell, as traditionally envisioned, are indisputably real. Powerful angels periodically appear, wreaking havoc and physical destruction whenever they do. Hell also puts in regular appearances: the ground becomes temporarily transparent every so often, and you can “see Hell as if you were looking through a hole in the ground.” But there’s very little spiritual comfort to be found in this world, along with physical blindness that’s a clear symbol of spiritual blindness. In the end we are faced with a God who is inconsistent, unfair and indifferent. It’s a well-crafted story, but personally I found the hostility to religion distasteful.
5 stars for “Liking What You See: A Documentary”: What happens when scientists figure out a way to sidestep “lookism,” turning off people’s ability in our brains to evaluate the physical attractiveness of others? It’s another piece of fiction that struck me as more of a thought experiment, built around a particular idea. Chiang goes down some less-expected paths, but here again I found the style of his story-telling to be overly analytical and remote.
July 9, 2020
Ted Chiang is a frugal, yet many times awarded author. This collection of eight short stories, published in periodicals in the 1990s, has been republished upon the release of the motion picture Arrival (2016), adapted from one of these stories.
These tales are built upon straightforward, almost minimalist ideas. What if the Tower of Babel was reaching the vault of the sky? What if there existed a drug that bestowed superhuman cognitive abilities? What if mathematics were proven inconsistent? What if we were visited by aliens using a language that enabled them to see time spatially? What if human copies could be made with the help of words? What would become of human science if superhuman people were able to make scientific progress incomprehensible to us? What if angels, heaven and hell had a physical presence in our world? What if there were some device that allowed us to be blind to beauty?
The narrative elaborations are sometimes intellectually daunting, always painstakingly composed, always surprising, yet inevitable. Chiang is a remarkable author and, in my opinion, a worthy successor of the likes of Jorge Luis Borges.
Edit: Watched Arrival, Denis Villeneuve's movie adaptation of one of these stories. Of course, they did sprinkle some conflict in there (the military are pretty much all douchebags), to accommodate for a two hours picture. I highly recommend it nonetheless.
Another edit: Reread the graphic novel La Tour, by Belgian authors Shuiten and Peeters, and found a striking similarity of inspiration with Chiang's opening novelette, "Tower of Babylon".
These tales are built upon straightforward, almost minimalist ideas. What if the Tower of Babel was reaching the vault of the sky? What if there existed a drug that bestowed superhuman cognitive abilities? What if mathematics were proven inconsistent? What if we were visited by aliens using a language that enabled them to see time spatially? What if human copies could be made with the help of words? What would become of human science if superhuman people were able to make scientific progress incomprehensible to us? What if angels, heaven and hell had a physical presence in our world? What if there were some device that allowed us to be blind to beauty?
The narrative elaborations are sometimes intellectually daunting, always painstakingly composed, always surprising, yet inevitable. Chiang is a remarkable author and, in my opinion, a worthy successor of the likes of Jorge Luis Borges.
Edit: Watched Arrival, Denis Villeneuve's movie adaptation of one of these stories. Of course, they did sprinkle some conflict in there (the military are pretty much all douchebags), to accommodate for a two hours picture. I highly recommend it nonetheless.
Another edit: Reread the graphic novel La Tour, by Belgian authors Shuiten and Peeters, and found a striking similarity of inspiration with Chiang's opening novelette, "Tower of Babylon".
February 10, 2017
My introduction to the fiction of American author Ted Chiang comes with Stories of Your Life and Others, a 2002 collection of eight hard science fiction short stories published over the previous twelve years. My anticipation was to dust off one tale in particular, "Story of Your Life", the source material for a movie titled Arrival starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner that opens in the U.S. two months from the time I'm posting this book report. I dove into the collection due to Chiang's gift for immersing me in worlds where physics, linguistics and engineering are used as tools for characters grasping at the very essential and emotional questions of what it means to be human.
-- "Tower of Babylon" (Omni, 1990). In the world of the Old Testament, a miner named Hillalum from Elam arrives by caravan in the storied city of Babylon, where the fabled tower has extended to the vault of heaven itself and a team of miners has been contracted to tunnel through. Chiang's supplants biblical myth with physical and mechanical engineering to create a world where man is using tools and technology to create marvels and unlock the very secrets of God. This story is everything the Bible isn't when I try to read it: sensual, clear and full of wonder. The ending is one I'd like to think that Rod Serling would've appreciated. ***** (5 stars).
-- "Understand" (Asmiov's, 1991). A graphic designer named Leon Greco revived after an hour drowned under the ice is treated with the experimental hormone K. Side effects for those who suffered major damage to their neural network turns out to be elevated levels of intelligence. Developing genius level skills in strategic thinking, Leon anticipates the CIA will attempt to recruit him so he goes on the run, discovering he's not the only test case to get that idea. This is an intellectually thrilling story in which Chiang very clearly and very cleverly depicts what might be capable and become of an average person who begins using their brain's capacity. ***** (5 stars).
-- "Division By Zero" (Full Spectrum 3, 1991). Mathematician Renee Norwood checks out of a mental facility and returns home with her husband Carl, who anticipates he'll be able to help his wife recover from her suicide attempt due to hitting rock bottom himself in college. He doesn't anticipate that the formula Renee has discovered erodes the foundation of mathematics, forcing her to question the very nature of the reality she knows. I liked this story okay, which is more fiction with science in it than science fiction. Chiang documents the perils of a career in theory when the theories cease to be sufficient, creating a theological vacuum. I want to reread it with a dictionary. *** (3 stars).
-- "Story of Your Life" (Starlight 2, 1998). When extraterrestrial ships appear in orbit and their "looking glasses" materialize in meadows around the world, linguist Louise Banks is recruited by the army for fieldwork. Working with physicist Gary Donnelly, Louise deploys to one of the screens in the U.S. Her assignment is to help establish communication with the aliens, which have seven limbs, seven eyes and are being called heptapods. Communicating with two heptapods they name Flapper and Raspberry, Louise and Gary determine that learning a new spoken language (Heptapod A) will take longer than communicating with a written one (Heptapod B).
The idea of thinking in a linguistic yet nonphonological mode always intrigued me. I had a friend born of deaf parents; he grew up using American Sign Language, and he told me that he often thought in ASL instead of English. I used to wonder what it was like to have one’s thoughts be manually coded, to reason using an inner pair of hands instead of an inner voice. With Heptapod B, I was experiencing something just as foreign: my thoughts were becoming graphically coded. There were trance-like moments during the day when my thoughts weren’t expressed with my internal voice; instead, I saw semagrams with my mind’s eye, sprouting like frost on a windowpane.
Louise unlocks heptapod communication, which is not based on the sequential consciousness of humans but simultaneous consciousness, which takes into account the future as well as the past and present. Louise becomes fluent in this alien consciousness, which has the side effect of and stripping Louise of what she once considered to be free will. Like the stories that precede it, this one is so good that my only criticism is that it could've been expanded into a novel. The characters seem too comfortable around the aliens, but the story is riveting and emotionally resounds. ***** (5 stars).
-- "Seventy-Two Letters" (Vanishing Acts, 2000). I abandoned this story is muddled in fantasy and/or scientific concepts that I couldn't wrap my mind around. Worse, it's also the longest of the collection. I like knowing where I'm at and what the rules are quickly as opposed to belatedly. * (1 star).
-- "The Evolution of Human Science" (Nature, 2000). I abandoned this story as well, the shortest in the collection, a three-page essay of some sort that doesn't attempt to tell a story but looked like jargon-filled writing to me. * (1 star)
-- "Hell Is the Absence of God" (Starlight 3, 2001). The archangels (Nathaniel, Bardiel, Rashiel, etc.) exist and visit earth with the shock and awe of superheroes. Neil Fisk is forced to reevaluate his belief in God when his wife Sarah is killed by falling glass during a visitation. He seeks out a religious communicator named Janice Reilly who was not only born with flippers instead of legs, but as an adult, has her legs restored for unexplained reasons by God during a visitation. In addition, a family man named Ethan Mead has waited all of his life for a sign and struggles with what God wants from him based on the non-eventful visitation he witnessed.
Ethan attended the support group meetings that followed and met other witnesses to Rashiel's visitation. Over the course of a few meetings, he became aware of certain patterns among the witnesses. Of course there were those who'd been injured and those who'd received miracle cures. But there were also those whose lives were changed in other ways: the man and woman he'd first met fell in love and were soon engaged; a woman who'd been pinned beneath a collapsed wall was inspired to become an EMT after being rescued. One business owner formed an alliance that averted her impending bankruptcy, while another whose business was destroyed saw it as a message that he change his ways. It seemed that everyone except Ethan had found a way to understand what had happened to them.
This is my favorite story in the collection. The imaginative leaps and bounds Chiang takes to build a fully functioning world are staggering. Angels do exist in this world, but they're nothing like those in angel-themed movie or TV series we've seen before. In this story, as many innocent bystanders are killed or witnesses cast into lives of confusion as souls are saved. The designs of God and His messengers remains a mystery to man, who grasps at even more straws to determine their place in the world as we do in ours. Each of the three characters are taken on a spiritual journey filled with equal parts soul searching and levity. It's a truly amazing read. ***** (5 stars).
-- "Liking What You See: A Documentary" (Stories of Your Life and Others, 2002). Transcript of a "documentary" in which a college debates whether to ban "calliagnoisa," a medical procedure in which young people can be temporarily blocked from discriminating on the basis of physical appearance. They can see faces but have no reaction as to whether it's an attractive or unattractive face and are able to consider people on substance, not superficiality. It's "interesting," which means I didn't care for it. The transcript approach wasn't to my liking. A narrative about a college freshman who unblocks her "calli" protection and then has it reinstalled might've worked. ** (2 stars)
-- "Tower of Babylon" (Omni, 1990). In the world of the Old Testament, a miner named Hillalum from Elam arrives by caravan in the storied city of Babylon, where the fabled tower has extended to the vault of heaven itself and a team of miners has been contracted to tunnel through. Chiang's supplants biblical myth with physical and mechanical engineering to create a world where man is using tools and technology to create marvels and unlock the very secrets of God. This story is everything the Bible isn't when I try to read it: sensual, clear and full of wonder. The ending is one I'd like to think that Rod Serling would've appreciated. ***** (5 stars).
-- "Understand" (Asmiov's, 1991). A graphic designer named Leon Greco revived after an hour drowned under the ice is treated with the experimental hormone K. Side effects for those who suffered major damage to their neural network turns out to be elevated levels of intelligence. Developing genius level skills in strategic thinking, Leon anticipates the CIA will attempt to recruit him so he goes on the run, discovering he's not the only test case to get that idea. This is an intellectually thrilling story in which Chiang very clearly and very cleverly depicts what might be capable and become of an average person who begins using their brain's capacity. ***** (5 stars).
-- "Division By Zero" (Full Spectrum 3, 1991). Mathematician Renee Norwood checks out of a mental facility and returns home with her husband Carl, who anticipates he'll be able to help his wife recover from her suicide attempt due to hitting rock bottom himself in college. He doesn't anticipate that the formula Renee has discovered erodes the foundation of mathematics, forcing her to question the very nature of the reality she knows. I liked this story okay, which is more fiction with science in it than science fiction. Chiang documents the perils of a career in theory when the theories cease to be sufficient, creating a theological vacuum. I want to reread it with a dictionary. *** (3 stars).
-- "Story of Your Life" (Starlight 2, 1998). When extraterrestrial ships appear in orbit and their "looking glasses" materialize in meadows around the world, linguist Louise Banks is recruited by the army for fieldwork. Working with physicist Gary Donnelly, Louise deploys to one of the screens in the U.S. Her assignment is to help establish communication with the aliens, which have seven limbs, seven eyes and are being called heptapods. Communicating with two heptapods they name Flapper and Raspberry, Louise and Gary determine that learning a new spoken language (Heptapod A) will take longer than communicating with a written one (Heptapod B).
The idea of thinking in a linguistic yet nonphonological mode always intrigued me. I had a friend born of deaf parents; he grew up using American Sign Language, and he told me that he often thought in ASL instead of English. I used to wonder what it was like to have one’s thoughts be manually coded, to reason using an inner pair of hands instead of an inner voice. With Heptapod B, I was experiencing something just as foreign: my thoughts were becoming graphically coded. There were trance-like moments during the day when my thoughts weren’t expressed with my internal voice; instead, I saw semagrams with my mind’s eye, sprouting like frost on a windowpane.
Louise unlocks heptapod communication, which is not based on the sequential consciousness of humans but simultaneous consciousness, which takes into account the future as well as the past and present. Louise becomes fluent in this alien consciousness, which has the side effect of and stripping Louise of what she once considered to be free will. Like the stories that precede it, this one is so good that my only criticism is that it could've been expanded into a novel. The characters seem too comfortable around the aliens, but the story is riveting and emotionally resounds. ***** (5 stars).
-- "Seventy-Two Letters" (Vanishing Acts, 2000). I abandoned this story is muddled in fantasy and/or scientific concepts that I couldn't wrap my mind around. Worse, it's also the longest of the collection. I like knowing where I'm at and what the rules are quickly as opposed to belatedly. * (1 star).
-- "The Evolution of Human Science" (Nature, 2000). I abandoned this story as well, the shortest in the collection, a three-page essay of some sort that doesn't attempt to tell a story but looked like jargon-filled writing to me. * (1 star)
-- "Hell Is the Absence of God" (Starlight 3, 2001). The archangels (Nathaniel, Bardiel, Rashiel, etc.) exist and visit earth with the shock and awe of superheroes. Neil Fisk is forced to reevaluate his belief in God when his wife Sarah is killed by falling glass during a visitation. He seeks out a religious communicator named Janice Reilly who was not only born with flippers instead of legs, but as an adult, has her legs restored for unexplained reasons by God during a visitation. In addition, a family man named Ethan Mead has waited all of his life for a sign and struggles with what God wants from him based on the non-eventful visitation he witnessed.
Ethan attended the support group meetings that followed and met other witnesses to Rashiel's visitation. Over the course of a few meetings, he became aware of certain patterns among the witnesses. Of course there were those who'd been injured and those who'd received miracle cures. But there were also those whose lives were changed in other ways: the man and woman he'd first met fell in love and were soon engaged; a woman who'd been pinned beneath a collapsed wall was inspired to become an EMT after being rescued. One business owner formed an alliance that averted her impending bankruptcy, while another whose business was destroyed saw it as a message that he change his ways. It seemed that everyone except Ethan had found a way to understand what had happened to them.
This is my favorite story in the collection. The imaginative leaps and bounds Chiang takes to build a fully functioning world are staggering. Angels do exist in this world, but they're nothing like those in angel-themed movie or TV series we've seen before. In this story, as many innocent bystanders are killed or witnesses cast into lives of confusion as souls are saved. The designs of God and His messengers remains a mystery to man, who grasps at even more straws to determine their place in the world as we do in ours. Each of the three characters are taken on a spiritual journey filled with equal parts soul searching and levity. It's a truly amazing read. ***** (5 stars).
-- "Liking What You See: A Documentary" (Stories of Your Life and Others, 2002). Transcript of a "documentary" in which a college debates whether to ban "calliagnoisa," a medical procedure in which young people can be temporarily blocked from discriminating on the basis of physical appearance. They can see faces but have no reaction as to whether it's an attractive or unattractive face and are able to consider people on substance, not superficiality. It's "interesting," which means I didn't care for it. The transcript approach wasn't to my liking. A narrative about a college freshman who unblocks her "calli" protection and then has it reinstalled might've worked. ** (2 stars)
April 19, 2011
These are amazing, more than 4 stars, and worth propping open on my steering wheel and glancing down to grab up a thought-ful of words at a time on straighaways and gentle curves.*
As far as I can gather, Ted Chiang is an egghead scientist (technical writer?) who attended a fiction writing workshop and began belting out these incredibly well thought out short stories that have much more science than the typical science fiction. He's won enough awards that he once turned down a Hugo nomination for a story that he felt wasn't just right.
This collection holds 8 of his works. They're all gems with each facet edged razor-shart (I meant "sharp" but I'll leave what I typed, heh) to make you thinkthinkthink, not with difficulty but with wonder. Very much worth reading. At the end, Chiang offers a short explanation on what inspired each story.
"Tower of Babylon" - A different take on the old story and the shape of the world. From a structural engineering perspective, I don't think so.
"Division by Zero" - How the self can shatter when a core belief is proven false. Beautifully combined with a dissolving marriage and mismatch of empathy. Math-y.
"Understand" - Cerebral action movie! Experimental treatments lead to what sounds like more than full brain use and a pursuit of gestalt, of everything. Then he learns he's not alone.
"Story of Your Life" - It jumps between alien contact and a mother's memories about her child. The tense of the writing is odd until you realize that the linguistical (why isn't this a word? it should be and I want to use it) effort to understand the aliens' spoken and written languages is playing with the memories, casting doubt as to whether they're real or the thoughts of the linguist, the mother, as she pictures a child from beginning to death...whoa! I've garbled it terribly, but it's layered and that was one that caught me.
"The Evolution of Human Science" - Very short piece on what it might be like if advances advanced beyond normal understanding.
"Seventy-Two Letters" - Wow. I wish I'd paid better attention in history classes when we covered parthenogenesis and different early theories on reproduction. Set in Victorian times, referring to golems and steampunk-like ideas (I think?), it reminds me a little of the ending of the newer BSG series.
"Hell Is the Absence of God" - The most eloquent instructor I'd ever had who spoke about creation and God in the classroom was a thermodynamics professor. Chiang's story reminds me of him. The world in this story witnesses regular angelic visitations, which bring miracles but also great havoc and often kill more people than benefit. The rules seem arbitrary and unfair. Fascinating.
"Liking What You See: A Documentary" - Argh, another amazing one! Presented as a series of interviews on the political, ethical, and personal impacts if recognition of facial beauty could be flipped off. Also, the advertising industry is the devil.
*Uh, if I was one who would be so irresponsible to do such a thing.
As far as I can gather, Ted Chiang is an egghead scientist (technical writer?) who attended a fiction writing workshop and began belting out these incredibly well thought out short stories that have much more science than the typical science fiction. He's won enough awards that he once turned down a Hugo nomination for a story that he felt wasn't just right.
This collection holds 8 of his works. They're all gems with each facet edged razor-shart (I meant "sharp" but I'll leave what I typed, heh) to make you thinkthinkthink, not with difficulty but with wonder. Very much worth reading. At the end, Chiang offers a short explanation on what inspired each story.
"Tower of Babylon" - A different take on the old story and the shape of the world. From a structural engineering perspective, I don't think so.
"Division by Zero" - How the self can shatter when a core belief is proven false. Beautifully combined with a dissolving marriage and mismatch of empathy. Math-y.
"Understand" - Cerebral action movie! Experimental treatments lead to what sounds like more than full brain use and a pursuit of gestalt, of everything. Then he learns he's not alone.
"Story of Your Life" - It jumps between alien contact and a mother's memories about her child. The tense of the writing is odd until you realize that the linguistical (why isn't this a word? it should be and I want to use it) effort to understand the aliens' spoken and written languages is playing with the memories, casting doubt as to whether they're real or the thoughts of the linguist, the mother, as she pictures a child from beginning to death...whoa! I've garbled it terribly, but it's layered and that was one that caught me.
"The Evolution of Human Science" - Very short piece on what it might be like if advances advanced beyond normal understanding.
"Seventy-Two Letters" - Wow. I wish I'd paid better attention in history classes when we covered parthenogenesis and different early theories on reproduction. Set in Victorian times, referring to golems and steampunk-like ideas (I think?), it reminds me a little of the ending of the newer BSG series.
"Hell Is the Absence of God" - The most eloquent instructor I'd ever had who spoke about creation and God in the classroom was a thermodynamics professor. Chiang's story reminds me of him. The world in this story witnesses regular angelic visitations, which bring miracles but also great havoc and often kill more people than benefit. The rules seem arbitrary and unfair. Fascinating.
"Liking What You See: A Documentary" - Argh, another amazing one! Presented as a series of interviews on the political, ethical, and personal impacts if recognition of facial beauty could be flipped off. Also, the advertising industry is the devil.
*Uh, if I was one who would be so irresponsible to do such a thing.
December 11, 2024
This collection of speculative stories is highly polished, and certainly shows the author's skill to compose short stories - at the same time, it's all fairly standard composition: Chiang surprises you in the story when you expect to be surprised. So, polished, yes, but sterile too. Moreover, there's hardly any interesting characterization.
Yet the real reason this collection won't be read anymore 100 years from now, when the hype has passed, is that Chiang is first and foremost a writer of artificial ideas and philosophical concepts, not of stories. This became obvious fairly quickly when reading this book, and the author's 'story notes' at the end confirmed it.
Basing art on ideas is not necessarily a bad thing, as most literature starts with an idea or a message an author has or wants to convey. The problem is that Chiang doesn't try to hide his ideas, but leaves them out in the open, glaringly obvious. Nothing is left to the reader's own mental devices. A story shouldn't be a treatise or a sermon. I am of the firm conviction that most Great Literature uses ideas as an invisible base on which to build a plot, not as the explicit surface level message. It's the difference between a Book that makes you think, and a book that tells you what to think.
My thoughts on the individual stories:
The first two stories (Tower of Babylon, 29 pages and Understand, 40pp.) have a great build up, but both suffer from a disappointing ending. One is left with the feeling: "did I read all these good pages to arrive to this?" All and all, after these 2, I was curious and eager to read more.
Division by Zero (20pp.), is well constructed, but ultimately unbelievable. Its mathematical premisses is preposterous, and if it were like it is described in the story, and nobody - including other well respected mathematicians - would find a fault in the proof of a humongously important mathematical claim, it would cause a giant stir in science/math land. Yet nothing like that even happens, it reads like nobody seems to care. To make things worse, it also builds on theoretical mumbo jumbo, and that's not a good thing for a story that relies so much on theory. If one could prove 1=2, math itself wouldn't become just empirical, as the main character says & regrets, but something else entirely. It would become a mere game of semantics, or better yet, something useless, not empirical. I guess Chiang simply doesn't understand the ramifications himself, and just trew a word like 'empirical' at it. Then again, maybe I should not try to appreciate this for the hard science, but for the vague epistemological metaphor at the story's centre.
The fourth tale, Story of Your Life (60pp.), may hold something of interest for those uninitiated in Linguistics 101. But everybody with a bit of basic knowledge about language and writing systems won't find much here, except their old course books disguised as a story. The main premises - that a human can predicted the future because she learned an alien language - is again preposterous. The fact that Chiang tries to sell it to the reader via some half-baked science and philosophy makes it even worse. Don't try to write hard science if you are actually writing magic. There's also an emotional side to the story, that deals with grief for a dead child, but the heavy-handedness of the linguistics and the unbelievable premise get in the way of actually conveying emotions.
Seventy-Two Letters (50pp.) is a story in the realm of magical realism and starts of with a spectacular first scene. ´Finally´, I thought - ´this must be the stuff all those high praise reviews rave about.´ It quickly becomes boring though, filled with lifeless dialogue, and a story of which the plot is more the result of 2 thought experiments (what if golems have been real, and something else) instead of the want to write about a succession of interesting events and/or character development. At this point in the book, I began to sense this is more or less Chiang's standard way to approach writing.
Next up is The Evolution of Human Science, not even 3 full pages long. It's a sketch of a few ideas in the form of a fictional scientific magazine article, no story.
Hell is the absence of God (32pp.) features the same trick as Tower of Babylon and Seventy-Two Letters: what if X were real? As this time the X are angels. It's a good story, but again the ending is mildly disappointing. And again I have the feeling Chiang wants to drive something home, more than to tell a story.
The final piece, Liking What You See: a documentary (38pp.) is the worst of the entire collection. Chiang introduces the concept of 'lookism' (cf. sexism, racism,...) and a pill that disables one to see people's beauty, and lets an array of characters ponder about that in diary fragments and the likes. This alternative, 'clever' narrative structure disguises the fact that this is again no story, but a tedious homily filled with clichés about beauty and its place in human society.
---
This is the sort of book that makes some readers feel special because they get all the tidbits of science and philosophical stuff that's mentioned, and at the same time appreciate the author's smooth chiseled way with words. So, popular award stuff for sure, all the more since it seems deep & serious, but ultimately goes down easily, because it's shallow in essence, having only one level. Undeniably, Chiang has heaps of skill. But he needs to stop trying to come across as a 'sharp', multi-disciplinarian intellectual with a soft touch, and write some real goddamned stories.
please visit Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It for more reviews
Yet the real reason this collection won't be read anymore 100 years from now, when the hype has passed, is that Chiang is first and foremost a writer of artificial ideas and philosophical concepts, not of stories. This became obvious fairly quickly when reading this book, and the author's 'story notes' at the end confirmed it.
Basing art on ideas is not necessarily a bad thing, as most literature starts with an idea or a message an author has or wants to convey. The problem is that Chiang doesn't try to hide his ideas, but leaves them out in the open, glaringly obvious. Nothing is left to the reader's own mental devices. A story shouldn't be a treatise or a sermon. I am of the firm conviction that most Great Literature uses ideas as an invisible base on which to build a plot, not as the explicit surface level message. It's the difference between a Book that makes you think, and a book that tells you what to think.
My thoughts on the individual stories:
The first two stories (Tower of Babylon, 29 pages and Understand, 40pp.) have a great build up, but both suffer from a disappointing ending. One is left with the feeling: "did I read all these good pages to arrive to this?" All and all, after these 2, I was curious and eager to read more.
Division by Zero (20pp.), is well constructed, but ultimately unbelievable. Its mathematical premisses is preposterous, and if it were like it is described in the story, and nobody - including other well respected mathematicians - would find a fault in the proof of a humongously important mathematical claim, it would cause a giant stir in science/math land. Yet nothing like that even happens, it reads like nobody seems to care. To make things worse, it also builds on theoretical mumbo jumbo, and that's not a good thing for a story that relies so much on theory. If one could prove 1=2, math itself wouldn't become just empirical, as the main character says & regrets, but something else entirely. It would become a mere game of semantics, or better yet, something useless, not empirical. I guess Chiang simply doesn't understand the ramifications himself, and just trew a word like 'empirical' at it. Then again, maybe I should not try to appreciate this for the hard science, but for the vague epistemological metaphor at the story's centre.
The fourth tale, Story of Your Life (60pp.), may hold something of interest for those uninitiated in Linguistics 101. But everybody with a bit of basic knowledge about language and writing systems won't find much here, except their old course books disguised as a story. The main premises - that a human can predicted the future because she learned an alien language - is again preposterous. The fact that Chiang tries to sell it to the reader via some half-baked science and philosophy makes it even worse. Don't try to write hard science if you are actually writing magic. There's also an emotional side to the story, that deals with grief for a dead child, but the heavy-handedness of the linguistics and the unbelievable premise get in the way of actually conveying emotions.
Seventy-Two Letters (50pp.) is a story in the realm of magical realism and starts of with a spectacular first scene. ´Finally´, I thought - ´this must be the stuff all those high praise reviews rave about.´ It quickly becomes boring though, filled with lifeless dialogue, and a story of which the plot is more the result of 2 thought experiments (what if golems have been real, and something else) instead of the want to write about a succession of interesting events and/or character development. At this point in the book, I began to sense this is more or less Chiang's standard way to approach writing.
Next up is The Evolution of Human Science, not even 3 full pages long. It's a sketch of a few ideas in the form of a fictional scientific magazine article, no story.
Hell is the absence of God (32pp.) features the same trick as Tower of Babylon and Seventy-Two Letters: what if X were real? As this time the X are angels. It's a good story, but again the ending is mildly disappointing. And again I have the feeling Chiang wants to drive something home, more than to tell a story.
The final piece, Liking What You See: a documentary (38pp.) is the worst of the entire collection. Chiang introduces the concept of 'lookism' (cf. sexism, racism,...) and a pill that disables one to see people's beauty, and lets an array of characters ponder about that in diary fragments and the likes. This alternative, 'clever' narrative structure disguises the fact that this is again no story, but a tedious homily filled with clichés about beauty and its place in human society.
---
This is the sort of book that makes some readers feel special because they get all the tidbits of science and philosophical stuff that's mentioned, and at the same time appreciate the author's smooth chiseled way with words. So, popular award stuff for sure, all the more since it seems deep & serious, but ultimately goes down easily, because it's shallow in essence, having only one level. Undeniably, Chiang has heaps of skill. But he needs to stop trying to come across as a 'sharp', multi-disciplinarian intellectual with a soft touch, and write some real goddamned stories.
please visit Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It for more reviews
June 11, 2018
[UPDATED] This collection of short stories was quite insightful. There are seven stories here:
Tower of Babylon was probably my favorite. It is based on the Biblical story but with great twists and insights about human pretentious at higher knowledge and how the universe conspires silently to confound them.
Understand was an interesting one, but for me ended kind of abruptly. The idea of augmented intelligence was addressed famously (and better IMHO) in Keyes' Flowers for Algernon, but still this story does have some interesting ideas about the dangers of isolation and paranoia for particularly enhanced individuals.
Story of Your Life was a beautiful, moving story about language and extra-terrestrials and different ways at looking at phenomena in the natural world. My second favorite. Apparently, it was shot as a movie in "Arrival", but I missed that one in the theaters. I watched it in an airplane and enjoyed it a lot despite the Hollywood modifications to the plot. I thought visually they did a good job of rendering the aliens, but they overplayed the military aspect that was not really a factor in the short story. The lesson was more about finding common ground. The coolest aspect of the story, besides the linguistic aspect, was the bit about non-linear time. No spoilers though, you’ll have to read it for yourself!
Seventy-Two Letters was a sort of interesting story but I got hung up on the names idea and never really was fascinated with golems and cabalistic philosophy. Not my cup of tea perhaps, or over my head? Not sure: I really wanted to like this one, but it eluded me.
The Evolution of Human Science is a really short report from a meta-human of human science. Kind of bizarre.
Hell Is the Absence of God was a great story about angels and belief in God and I really enjoyed it. I used a similar idea in my first book, so it was nice to see someone else thinking along similar lines.
Liking What You See: A Documentary was the last story in the collection about a calli, a technique for combatting what the author calls "lookism" or the discrimination against folks based on their looks. Set on a college campus, the debate rages over the benefits vs the costs of this technology. Interesting, but for me, not compelling.
The stories are followed by story notes which provided insight into what inspired Ted Chiang to write each story. I find his writing fresh and interesting and will probably seek out other work (but not after making a dent in my current reading list). That being said, as interesting as his ideas are, for short fiction in the sci-fi arena, I still prefer Ken Liu and his The Paper Menagerie.
Tower of Babylon was probably my favorite. It is based on the Biblical story but with great twists and insights about human pretentious at higher knowledge and how the universe conspires silently to confound them.
Understand was an interesting one, but for me ended kind of abruptly. The idea of augmented intelligence was addressed famously (and better IMHO) in Keyes' Flowers for Algernon, but still this story does have some interesting ideas about the dangers of isolation and paranoia for particularly enhanced individuals.
Story of Your Life was a beautiful, moving story about language and extra-terrestrials and different ways at looking at phenomena in the natural world. My second favorite. Apparently, it was shot as a movie in "Arrival", but I missed that one in the theaters. I watched it in an airplane and enjoyed it a lot despite the Hollywood modifications to the plot. I thought visually they did a good job of rendering the aliens, but they overplayed the military aspect that was not really a factor in the short story. The lesson was more about finding common ground. The coolest aspect of the story, besides the linguistic aspect, was the bit about non-linear time. No spoilers though, you’ll have to read it for yourself!
Seventy-Two Letters was a sort of interesting story but I got hung up on the names idea and never really was fascinated with golems and cabalistic philosophy. Not my cup of tea perhaps, or over my head? Not sure: I really wanted to like this one, but it eluded me.
The Evolution of Human Science is a really short report from a meta-human of human science. Kind of bizarre.
Hell Is the Absence of God was a great story about angels and belief in God and I really enjoyed it. I used a similar idea in my first book, so it was nice to see someone else thinking along similar lines.
Liking What You See: A Documentary was the last story in the collection about a calli, a technique for combatting what the author calls "lookism" or the discrimination against folks based on their looks. Set on a college campus, the debate rages over the benefits vs the costs of this technology. Interesting, but for me, not compelling.
The stories are followed by story notes which provided insight into what inspired Ted Chiang to write each story. I find his writing fresh and interesting and will probably seek out other work (but not after making a dent in my current reading list). That being said, as interesting as his ideas are, for short fiction in the sci-fi arena, I still prefer Ken Liu and his The Paper Menagerie.
November 18, 2016
Review once I'm home. For now, let's just say that the final story got me into trouble with some people at the train station. *lol*
...
Now that I've had some time to reflect on all the stories I've listened to in this collection, I can honestly say that not one was bad. Sure, three were rather mediocre, but the others were either at least good or even so exceptional that they made up for the mediocre ones without much effort.
There are 8 short stories in this book:
1) Tower of Babylon
2) Understand
3) Division by Zero
4) Story of Your Life
5) Seventy-Two Letters
6) The Evolution of Human Science
7) Hell Is the Absence of God
8) Liking What You See - A Documentary
The first was good but not outstanding, the second and third were mediocre, the fourth (which is the basis for the movie Arrival that is now in theatres and the reason I read this book) was spectacular, the fifth was mediocre again, the sixth was as good as the first, and the last two were as fantastic as the fourth.
For this review I'd like to focus on the three stories I found exceptional.
Stories of Your Life: As a linguist, I was delighted to find a story where a linguist is the most important person. Because I can tell you from personal experience (and yes, I'm totally biased) that linguistics is NOT boring. Quite the contrary. Nevertheless, I often see people's eyes glaze over when I try to explain why not. To see Hollywood making linguistics popular (hopefully) is therefore a dream come true. The story did not progress the way I had expected but the concept as well as the execution were so stunningly beautiful that I'm still marvelling at both. Also, the emotional and moral implications are very heavy (in the best of ways). And the process of establishing communications with the aliens was fairly realistic (fairly because we're talking about aliens, realistic definitely in Terran terms like when the author explains the importance and difference between written and spoken language).
Here is a link a friend here on GR posted, showing the opinion of a linguist who saw the movie (beware of spoilers!): http://gizmodo.com/what-arrival-gets-...
I, personally, haven't read the article yet since it contains spoilers to the movie (which seems to be slightly different from the book so I wanted to wait) so I will get into more detail after having seen the movie.
Hell Is the Absence of God: The story was fantastically sarcastic - or at least I chuckled and laughed out loud at it. It shows very clearly why I could never be religious and everything that is wrong about religion (which means some people should probably not read it). Again, very intelligently executed too. Also, which is very important especially with such a topic, the reader is not forced to accept the author's opinion because he doesn't exactly show it - instead we have all the facets and are given the choice whether we hold with this or that character in the story and the respective world view.
Liking What You See - A Documentary: This was by far the funniest. A very important story especially nowadays that so many groups of people claim the moral high-ground, are constantly offended by everything so they constantly cry "ban this" or "ban that" and voluntarily hand over their rights and freedoms because they are desperate to feel "safe" (aka they are addicted to the illusion of being safe). I was very impressed with the different POVs here.
Some of the ideas used in this book aren't new but the way they were presented was always intelligent (yes, even in the mediocre stories). What I also liked was that there were two narrators alternating in narrating the stories (except for in the last one where they both narrated together, depending on who "spoke").
Although every story was completely different from the others, the characters were always true to life, their fates moving, and every situation was portrayed in a sort of 360°-examination; I suspect so as not to influence the reader opinion-wise.
Overall, this little collection proves that the author knows a lot about science and classic scifi themes and that he has a great talent for writing and making readers think critically about the world around them. I'm not surprised his stories have won several different awards and am now impatient to see the movie Arrival!
...
Now that I've had some time to reflect on all the stories I've listened to in this collection, I can honestly say that not one was bad. Sure, three were rather mediocre, but the others were either at least good or even so exceptional that they made up for the mediocre ones without much effort.
There are 8 short stories in this book:
1) Tower of Babylon
2) Understand
3) Division by Zero
4) Story of Your Life
5) Seventy-Two Letters
6) The Evolution of Human Science
7) Hell Is the Absence of God
8) Liking What You See - A Documentary
The first was good but not outstanding, the second and third were mediocre, the fourth (which is the basis for the movie Arrival that is now in theatres and the reason I read this book) was spectacular, the fifth was mediocre again, the sixth was as good as the first, and the last two were as fantastic as the fourth.
For this review I'd like to focus on the three stories I found exceptional.
Stories of Your Life: As a linguist, I was delighted to find a story where a linguist is the most important person. Because I can tell you from personal experience (and yes, I'm totally biased) that linguistics is NOT boring. Quite the contrary. Nevertheless, I often see people's eyes glaze over when I try to explain why not. To see Hollywood making linguistics popular (hopefully) is therefore a dream come true. The story did not progress the way I had expected but the concept as well as the execution were so stunningly beautiful that I'm still marvelling at both. Also, the emotional and moral implications are very heavy (in the best of ways). And the process of establishing communications with the aliens was fairly realistic (fairly because we're talking about aliens, realistic definitely in Terran terms like when the author explains the importance and difference between written and spoken language).
Here is a link a friend here on GR posted, showing the opinion of a linguist who saw the movie (beware of spoilers!): http://gizmodo.com/what-arrival-gets-...
I, personally, haven't read the article yet since it contains spoilers to the movie (which seems to be slightly different from the book so I wanted to wait) so I will get into more detail after having seen the movie.
Hell Is the Absence of God: The story was fantastically sarcastic - or at least I chuckled and laughed out loud at it. It shows very clearly why I could never be religious and everything that is wrong about religion (which means some people should probably not read it). Again, very intelligently executed too. Also, which is very important especially with such a topic, the reader is not forced to accept the author's opinion because he doesn't exactly show it - instead we have all the facets and are given the choice whether we hold with this or that character in the story and the respective world view.
Liking What You See - A Documentary: This was by far the funniest. A very important story especially nowadays that so many groups of people claim the moral high-ground, are constantly offended by everything so they constantly cry "ban this" or "ban that" and voluntarily hand over their rights and freedoms because they are desperate to feel "safe" (aka they are addicted to the illusion of being safe). I was very impressed with the different POVs here.
Some of the ideas used in this book aren't new but the way they were presented was always intelligent (yes, even in the mediocre stories). What I also liked was that there were two narrators alternating in narrating the stories (except for in the last one where they both narrated together, depending on who "spoke").
Although every story was completely different from the others, the characters were always true to life, their fates moving, and every situation was portrayed in a sort of 360°-examination; I suspect so as not to influence the reader opinion-wise.
Overall, this little collection proves that the author knows a lot about science and classic scifi themes and that he has a great talent for writing and making readers think critically about the world around them. I'm not surprised his stories have won several different awards and am now impatient to see the movie Arrival!
October 23, 2010
6.0 stars. Simply put, this is the single best collection of short fiction (science fiction or otherwise) that I have ever read. While my personal favorite is "Hell is the Absence of God," each and every story has something memorable, something original and something brilliant to offer. If you have not experienced Mr. Chiang's warmly intelligent and scientific yet emotional prose, then do yourself a favor and IMMEDIATELY go and get a copy of this collection. You will be very glad you did. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!!!
Winner: Hugo Award for Best Short Fiction
Winner: Nebula Award for Best Short Fiction
Winner: Locus Award for Best Collection
Winner: Hugo Award for Best Short Fiction
Winner: Nebula Award for Best Short Fiction
Winner: Locus Award for Best Collection
February 7, 2017
Dok ne sročim nešto o ovoj kolekciji priča, evo mojih ocena:
Vavilonska kula - 4
Shvati - 4
Deljenje nulom - 3
Priča tvog života - 5
Sedamdeset dva slova - 5
Razvoj ljudske nauke - 3
Pakao je odsustvo Boga - 5
Voleti ono što vidiš: Dokumentarac - 4
Dakle, prosečna ocena za celu zbirku je: 4,125
Ove tri priče koje su dobile peticu su baš baš baš odlične!!!
Vavilonska kula - 4
Shvati - 4
Deljenje nulom - 3
Priča tvog života - 5
Sedamdeset dva slova - 5
Razvoj ljudske nauke - 3
Pakao je odsustvo Boga - 5
Voleti ono što vidiš: Dokumentarac - 4
Dakle, prosečna ocena za celu zbirku je: 4,125
Ove tri priče koje su dobile peticu su baš baš baš odlične!!!
November 12, 2017
Arrival by Ted Chiang is an ebook I picked up from the library because everyone was talking about the movie and I wanted to watch it but I like to read the books before seeing the movies, I have a thing about that. I didn't know this was a book of short stories. Again, I have a thing about not reading blurbs if I can help it in books I have already. (If I am looking for a book, that is different.) This book is not a novel but a lot of short stories. Each one is drastically different and each make the reader really think, think deep. I like that. The one that became the movie, wow. I enjoyed it too. I am glad someone told me about the movie so I tracked down this talented author. I really enjoyed these short stories. My emotions and brain was all over. It was stretched and it felt good. Now, I can't wait to go watch the movie! Can't wait to see how they made this short into a full length movie! I hope it did story justice.
May 5, 2024
I'm thrilled with these stories. Ted Chiang approaches science fiction with great care, demonstrating a high authority on various subjects from biology to linguistics. These stories feel particularly relevant now, and each of them provokes thoughtful reflection. Since I'm most concerned about questions of determinism and free will, I'll particularly note the story 'Story of Your Life'. The story is very elegant. It's about language, memory, time, and structured perfectly in line with its main idea. And that profound layer that turns it into an existential parable about embracing one's path simply made me fall in love with it.
January 15, 2018
THIS STORY IS THE ORIGIN OF THE 2016 FILM "ARRIVAL"
"God, of course I know that. Do you think I'm an idiot?"
"No, of course not."
What I'll think is that you are clearly, maddeningly not me. It will remind me, again, that you won't be a clone of me; you can be wonderful, a daily delight, but you won't be someone I could have created by myself."
This is a brilliant short story. Basically the plot is
The good part is that Chiang is slow in revealing this.
The story is very smart. The sprinkling of physics and linguistics in here is both delightful and clever, but Chiang neatly avoids becoming too professorial.
Instead, he competently shows his grasp of human nature through the MC's relationship with her growing daughter.
It'll be when you first learn to walk that I get daily demonstrations of the asymmetry in our relationship. You'll be incessantly running off somewhere, and each time you walk into a door frame or scrape your knee, the pain feels like it's my own. It'll be like growing an errant limb, and extension of myself whose sensory nerves report pain just fine, but whose motor nerves don't convey my commands at all. It's so unfair: I'm going to give birth to an animated voodoo doll of myself. I didn't see this in the contract when I signed up. Was this part of the deal?
The story -both the human aspect and the alien aspect, the personal aspect and the science aspect - are fascinating and ripe with potential. It's hard not to want to see this as a full length novel.
As someone who speaks two languages, it's hard not to get giddy with excitement at Chiang's representation of how learning other languages can expand your worldview in ways beyond your wildest imaginings.
Tl;dr - Smart, sweet, short and full of fascinating concepts begging to be explored.
UPDATE: I saw the film and I don't think it is as good as this short story. Usually that's not the case, usually I enjoy films LESS than the books they are based on but MORE than the short stories they are based on. But I think the film was a bit dull.
"God, of course I know that. Do you think I'm an idiot?"
"No, of course not."
What I'll think is that you are clearly, maddeningly not me. It will remind me, again, that you won't be a clone of me; you can be wonderful, a daily delight, but you won't be someone I could have created by myself."
This is a brilliant short story. Basically the plot is
The good part is that Chiang is slow in revealing this.
The story is very smart. The sprinkling of physics and linguistics in here is both delightful and clever, but Chiang neatly avoids becoming too professorial.
Instead, he competently shows his grasp of human nature through the MC's relationship with her growing daughter.
It'll be when you first learn to walk that I get daily demonstrations of the asymmetry in our relationship. You'll be incessantly running off somewhere, and each time you walk into a door frame or scrape your knee, the pain feels like it's my own. It'll be like growing an errant limb, and extension of myself whose sensory nerves report pain just fine, but whose motor nerves don't convey my commands at all. It's so unfair: I'm going to give birth to an animated voodoo doll of myself. I didn't see this in the contract when I signed up. Was this part of the deal?
The story -both the human aspect and the alien aspect, the personal aspect and the science aspect - are fascinating and ripe with potential. It's hard not to want to see this as a full length novel.
As someone who speaks two languages, it's hard not to get giddy with excitement at Chiang's representation of how learning other languages can expand your worldview in ways beyond your wildest imaginings.
Tl;dr - Smart, sweet, short and full of fascinating concepts begging to be explored.
UPDATE: I saw the film and I don't think it is as good as this short story. Usually that's not the case, usually I enjoy films LESS than the books they are based on but MORE than the short stories they are based on. But I think the film was a bit dull.
September 20, 2018
Way to short.
I liked the concept, but it was so short, I like big books....
I liked the concept, but it was so short, I like big books....
May 5, 2017
Stories of Your Life and Others: Sadly I couldn’t connect with these stories
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
This is one of books that receives such universal praise and accolades from readers, critics, and award committees that it represents a real risk for a book reviewer. After all, if you love the book, you’re merely contributing to the overwhelming chorus of praise and not really adding much to the discussion, but at least you are “on the same page” as everyone. The alternative is much more frightening. If you didn’t like or connect with a certain book, then you are either 1) too insensitive to recognize genius when it confronts you, 2) a perverse contrarian who takes pleasure in criticizing what everyone else likes, or 3) clueless and have no credibility as a reviewer.
Well, despite repeated listenings to the stories of Ted Chiang’s collection, I just didn’t get why they were so amazing and brilliant. I can certainly recognize their careful crafting, intellectual rigor, rationalism, and serious thought about religion and faith. But did I care about the characters or say “wow, amazing” at the end of each story? Not really. Instead, I found the heavy role of mathematics, theoretical physics, language theory, and cool rationalism to be an obstacle to developing an emotional connection to the characters.
This was particularly true of “Story of Your Life”, which is all about mathematics, quantum physics, alien linguistics, sequential vs. simultaneous time, but overlays this onto the very human story of a mother recounting the various events of her daughter’s life from a unique perspective. This should be EXACTLY the type of story that I love, given that I find all those topics fascinating. So in terms of story DNA, it should be a perfect story for me, but I’m afraid its like a painting I can appreciate for its technical brilliance and delicate structure, but it didn’t move me.
Since this story not only won awards but also served as the inspiration for the 2016 Academy Award-winning SF film Arrival, starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker, it is certainly a story that gained plenty of attention. I’ll have to watch the movie now, since many of the book reviewers also rave about it as “that rare creature, a SF film that relies on intellect rather than CG and space battles.” Again, usually exactly my cuppa tea, so I’m at a loss to understand why I didn’t care all that much for it.
“Understand” is my favorite story in the collection, very much in the “Flowers for Algernon” mold but much more intense, about a man who in the process of being treated for a terrible accident is granted super intelligence, and his growing understanding of what it means to be smarter than the rest of the human race. The ending is quite dramatic and memorable.
There are also several stories that examine religious faith, specifically Biblical themes like “Tower of Babylon” and a literal vision of a world in which Heaven and Hell are real, “Hell is the Absence of God”. Both of these stories take a famous religious idea like the Tower of Babel or Heaven/Hell and then treat it in the most literal and magic realist terms.
“Tower of Babylon” describes that famous structure reaching into the stratosphere, and the construction workers who toil for generations to built it and what happens when they finally reach the Dome of Heaven. It is clearly a story about faith, but the conclusion and message was opaque to me. I tend to not respond to stories with religious themes, not being a believer myself, but still, I just didn’t get the point.
“Hell is the Absence of God” was a much more pointed story about why people go to Heaven or Hell, whether God is just or capricious, and whether good deeds and thoughts go rewarded or not. It is actually a fairly interesting exploration of “why do bad things happen to good people, and vice versa”, but I have never heard a convincing explanation of this that involves divine will, the conclusion of this story only confirmed for me that rewards and punishments have no connection with belief or actions, though I don’t think that was the intended message. Again, I just am not wired to understand these things.
“Seventy Two Letters” was a strong story, a very steampunk story of an inventor who creates a Golum that forms the basis of an alternate Industrial Revolution in England, and also has some interesting parallels with computer programming. It also raises some questions about creating life and the responsibilities that come with that. I’d say this was one of the stronger stories of the collection.
“Liking What You See: A Documentary” is about our human obsession with physical appearances and what would happen if this could be removed via a medical procedure. What would happen if you no longer perceived others as “beautiful” or “ugly”? Would you then judge them for their character or actions, and would this create a more just society? Again, an interesting thought experiment that Chiang explores via a series of journalistic articles and snippets of college students’ opposing views of this procedure, much like a pro-anti type debate. It was a good idea, but I thought it dragged on far too long and I lost interest partway through.
Overall, I think this collection will probably please more readers than not based on all the rave reviews and awards, even though I didn’t like it all that much. The audiobook was ably narrated by Abby Crayden and Todd McLaren, who convey the cool, cerebral tone of the stories.
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
This is one of books that receives such universal praise and accolades from readers, critics, and award committees that it represents a real risk for a book reviewer. After all, if you love the book, you’re merely contributing to the overwhelming chorus of praise and not really adding much to the discussion, but at least you are “on the same page” as everyone. The alternative is much more frightening. If you didn’t like or connect with a certain book, then you are either 1) too insensitive to recognize genius when it confronts you, 2) a perverse contrarian who takes pleasure in criticizing what everyone else likes, or 3) clueless and have no credibility as a reviewer.
Well, despite repeated listenings to the stories of Ted Chiang’s collection, I just didn’t get why they were so amazing and brilliant. I can certainly recognize their careful crafting, intellectual rigor, rationalism, and serious thought about religion and faith. But did I care about the characters or say “wow, amazing” at the end of each story? Not really. Instead, I found the heavy role of mathematics, theoretical physics, language theory, and cool rationalism to be an obstacle to developing an emotional connection to the characters.
This was particularly true of “Story of Your Life”, which is all about mathematics, quantum physics, alien linguistics, sequential vs. simultaneous time, but overlays this onto the very human story of a mother recounting the various events of her daughter’s life from a unique perspective. This should be EXACTLY the type of story that I love, given that I find all those topics fascinating. So in terms of story DNA, it should be a perfect story for me, but I’m afraid its like a painting I can appreciate for its technical brilliance and delicate structure, but it didn’t move me.
Since this story not only won awards but also served as the inspiration for the 2016 Academy Award-winning SF film Arrival, starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker, it is certainly a story that gained plenty of attention. I’ll have to watch the movie now, since many of the book reviewers also rave about it as “that rare creature, a SF film that relies on intellect rather than CG and space battles.” Again, usually exactly my cuppa tea, so I’m at a loss to understand why I didn’t care all that much for it.
“Understand” is my favorite story in the collection, very much in the “Flowers for Algernon” mold but much more intense, about a man who in the process of being treated for a terrible accident is granted super intelligence, and his growing understanding of what it means to be smarter than the rest of the human race. The ending is quite dramatic and memorable.
There are also several stories that examine religious faith, specifically Biblical themes like “Tower of Babylon” and a literal vision of a world in which Heaven and Hell are real, “Hell is the Absence of God”. Both of these stories take a famous religious idea like the Tower of Babel or Heaven/Hell and then treat it in the most literal and magic realist terms.
“Tower of Babylon” describes that famous structure reaching into the stratosphere, and the construction workers who toil for generations to built it and what happens when they finally reach the Dome of Heaven. It is clearly a story about faith, but the conclusion and message was opaque to me. I tend to not respond to stories with religious themes, not being a believer myself, but still, I just didn’t get the point.
“Hell is the Absence of God” was a much more pointed story about why people go to Heaven or Hell, whether God is just or capricious, and whether good deeds and thoughts go rewarded or not. It is actually a fairly interesting exploration of “why do bad things happen to good people, and vice versa”, but I have never heard a convincing explanation of this that involves divine will, the conclusion of this story only confirmed for me that rewards and punishments have no connection with belief or actions, though I don’t think that was the intended message. Again, I just am not wired to understand these things.
“Seventy Two Letters” was a strong story, a very steampunk story of an inventor who creates a Golum that forms the basis of an alternate Industrial Revolution in England, and also has some interesting parallels with computer programming. It also raises some questions about creating life and the responsibilities that come with that. I’d say this was one of the stronger stories of the collection.
“Liking What You See: A Documentary” is about our human obsession with physical appearances and what would happen if this could be removed via a medical procedure. What would happen if you no longer perceived others as “beautiful” or “ugly”? Would you then judge them for their character or actions, and would this create a more just society? Again, an interesting thought experiment that Chiang explores via a series of journalistic articles and snippets of college students’ opposing views of this procedure, much like a pro-anti type debate. It was a good idea, but I thought it dragged on far too long and I lost interest partway through.
Overall, I think this collection will probably please more readers than not based on all the rave reviews and awards, even though I didn’t like it all that much. The audiobook was ably narrated by Abby Crayden and Todd McLaren, who convey the cool, cerebral tone of the stories.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 15,214 reviews