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Arrival
From a soaring Babylonian tower that connects a flat Earth with the heavens above, to a world where angelic visitations are a wondrous and terrifying part of everyday life; from a neural modification that eliminates the appeal of physical beauty, to an alien language that challenges our very perception of time and reality... Chiang's rigorously imagined stories invite us to question our understanding of the universe and our place in it.
304 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2016
About the author
Ted Chiang
118 books11.6k 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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February 22, 2026
2015 review:
“Reading is nothing; comprehension is everything”.
Sarah Richards
I read this 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.
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?
Shorter thoughts on a reread 11 years later, HERE.
“Reading is nothing; comprehension is everything”.
Sarah Richards
I read this 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.
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?
Shorter thoughts on a reread 11 years later, HERE.
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.
October 28, 2017
Now I will admit that this book has caused me some confusion - The book I have is titled Arrival and looks like the one above - so you think the ISBN is correct however it appears that it also goes under the name of Stories of your life and others and was in fact retitled to coincide with the film of said title.
Now normally I do not mind these things but it does make me a little sceptical as I have been caught out in the past - the worst of all was with the works of Michael Cordy. Anyway I digress - the title was changed to match the film but I believe the contents have not changed nor its editing.
So on to the book - yes its a book of short stories although to be honest it felt like they verged on the classification of novella they are pretty substantial - which to be honest is not a bad thing. The stories were allowed to mature and explore their context without feeling rushed or contrived.
I will admit that the scientific back ground of Ted Chiang certainly comes through - from references to mathematical and scientific principles to his notes on where the ideas come from, name dropping some very strong influences in his writing career.
However I do not feel he has "over cooked" it, rather he has tried to expand my horizons than beat me over the head with his superior intellect. This is a book of stories which encourage you to think but does not sacrifice a decent yarn in the process. A great read and I certainly hope he produced more in the future.
Now normally I do not mind these things but it does make me a little sceptical as I have been caught out in the past - the worst of all was with the works of Michael Cordy. Anyway I digress - the title was changed to match the film but I believe the contents have not changed nor its editing.
So on to the book - yes its a book of short stories although to be honest it felt like they verged on the classification of novella they are pretty substantial - which to be honest is not a bad thing. The stories were allowed to mature and explore their context without feeling rushed or contrived.
I will admit that the scientific back ground of Ted Chiang certainly comes through - from references to mathematical and scientific principles to his notes on where the ideas come from, name dropping some very strong influences in his writing career.
However I do not feel he has "over cooked" it, rather he has tried to expand my horizons than beat me over the head with his superior intellect. This is a book of stories which encourage you to think but does not sacrifice a decent yarn in the process. A great read and I certainly hope he produced more in the future.
March 22, 2021
Reread 2021 for book club, just the story "The Story of Your Life."
This was originally printed as "Story of Your Life and Other Stories," this copy was the movie tie-in for "Arrival" though.
A collection of gorgeous, smart, and quiet stories. It came into my awareness because of the movie, so I'll start there. The adaptation to film was very well done, it really captured the tone of the story, of the whole collection. Thoughtful, intelligent, musing. The kind of stories where you put the book down and just think.
"Story of Your Life" has to do with an alien first contact. What stuck most with me was the shape of our thoughts. People who are raised with verbal language tend to think in words, "phonologically coded thoughts," that usually flow in a linear pattern, mimicking our sentence structure. But what about people raised without sound or words? How about an alien race that thinks and speaks circularly, outside of linear time?
A number of the stories dealt with theology, the science behind it, what ifs, crazy extrapolation etc. I was surprised at how well they meshed, religion and science are more often at odds than happy partners.
And bonus points for the appearance of one of my favorite words, "parthenogenesis." (As heard in the Shriekback song, "Nemesis.")
Well worth the read!
This was originally printed as "Story of Your Life and Other Stories," this copy was the movie tie-in for "Arrival" though.
A collection of gorgeous, smart, and quiet stories. It came into my awareness because of the movie, so I'll start there. The adaptation to film was very well done, it really captured the tone of the story, of the whole collection. Thoughtful, intelligent, musing. The kind of stories where you put the book down and just think.
"Story of Your Life" has to do with an alien first contact. What stuck most with me was the shape of our thoughts. People who are raised with verbal language tend to think in words, "phonologically coded thoughts," that usually flow in a linear pattern, mimicking our sentence structure. But what about people raised without sound or words? How about an alien race that thinks and speaks circularly, outside of linear time?
A number of the stories dealt with theology, the science behind it, what ifs, crazy extrapolation etc. I was surprised at how well they meshed, religion and science are more often at odds than happy partners.
And bonus points for the appearance of one of my favorite words, "parthenogenesis." (As heard in the Shriekback song, "Nemesis.")
Well worth the read!
December 11, 2016
Can I just say holy hot goddamn is Arrival an awesome movie! I always feel massively let down by SF movies as the 90 minute format with explosions and lasers rarely leaves room for the big concepts and character development I love in the written form. The last spectacular SF movie was...Cloud Atlas I think? So I will say this a top 2 SF movie of the last 10 years. This is a MUST SEE if you love good SF and if you haven't read the book first - don't! I normally always want to read the book first but the audio was not available in Australia and the local book store was sold out. This proved to be a GOOD THING as it was fantastic to have absolutely NO IDEA what was going to happen. Another common problem is to covert a book into a movie, 90% of the book has to be cut. Not so for a short story! This was one of those rare cases where the book had a great premise from Mr Chiang and the hollywood blockbuster elements they added actually elevated the experience.
So the thing about short story collections is that it would be very rare, maybe impossible to like ALL of the stories in a collection. Even among the greatest writers there are going to be some story ideas you just don't connect with. So it would be very hard for me to rate a SS collection as 5 stars. On the other hand when you don't like a short story it isn't really a problem, it's 1-2 hours of audio time gone, no major loss and doesn't evoke the consternation I get when I am not enjoying like a novel. The other issue with the form is it is really hard to end a short story . Almost by nature, even if you loved it so far it is hard to avoid a that's it? feel with the endings. I at least have a slight disappointment we are not continuing. This collection is no different in that the endings come rather suddenly whether we are ready or not.
Tower of Babylon My main question when reading was - was this story commissioned by the creationist museum? I didn't get it and didn't think much of it even after Brad explained it to me but hey, Nebula award!
Those wacky authors!
Understand Probably the most familiar story in the collection and no surprise to learn it was the earliest story written. Chiang's take on Flowers for Algernon/Limitless Superconsciousness story. I liked it, good little thriller.
Division by zero Story of the sad maths lady. I am not mathematically inclined enough to appreciate this one.
Story of your life So this was outstanding. 5 stars great work Teddy! Reading this only increased my love for the movie, learning a lot of the elements that made the movie great were not in the short story. Spoilers for movie
72 letters Well this one certainly gets 5 stars for weirdness. We've had steam powered automatons before, we've had future-tech simulacra, I'm not sure I've ever read about Kabbalah powered automatons who can complete basic functions powered only by Hebrew God-names. And that is before we got into the whole animating jizz-in-a-cup homunculi stuff (don't ask). Unique and couldn't look away like a car crash, also very, very strange.
The evolution of human science More of a sketch than a story it was about 15 minutes long.
Hell is the absence of God Well this one hit quite close to home with me. I have a close friend whose daughter contracted a rare form of Children's cancer. He was constantly told "this was God's plan" and his daughter's suffering would "reveal the Glory of god" and other such crap. In this story we see some "blessings" from God are curses and some curses are received as "blessings". I thought that like Solomon in Ecclesiastes this seemed to be a takedown of the "Deuteronomic code" that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. I thought it was interesting in the author's note that Chiang says it was actually a reaction to the book of Job. That the author of Job didn't have the courage of his convictions and had to give Job a "happy ending" after enduring all his suffering. This story seems to be have a moral that if life is unfair what on Earth would make anyone think the afterlife IS fair? It's probably just as screwy and messed up as the justice meted out on Earth. Great one.
Liking what you see - A Documentary This one was a work of mind blowing genius and I would put it straight into the "short story hall of fame" of best short fiction I have ever read. A device called a "cali" is invented to end the horror of "Lookism" - the discrimination that ugly people face on a day to day basis. Told as an oral history, the shifting viewpoints unveil layers upon layers beneath the original premise in a truly profound way. This story takes a topnotch premise and explores what its consequences would be. Then it explores what the consequences of those consequences would be. And so on. Instead of "2 sides to the debate" we get a virtual octagon of competing moral dilemmas. Absolutely brilliant thought-candy.
So the thing about short story collections is that it would be very rare, maybe impossible to like ALL of the stories in a collection. Even among the greatest writers there are going to be some story ideas you just don't connect with. So it would be very hard for me to rate a SS collection as 5 stars. On the other hand when you don't like a short story it isn't really a problem, it's 1-2 hours of audio time gone, no major loss and doesn't evoke the consternation I get when I am not enjoying like a novel. The other issue with the form is it is really hard to end a short story . Almost by nature, even if you loved it so far it is hard to avoid a that's it? feel with the endings. I at least have a slight disappointment we are not continuing. This collection is no different in that the endings come rather suddenly whether we are ready or not.
Tower of Babylon My main question when reading was - was this story commissioned by the creationist museum? I didn't get it and didn't think much of it even after Brad explained it to me but hey, Nebula award!
Those wacky authors!
Understand Probably the most familiar story in the collection and no surprise to learn it was the earliest story written. Chiang's take on Flowers for Algernon/Limitless Superconsciousness story. I liked it, good little thriller.
Division by zero Story of the sad maths lady. I am not mathematically inclined enough to appreciate this one.
Story of your life So this was outstanding. 5 stars great work Teddy! Reading this only increased my love for the movie, learning a lot of the elements that made the movie great were not in the short story. Spoilers for movie
72 letters Well this one certainly gets 5 stars for weirdness. We've had steam powered automatons before, we've had future-tech simulacra, I'm not sure I've ever read about Kabbalah powered automatons who can complete basic functions powered only by Hebrew God-names. And that is before we got into the whole animating jizz-in-a-cup homunculi stuff (don't ask). Unique and couldn't look away like a car crash, also very, very strange.
The evolution of human science More of a sketch than a story it was about 15 minutes long.
Hell is the absence of God Well this one hit quite close to home with me. I have a close friend whose daughter contracted a rare form of Children's cancer. He was constantly told "this was God's plan" and his daughter's suffering would "reveal the Glory of god" and other such crap. In this story we see some "blessings" from God are curses and some curses are received as "blessings". I thought that like Solomon in Ecclesiastes this seemed to be a takedown of the "Deuteronomic code" that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. I thought it was interesting in the author's note that Chiang says it was actually a reaction to the book of Job. That the author of Job didn't have the courage of his convictions and had to give Job a "happy ending" after enduring all his suffering. This story seems to be have a moral that if life is unfair what on Earth would make anyone think the afterlife IS fair? It's probably just as screwy and messed up as the justice meted out on Earth. Great one.
Liking what you see - A Documentary This one was a work of mind blowing genius and I would put it straight into the "short story hall of fame" of best short fiction I have ever read. A device called a "cali" is invented to end the horror of "Lookism" - the discrimination that ugly people face on a day to day basis. Told as an oral history, the shifting viewpoints unveil layers upon layers beneath the original premise in a truly profound way. This story takes a topnotch premise and explores what its consequences would be. Then it explores what the consequences of those consequences would be. And so on. Instead of "2 sides to the debate" we get a virtual octagon of competing moral dilemmas. Absolutely brilliant thought-candy.
January 15, 2024
'—I understood why the heptapods had evolved a semasiographic writing system like Heptapod B; it was better suited for a species with a simultaneous mode of consciousness—speech was a bottleneck because it required that one word follow another sequentially—Why constrain writing with a glottographic straitjacket, demanding that it be just as sequential as speech—Semasiographic writing naturally took advantage of the page’s two-dimensionality; instead of doling out morphemes one at a time, it offered an entire page full of them all at once.'
Read this because of/for the titular story (can confirm that the film did it proper justice/homage). Personally (because I read this not too long after finishing Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem , which I slightly prefer more) I don't think this is hardcore/heavy enough for my taste (in terms of sci-fi). And the 'human' relationships didn't move me as much as Liu's did (not like this would make any sense to you if you haven't read Liu's trilogy, but Yang Dong and Ding Yi (albeit minor characters (I've only read the first book, I don't know if they become more/less relevant in the later ones)) are so 'simple' yet well-written (for the lack of a better phrase : if characters can be (like) poetry)). The way the human relationships were constructed in Chiang's felt a bit 'forced' or rather edging towards a vibe that's very 'pop romance' (and not to my taste; but I think it will definitely appeal to other readers a whole lot more) and predictable. In any case, my favourite out of this collection by Chiang has got to be 'Division By Zero'.
'Insofar as the propositions of mathematics give an account of reality they are not certain; and insofar as they are certain they do not describe reality.'
February 17, 2018
3.5
I notice mostly 5 star reviews on this one, and if the collection had continued on the same pace as the first few stories it would have received a 5 star from me as well.
My favorites in the collection are Tower of Babylon, Understand, and Story of Your Life. All the stories are intelligently written and seem to have been thoroughly researched. I was blown away with the first story, Tower of Babylon, but unfortunately, regardless of how well studied and transcribed the collection, that last few stories were just so so for me, and that's the reason for the 3.5. It doesn't matter if a book is simple or complex, for me, when it comes to fiction, it's all about how a book entertains me.
January 10, 2017
Update Jan 11, 2017: Just seen the movie, it was awesomeee, I thought it doesn't play in Indonesia, like it was banned or something, but apparently it is play on january 2017.
The movie had different approach, a lot of theory and explanation has been cut and replaced by dramatic beautiful scene that made the film feels more sad and dark, but it's totally fair, it's a drama with a hard science fiction.
So, if you love drama or looking for a diffferent SF movie, then you HAVE TO go get your thicket and seen for your self :D
Do you love Science fiction?
I mean do you love science, just science?
How about humanity, is that something interests you?
If you said yes, then this book is for you :)
Ohh yup, once more do you love the movie “Midnight Special”? this book reminds me of that movie…..
Honestly, this is not an easy read for me, I have to reread some part and at some point, I couldn’t even figure out what’s the point Ted Chiang want to tell. But on the contrary, my feeling just eager to know what will happen and what’s actually happen.
Ted Chiang tell the story with an intelligent style that will make you curious or even amazed, and he doesn’t forget about the character, I feel like there still some connection with the reader and the character. Sometimes you will found out that some sentence had so many layers.
Tower of Babylon: 4.5 Stars
Dimana sebenarnya surga? Cerita ini mengingatkanku pada kisah Menara babel. Kisahnya unik, seperti sebuah cerita fantasi dengan akhir yang mencerahkan.
Understand: 4.5 Stars
Pernah nonton Lucy, cerita ini setipe dengan film Lucy, tapi minim aksi dengan caranya sendiri, lebih banyak konflik batin dan pikiran.
Division by Zero: 5 Stars
Apakah kamu suka matematika? Bercerita tentang seorang ilmuan matematika yang ingin membuktikan teorinya bahkan membawanya kea rah depresi? Wahh teorinya apa ya? Cukup mindblowing sebenarnya
Story of Your Life: 5 Stars
Biasanya cerita tentang alien itu penuh dengan aksi, alien datang kemudian menyerang bumi, lalu perang… Tapi tidak dengan ide film “Arrival” ini. Terasa lebih quiet and absolutely mindblowing. Ketika sejenis kapsul alien mendarat dibumi, kapsulnya hanya terdiam, sampai akhirnya manusia mencoba berkomunikasi. Dr. Louise Banks mencoba ilmu Linguistiknya dengan alien, namun semakin dalam ia mencoba, ia justru semakin mencari jati dirinya, kemanusiaan, dan arti kebebasan, yup cerita tidak berfokus pada alien tapi Dr. Banks sendiri. Saya dibuat terkesan dengan deskripsi Ted Chiang tentang linguistik dan teori-teori fisika yang disisipkan penulis juga hebat. Solid 5 Stars.
Seventy two letters: 3.5 Stars
Bercerita tentang robot, yaa saya kurang suka robot, tapi ceritanya tetap bagus, hanya saja sya tidak begitu tertarik dengan robot dan ide Chiang di “Seventy Two Letters ini..
The evolution of human science: 3.5 Stars
No idea wkwk
Hell is the absent of God: 5 Stars
Apakah Tuhan memang adil? Bagaimana saya harus mencintai-Nya dengan hidup yang tidak adil. Menurutku, cerita ini yang paling mindblowing. Bercerita tentang Neil Fisk yang hidupnya penuh ketidakadilaan hingga akhirnya mencintai Tuhan. Cerita ini mengingatkanku pada Nabi Ayub tapi dengan akhir yang berbeda tentunya.
Liking What You See: A documentary: 5 Stars
Bagaimana jika kecantikan itu dihapuskan, jadi wajah kita semua sama, tak ada yang cantik, menawan atau tampan, tentunya akan penuh pro kontra. Sudut pandang cerita ini berpindah-pindah, mulai yang setuju, pendapat dari peniliti, mahasiswa bahkan sosiolog, semua pendapatnya unik. Cerita yang singkat namun mindblowing dan filosopis dan menurutku paling mudah diikuti.
The movie had different approach, a lot of theory and explanation has been cut and replaced by dramatic beautiful scene that made the film feels more sad and dark, but it's totally fair, it's a drama with a hard science fiction.
So, if you love drama or looking for a diffferent SF movie, then you HAVE TO go get your thicket and seen for your self :D
Do you love Science fiction?
I mean do you love science, just science?
How about humanity, is that something interests you?
If you said yes, then this book is for you :)
Ohh yup, once more do you love the movie “Midnight Special”? this book reminds me of that movie…..
Honestly, this is not an easy read for me, I have to reread some part and at some point, I couldn’t even figure out what’s the point Ted Chiang want to tell. But on the contrary, my feeling just eager to know what will happen and what’s actually happen.
Ted Chiang tell the story with an intelligent style that will make you curious or even amazed, and he doesn’t forget about the character, I feel like there still some connection with the reader and the character. Sometimes you will found out that some sentence had so many layers.
Tower of Babylon: 4.5 Stars
Dimana sebenarnya surga? Cerita ini mengingatkanku pada kisah Menara babel. Kisahnya unik, seperti sebuah cerita fantasi dengan akhir yang mencerahkan.
Understand: 4.5 Stars
Pernah nonton Lucy, cerita ini setipe dengan film Lucy, tapi minim aksi dengan caranya sendiri, lebih banyak konflik batin dan pikiran.
Division by Zero: 5 Stars
Apakah kamu suka matematika? Bercerita tentang seorang ilmuan matematika yang ingin membuktikan teorinya bahkan membawanya kea rah depresi? Wahh teorinya apa ya? Cukup mindblowing sebenarnya
Story of Your Life: 5 Stars
Biasanya cerita tentang alien itu penuh dengan aksi, alien datang kemudian menyerang bumi, lalu perang… Tapi tidak dengan ide film “Arrival” ini. Terasa lebih quiet and absolutely mindblowing. Ketika sejenis kapsul alien mendarat dibumi, kapsulnya hanya terdiam, sampai akhirnya manusia mencoba berkomunikasi. Dr. Louise Banks mencoba ilmu Linguistiknya dengan alien, namun semakin dalam ia mencoba, ia justru semakin mencari jati dirinya, kemanusiaan, dan arti kebebasan, yup cerita tidak berfokus pada alien tapi Dr. Banks sendiri. Saya dibuat terkesan dengan deskripsi Ted Chiang tentang linguistik dan teori-teori fisika yang disisipkan penulis juga hebat. Solid 5 Stars.
Seventy two letters: 3.5 Stars
Bercerita tentang robot, yaa saya kurang suka robot, tapi ceritanya tetap bagus, hanya saja sya tidak begitu tertarik dengan robot dan ide Chiang di “Seventy Two Letters ini..
The evolution of human science: 3.5 Stars
No idea wkwk
Hell is the absent of God: 5 Stars
Apakah Tuhan memang adil? Bagaimana saya harus mencintai-Nya dengan hidup yang tidak adil. Menurutku, cerita ini yang paling mindblowing. Bercerita tentang Neil Fisk yang hidupnya penuh ketidakadilaan hingga akhirnya mencintai Tuhan. Cerita ini mengingatkanku pada Nabi Ayub tapi dengan akhir yang berbeda tentunya.
Liking What You See: A documentary: 5 Stars
Bagaimana jika kecantikan itu dihapuskan, jadi wajah kita semua sama, tak ada yang cantik, menawan atau tampan, tentunya akan penuh pro kontra. Sudut pandang cerita ini berpindah-pindah, mulai yang setuju, pendapat dari peniliti, mahasiswa bahkan sosiolog, semua pendapatnya unik. Cerita yang singkat namun mindblowing dan filosopis dan menurutku paling mudah diikuti.
“There’s a joke that I once heard a comedienne tell. It goes like this: “I’m not sure if I’m ready to have children. I asked a friend of mine who has children, ‘Suppose I do have kids. What if when they grow up, they blame me for everything that’s wrong with their lives?’ She laughed and said, ‘What do you mean, if?’ ” That”
May 23, 2022
I should probably stop reading SF short stories - I just don't think I'm smart enough to "get it." I've heard a ton of good things about this collection. And the movie Arrival is based on one of the short stories. But I found I couldn't connect with the characters and some stories I just didn't understand the point. There were author notes on each of the stories - however, they were at the end instead of at the start of each one. I didn't see them until afterwards.
The only story I really enjoyed was the first one, Tower of Babylon. I also liked Hell is the Absence of God - the world building and angel visitations was very well done.
The only story I really enjoyed was the first one, Tower of Babylon. I also liked Hell is the Absence of God - the world building and angel visitations was very well done.
February 18, 2017
Descriptiion: Offering readers the dual delights of the very strange and the heartbreakingly familiar, Arrival presents characters who must confront sudden change. "Story of Your Life," which provides the basis for the film Arrival, concerns the presence of alien lifeforms on Planet Earth. When a linguist is brought in to help communicate with them and discern their intentions, her new knowledge of their language and its nonlinear structure helps her deal with the pangs of divorce and the death of her daughter.
3.5*
3.5*
May 3, 2017
Esmu pietiekami aprobežots, lai par šo autoru un viņa stāstiem pirms filmas iznākšanas neko nezinātu. Esmu arī diezgan slinks un filmu nenoskatījos. Redzēju, ka viņu vērtē no izcilas līdz galīgi nekādai, un tagad pēc stāsta izlasīšanas varu secināt, ka filma noteikti ir izcila, nav reāli sačakarēt tādu konceptu. Tā kā stāsts pats par sevi nav diez ko garš, tad ir izdots vesels stāstu krājums, kas lielākoties ir lingvistiskā fantāzija un fantastika.
“Tower of Babylon” – par visu laiku nopietnāko cilvēces projektu – torni uz debesīm. Šis pasākums prasīja daudz resursu un laiku, taču galu galā tornis ir uzbūvēts, lai nokļūtu līdz tā virsotnei nepieciešams gads, un laiks iesaistīties kalnračiem. Tie veiks pēdējo projekta stadiju – debess velmes caursišanu. Galvenais ir netrāpīt virsū ūdens rezervuāriem. Šī ir grāmata par pasaules uztveri, alternatīviem pasaules modeļiem, kooperāciju un neierobežotu fantāziju. Izcils stāsts koncepcijā un realizācijā. Noteikti iesaku izlasīt – 10 no 10 ballēm.
“Understand” – pirmais no lingvistiskajiem stāstiem. Par kādu cilvēku, kuram pēc smadzeņu traumas dod speciālas zāles, lai novērstu smadzeņu bojājumus. Izrādās, ka tas palielina neironu skaitu, un Leons kļūst par pārcilvēku. Viņš pēkšņi saprot pasaules kopsakarības, viss sakrīt vietā; galvenā problēma ir nevis saprašanas spējas, bet valoda. Tieši mūsu valoda ar saviem primitīvajiem konceptiem ir domāšanas ierobežojošais faktors. Tagad viņam atliek izlemt kā izmantot savas spējas. Tāds dinamisks mikrotrilleris, kurš liek aizdomāties par cilvēka smadzeņu spēju robežām. 10 no 10 ballēm.
“Division by Zero” – šis par matemātiķu ikdienu un par to, ka ne visas aksiomas ir patiesas. Kā jau vēsta pats nosaukums, stāsta problemātika ir visnotaļ nopietna. Par to, ka sistēmas pamatpostulātus nevar definēt sistēmas ietvaros, un reizēm patiesība ir burtiski prātam neatverama. Kamēr lasi ir interesanti, bet ātri pagaist no atmiņas. 7 no 10 ballēm.
“Story of Your Life” – izcils stāsts, kuru tagad zina puspasaules. Mūsu temporālā uztvere ir tieši piesaistīta nevis entropijai, bet valodai. Autoram ir dažas interesantas idejas. Lai viss nepārvērstos par standarta Pirmā kontakta stāstu, viņš pievēršas daudz dziļākai problēmai – ja mēs zinātu visu savu dzīvi no sākuma līdz galam, kas mudinātu mums to izdzīvot līdz galam? Atbilde, manuprāt, bija pārāk optimistiska, bet tā jau ir mana problēma. 10 no 10 ballēm.
“Seventy two letters” – alternatīvā vēsture, Roberts ir golemu speciālists, viņam ir ķēriens uz jaunu vārdu izgudrošanu, un nav tālu līdz viņš spēs nodrošināt to pašreplikāciju. Kolēģi viņu ciena un augstu vērtē, taču golemu tēlu izgatavotājiem nepatīk viņa idejas par to, ka golemi paši izgatavos golemus. Savukārt cilvēcei draud briesmas, ir izpētīts, ka homunkulu skaits esošās paaudzes spermā ir ierobežots, un pēc pāris paaudzēm cilvēki nespēs reproducēties. 8 no 10 ballēm, valodā ir spēks.
“The evolution of human science” – par to, kā cilvēki ir pazaudējuši savu dominējošo lomu. Viņi dzīvo uz Zemes, bauda zinātnes sasniegumus, bet blakus viņiem dzīvo transcilvēku, no kura galda pabirām tie barojas. Cilvēku zinātniekiem nav cerības atklāt ko patiesi jaunu. Skumjš stāsts un diezgan ironisks. 7 no 10 ballēm.
“Hell is the absence of God” – kā būtu, ja eņģeļi un dēmoni būtu objektīva realitāte. Ja varētu redzēt gan paradīzi, gan elli. Ko darīt ja nebūtu iespējams saprast, pēc kādiem principiem tiek nolemta tava pēcnāves dzīves vieta? Ironisks un skarbs stāsts par mīlestību un ticības lietām. 9 no 10 ballēm.
“Liking what you see: A documentary” – par kādu eksperimentu, kura dalībniekiem tiek atņemtas spējas atšķirt smukos no nesmukajiem, radot sabiedrību, kur ārējais izskats nav tik nozīmīgs. Par to, kā pret šādas prakses ieviešanu cīnās reklāmas aģentūras un skaistumkopšanas industrija. Nudien sarakstīts kā dokumentālā filma ar intervijām, kas atspoguļo abu pušu viedokļus. Diezgan pagarš stāsts un ar laiku kļūst garlaicīgs. 8 no 10 ballēm.
Jāatzīst – labs stāstu krājums, ja vēlies palasīt no fantastikas ko tādu, kur centrālais elements būtu valoda un tās ietekme uz mūsu pasauli, silti iesaku. 9 no 10 ballēm.
“Tower of Babylon” – par visu laiku nopietnāko cilvēces projektu – torni uz debesīm. Šis pasākums prasīja daudz resursu un laiku, taču galu galā tornis ir uzbūvēts, lai nokļūtu līdz tā virsotnei nepieciešams gads, un laiks iesaistīties kalnračiem. Tie veiks pēdējo projekta stadiju – debess velmes caursišanu. Galvenais ir netrāpīt virsū ūdens rezervuāriem. Šī ir grāmata par pasaules uztveri, alternatīviem pasaules modeļiem, kooperāciju un neierobežotu fantāziju. Izcils stāsts koncepcijā un realizācijā. Noteikti iesaku izlasīt – 10 no 10 ballēm.
“Understand” – pirmais no lingvistiskajiem stāstiem. Par kādu cilvēku, kuram pēc smadzeņu traumas dod speciālas zāles, lai novērstu smadzeņu bojājumus. Izrādās, ka tas palielina neironu skaitu, un Leons kļūst par pārcilvēku. Viņš pēkšņi saprot pasaules kopsakarības, viss sakrīt vietā; galvenā problēma ir nevis saprašanas spējas, bet valoda. Tieši mūsu valoda ar saviem primitīvajiem konceptiem ir domāšanas ierobežojošais faktors. Tagad viņam atliek izlemt kā izmantot savas spējas. Tāds dinamisks mikrotrilleris, kurš liek aizdomāties par cilvēka smadzeņu spēju robežām. 10 no 10 ballēm.
“Division by Zero” – šis par matemātiķu ikdienu un par to, ka ne visas aksiomas ir patiesas. Kā jau vēsta pats nosaukums, stāsta problemātika ir visnotaļ nopietna. Par to, ka sistēmas pamatpostulātus nevar definēt sistēmas ietvaros, un reizēm patiesība ir burtiski prātam neatverama. Kamēr lasi ir interesanti, bet ātri pagaist no atmiņas. 7 no 10 ballēm.
“Story of Your Life” – izcils stāsts, kuru tagad zina puspasaules. Mūsu temporālā uztvere ir tieši piesaistīta nevis entropijai, bet valodai. Autoram ir dažas interesantas idejas. Lai viss nepārvērstos par standarta Pirmā kontakta stāstu, viņš pievēršas daudz dziļākai problēmai – ja mēs zinātu visu savu dzīvi no sākuma līdz galam, kas mudinātu mums to izdzīvot līdz galam? Atbilde, manuprāt, bija pārāk optimistiska, bet tā jau ir mana problēma. 10 no 10 ballēm.
“Seventy two letters” – alternatīvā vēsture, Roberts ir golemu speciālists, viņam ir ķēriens uz jaunu vārdu izgudrošanu, un nav tālu līdz viņš spēs nodrošināt to pašreplikāciju. Kolēģi viņu ciena un augstu vērtē, taču golemu tēlu izgatavotājiem nepatīk viņa idejas par to, ka golemi paši izgatavos golemus. Savukārt cilvēcei draud briesmas, ir izpētīts, ka homunkulu skaits esošās paaudzes spermā ir ierobežots, un pēc pāris paaudzēm cilvēki nespēs reproducēties. 8 no 10 ballēm, valodā ir spēks.
“The evolution of human science” – par to, kā cilvēki ir pazaudējuši savu dominējošo lomu. Viņi dzīvo uz Zemes, bauda zinātnes sasniegumus, bet blakus viņiem dzīvo transcilvēku, no kura galda pabirām tie barojas. Cilvēku zinātniekiem nav cerības atklāt ko patiesi jaunu. Skumjš stāsts un diezgan ironisks. 7 no 10 ballēm.
“Hell is the absence of God” – kā būtu, ja eņģeļi un dēmoni būtu objektīva realitāte. Ja varētu redzēt gan paradīzi, gan elli. Ko darīt ja nebūtu iespējams saprast, pēc kādiem principiem tiek nolemta tava pēcnāves dzīves vieta? Ironisks un skarbs stāsts par mīlestību un ticības lietām. 9 no 10 ballēm.
“Liking what you see: A documentary” – par kādu eksperimentu, kura dalībniekiem tiek atņemtas spējas atšķirt smukos no nesmukajiem, radot sabiedrību, kur ārējais izskats nav tik nozīmīgs. Par to, kā pret šādas prakses ieviešanu cīnās reklāmas aģentūras un skaistumkopšanas industrija. Nudien sarakstīts kā dokumentālā filma ar intervijām, kas atspoguļo abu pušu viedokļus. Diezgan pagarš stāsts un ar laiku kļūst garlaicīgs. 8 no 10 ballēm.
Jāatzīst – labs stāstu krājums, ja vēlies palasīt no fantastikas ko tādu, kur centrālais elements būtu valoda un tās ietekme uz mūsu pasauli, silti iesaku. 9 no 10 ballēm.
December 2, 2019
This set of SF short stories seem to have a theme to show that science is fiction. Chiang shows his knowledge of science, maths and history to reveal what is or isn't believable, provable or feasible. I liked his short story "Story of Your Life" much better than the superficial movie "Arrival".
September 6, 2017
6/9 -Finally finished this behemoth!! Oh wait, hang on! This wasn't a behemoth, it was just a real trial to read that took me 2.5 weeks to finish. A story by story breakdown follows.
The Tower of Babylon - The biblical story of the Tower of Babel must be one of the bible stories that I missed (I've only read Genesis and Exodus), so I didn't even know that Chiang's story was in any way related to the bible. I didn't really understand (or enjoy) the religious overtones, this passage for example
'It was clear now why Yahweh had not struck down the tower, had not punished men for wishing to reach beyond the bounds set for them: for the longest journey would merely return them to the place whence they'd come. Centuries of their labour would not reveal to them any more of Creation than they already knew.'
was mystifying to me - modern man's centuries of labour has revealed more about Creation than we knew at the time of the Tower of Babel, we now have proof of evolution leaving Creation as an unlikely scenario. Two stars.
Understand - I enjoyed the story (Bradley Cooper's movie Limitless was really good and this was a less action-filled version), but was confused and frustrated by the excessive amounts of technical language that I understood about as well as if it had been written in French (I would've been able to pick out a word or phrase here and there from high school French, but most of it would've been gibberish).
However, mathematics will be only a small part of the language, not the whole; unlike Leibniz, I recognise symbolic logic's limits. Other dialects I have planned will be co-expressive with my notations for aesthetics and cognition.'
I guess my comprehension is just not sophisticated enough for the story. Three stars.
Division by Zero - This had all the technical language (and more!) of 'Understand' without any of the interesting story. Thinking back on it now all I can remember is that I didn't understand it and it was all about maths (guess which was my most hated subject at school). I should have known from the opening paragraph.
'Dividing a number by zero doesn't produce an infinitely large number as an answer. The reason is that division is defined as the inverse of multiplication; if you divide by zero, and then multiply by zero, you should regain the number you started with. However multiplying infinity by zero produces only zero, not any other number. There is nothing which can be multiplied by zero to produce a nonzero result; therefore, the result of a division by zero is literally 'undefined'.
I. DO. NOT. CARE. I can't say it more simply than that. One star.
The Story of Your Life - This was the one I read the whole collection for, because I knew of the movie and intend to see it when it comes to the tv and wanted to 'read the book' first. I can see how this might work better (for me, at least) as a movie, but I found the book too full of that damn technical writing.
'In their writing, however, things weren't as clear-cut. For each action, they had displayed a single logogram instead of two separate ones. At first I thought they had written something like 'walks', with the subject implied. But why would Flapper say 'the heptapod walks' while writing 'walks', instead of maintaining parallelism? Then I noticed that some of the logograms looked like the logogram for 'heptapod' with some extra strokes added to one side or another. Perhaps their verbs could be written as affixes to a noun. If so, why was Flapper writing the noun in some instances but not in others?
I decided to try a transitive verb; substituting object words might clarify things.'
While I'm a fan of books about books and writing, the language describing the way the heptapod's language is constructed in this one was just way above my comprehension level. I also didn't like the open-ended conclusion for the reason behind the alien's visit. Three stars.
Seventy-Two Letters - More technical writing! Thinking back on it now, as I write this review (and revisit all the technical writing, some of which had slipped my mind), I'm not surprised it took me longer than normal to read. Add to the difficulties of understanding what's going on in a story full of passages like
'Ashbourne nodded. "We are fortunate in that the ovum is very specific in what it will accept. The set of euonyms for any species of organism is very small; if the lexical order of the impressed name does not closely match the structural order of that species, the resulting foetus does not quicken. [...] The only incapacity of frogs created by name impression was in the males; they were sterile, for their spermatozoa bore no preformed foetuses inside. By comparison, the female frogs created were fertile: their eggs could be fertilised in either the conventional manner, or by repeating the impression with the name.'
Stratton's relief was considerable. "So the male variant of the name was imperfect. Presumably there needs to be further differences between the male and female variants than simply the sexual epithet."
"Only if one considers the male variant imperfect," said Ashbourne, "which I do not. Consider: while a fertile male and a fertile female might seem equivalent, they differ radically in the degree of complexity exemplified. A female with viable ova remains a single organism, while a male with viable spermatozoa is actually many organisms: a father and all his potential children. In this light, the two variants of the name are well matched in their actions: each induces a single organism, but only in the female sex can a single organism be fertile."'
the confusion of old-fashioned medical beliefs - this story was set in a world where they believe that inside each individual sperm sits a completely formed, miniature human just waiting to grow once implanted within the female. Understanding the discussions on artificial insemination from scientists who don't actually know what they're talking about, mixed with discussions on nomenclature and automatons was just too much for me. Two and a half stars.
The Evolution of Human Science - This seemed to be a scientific treatise on the subject of metahumans. One and a half stars for being short.
Hell is the Absence of God - Had no trouble understanding this one, but couldn't relate to it at all. I'm an agnostic on the borderline of atheism and having the ending tell me that 'true devotion' is not caring that the deity you worship is not even aware of your existence (let alone your all-consuming love) didn't make me feel more generous towards Christianity. If I was ever going to 'let God into my life' it would a Touched by an Angel kind of God, not one where his messengers (or whatever angels are in this story) wreak havoc on the human population without a thought for the consequences of their actions. Two stars.
Liking What You See: A Documentary - This was my favourite - no technical writing (yay!) and an interesting and (unfortunately) conceivable story. I could see the pros and cons of having my (and those around me's) ability to see beauty turned off. I've always been very self-conscious of the way I look and it's taken me nearly 20 years (from puberty at 12 till about two years ago) to finally decide that I don't care what other people think of me. I wear what I want to wear/think is appropriate depending on the occasion/weather. I no longer feel out of place because I refuse to wear high heels (they kill my feet); I am comfortable going grocery shopping in track suit pants if the weather is lousy; I don't bother with makeup unless I'm feeling especially self-conscious or it's a special occasion. I dress up when I want to and don't when I don't. Occasionally I'll wear a nice dress to go shopping just because I feel like it, but after years of fighting myself I no longer feel that I have to. If I had grown up in a calli society I wouldn't have memories of people laughing at me for the way I looked, but maybe I would have reached adulthood without the strength to deal with the real world where not everyone has calli. If I had a child and was given the choice to enter a calli society today, I'm not sure what I would choose. Four stars.
Overall, I found this tedious and way too focused on Chiang's ability/desire to infuse technical writing into as many of the stories as he could manage. Another short story collection I didn't enjoy. Maybe short stories just aren't for me...?
The Tower of Babylon - The biblical story of the Tower of Babel must be one of the bible stories that I missed (I've only read Genesis and Exodus), so I didn't even know that Chiang's story was in any way related to the bible. I didn't really understand (or enjoy) the religious overtones, this passage for example
'It was clear now why Yahweh had not struck down the tower, had not punished men for wishing to reach beyond the bounds set for them: for the longest journey would merely return them to the place whence they'd come. Centuries of their labour would not reveal to them any more of Creation than they already knew.'
was mystifying to me - modern man's centuries of labour has revealed more about Creation than we knew at the time of the Tower of Babel, we now have proof of evolution leaving Creation as an unlikely scenario. Two stars.
Understand - I enjoyed the story (Bradley Cooper's movie Limitless was really good and this was a less action-filled version), but was confused and frustrated by the excessive amounts of technical language that I understood about as well as if it had been written in French (I would've been able to pick out a word or phrase here and there from high school French, but most of it would've been gibberish).
However, mathematics will be only a small part of the language, not the whole; unlike Leibniz, I recognise symbolic logic's limits. Other dialects I have planned will be co-expressive with my notations for aesthetics and cognition.'
I guess my comprehension is just not sophisticated enough for the story. Three stars.
Division by Zero - This had all the technical language (and more!) of 'Understand' without any of the interesting story. Thinking back on it now all I can remember is that I didn't understand it and it was all about maths (guess which was my most hated subject at school). I should have known from the opening paragraph.
'Dividing a number by zero doesn't produce an infinitely large number as an answer. The reason is that division is defined as the inverse of multiplication; if you divide by zero, and then multiply by zero, you should regain the number you started with. However multiplying infinity by zero produces only zero, not any other number. There is nothing which can be multiplied by zero to produce a nonzero result; therefore, the result of a division by zero is literally 'undefined'.
I. DO. NOT. CARE. I can't say it more simply than that. One star.
The Story of Your Life - This was the one I read the whole collection for, because I knew of the movie and intend to see it when it comes to the tv and wanted to 'read the book' first. I can see how this might work better (for me, at least) as a movie, but I found the book too full of that damn technical writing.
'In their writing, however, things weren't as clear-cut. For each action, they had displayed a single logogram instead of two separate ones. At first I thought they had written something like 'walks', with the subject implied. But why would Flapper say 'the heptapod walks' while writing 'walks', instead of maintaining parallelism? Then I noticed that some of the logograms looked like the logogram for 'heptapod' with some extra strokes added to one side or another. Perhaps their verbs could be written as affixes to a noun. If so, why was Flapper writing the noun in some instances but not in others?
I decided to try a transitive verb; substituting object words might clarify things.'
While I'm a fan of books about books and writing, the language describing the way the heptapod's language is constructed in this one was just way above my comprehension level. I also didn't like the open-ended conclusion for the reason behind the alien's visit. Three stars.
Seventy-Two Letters - More technical writing! Thinking back on it now, as I write this review (and revisit all the technical writing, some of which had slipped my mind), I'm not surprised it took me longer than normal to read. Add to the difficulties of understanding what's going on in a story full of passages like
'Ashbourne nodded. "We are fortunate in that the ovum is very specific in what it will accept. The set of euonyms for any species of organism is very small; if the lexical order of the impressed name does not closely match the structural order of that species, the resulting foetus does not quicken. [...] The only incapacity of frogs created by name impression was in the males; they were sterile, for their spermatozoa bore no preformed foetuses inside. By comparison, the female frogs created were fertile: their eggs could be fertilised in either the conventional manner, or by repeating the impression with the name.'
Stratton's relief was considerable. "So the male variant of the name was imperfect. Presumably there needs to be further differences between the male and female variants than simply the sexual epithet."
"Only if one considers the male variant imperfect," said Ashbourne, "which I do not. Consider: while a fertile male and a fertile female might seem equivalent, they differ radically in the degree of complexity exemplified. A female with viable ova remains a single organism, while a male with viable spermatozoa is actually many organisms: a father and all his potential children. In this light, the two variants of the name are well matched in their actions: each induces a single organism, but only in the female sex can a single organism be fertile."'
the confusion of old-fashioned medical beliefs - this story was set in a world where they believe that inside each individual sperm sits a completely formed, miniature human just waiting to grow once implanted within the female. Understanding the discussions on artificial insemination from scientists who don't actually know what they're talking about, mixed with discussions on nomenclature and automatons was just too much for me. Two and a half stars.
The Evolution of Human Science - This seemed to be a scientific treatise on the subject of metahumans. One and a half stars for being short.
Hell is the Absence of God - Had no trouble understanding this one, but couldn't relate to it at all. I'm an agnostic on the borderline of atheism and having the ending tell me that 'true devotion' is not caring that the deity you worship is not even aware of your existence (let alone your all-consuming love) didn't make me feel more generous towards Christianity. If I was ever going to 'let God into my life' it would a Touched by an Angel kind of God, not one where his messengers (or whatever angels are in this story) wreak havoc on the human population without a thought for the consequences of their actions. Two stars.
Liking What You See: A Documentary - This was my favourite - no technical writing (yay!) and an interesting and (unfortunately) conceivable story. I could see the pros and cons of having my (and those around me's) ability to see beauty turned off. I've always been very self-conscious of the way I look and it's taken me nearly 20 years (from puberty at 12 till about two years ago) to finally decide that I don't care what other people think of me. I wear what I want to wear/think is appropriate depending on the occasion/weather. I no longer feel out of place because I refuse to wear high heels (they kill my feet); I am comfortable going grocery shopping in track suit pants if the weather is lousy; I don't bother with makeup unless I'm feeling especially self-conscious or it's a special occasion. I dress up when I want to and don't when I don't. Occasionally I'll wear a nice dress to go shopping just because I feel like it, but after years of fighting myself I no longer feel that I have to. If I had grown up in a calli society I wouldn't have memories of people laughing at me for the way I looked, but maybe I would have reached adulthood without the strength to deal with the real world where not everyone has calli. If I had a child and was given the choice to enter a calli society today, I'm not sure what I would choose. Four stars.
Overall, I found this tedious and way too focused on Chiang's ability/desire to infuse technical writing into as many of the stories as he could manage. Another short story collection I didn't enjoy. Maybe short stories just aren't for me...?
June 14, 2025
Ted Chiang is arguably one of the most acclaimed science fiction authors of our time, despite having published only 18 short stories and novellas over a 35-year writing career, and not a single novel. This shouldn't be surprising when you consider the amount of attention he devotes to each story. For example, before writing Story of Your Life, he spent five years studying linguistics before even thinking of writing it. Thanks to that kind of meticulousness, his work has won nearly every major award in the genre.
Read any of his stories, especially something like Story of Your Life, and you’ll understand why. Chiang is an author who puts the science in science fiction. Literally. His work is driven more by intellectual inquiry than by character or plot, and that’s both its greatest strength and, arguably, its biggest limitation. His writing is undeniably elegant, but it can also feel emotionally distant. Perhaps this stems from his day job as a technical writer. One can sense that clarity and precision often take precedence over emotional resonance.
In that sense, Chiang’s stories are reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s films, particularly those not co-written with his brother Jonathan. Both creators are obsessed with structure and concept, sometimes to the detriment of character and emotional engagement. Like Nolan, Chiang often sidelines character development in favor of executing a complex idea to perfection. Some readers will be enthralled by this; others may find themselves left out in the cold.
The collection Stories of Your Life and Others gathers Chiang’s first eight published stories, arranged chronologically from 1990 to 2001.
The standout is undoubtedly Story of Your Life, famously adapted into Denis Villeneuve’s brilliant film Arrival. It’s one of the few Chiang stories that truly evokes deep feeling. Unsurprising, given that it’s told from the perspective of a mother addressing her unborn daughter. It weaves two parallel narratives across three temporal threads, with a substantial dose of linguistic theory. While the film smooths out some of the story’s more academic edges, the original retains a quiet, cerebral beauty of its own.
Tower of Babylon reimagines the biblical myth as a tale of ancient engineers trying to reach the vault of heaven. It’s an intriguing concept with philosophical undertones.
Understand is a modern riff on Flowers for Algernon, where a man undergoes an experimental treatment that turns him into a hyperintelligent being. The story culminates in a comic book-style clash between two super-geniuses. A bold, if slightly over-the-top, finale.
Division by Zero follows a mathematician who discovers a formula that unravels the very foundations of mathematics. The core idea is fascinating, though the ending feels somewhat flat.
Seventy-Two Letters attempts to merge two ambitious speculative concepts that Chiang found thematically linked. He explains this in his story notes, but the execution suffers from heavy-handed exposition and overly technical dialogue that bogs down the narrative.
The Evolution of Human Science is so brief and abstract that it barely leaves an impression. A thought experiment, more than a story.
Hell is the Absence of God takes a satirical approach, exploring a world where angelic visitations are real, but often catastrophic. It feels stylistically different from the rest of the collection, and refreshingly light on hard science. One can almost imagine it inspiring Garth Ennis’s The Boys, minus the superheroes.
Liking What You See: A Documentary reads like an episode of Black Mirror, presenting a provocative idea in an inventive documentary format. The concept is strong, though the execution can feel intellectually taxing.
Despite my reservations, I’ll continue reading Ted Chiang’s work. His ideas alone make the journey worthwhile. Still, I can’t help but wish he would infuse his fiction with more emotion and fuller, more complex characters. If he ever does, his stories could transcend even their current brilliance and become something truly unforgettable.
Read any of his stories, especially something like Story of Your Life, and you’ll understand why. Chiang is an author who puts the science in science fiction. Literally. His work is driven more by intellectual inquiry than by character or plot, and that’s both its greatest strength and, arguably, its biggest limitation. His writing is undeniably elegant, but it can also feel emotionally distant. Perhaps this stems from his day job as a technical writer. One can sense that clarity and precision often take precedence over emotional resonance.
In that sense, Chiang’s stories are reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s films, particularly those not co-written with his brother Jonathan. Both creators are obsessed with structure and concept, sometimes to the detriment of character and emotional engagement. Like Nolan, Chiang often sidelines character development in favor of executing a complex idea to perfection. Some readers will be enthralled by this; others may find themselves left out in the cold.
The collection Stories of Your Life and Others gathers Chiang’s first eight published stories, arranged chronologically from 1990 to 2001.
The standout is undoubtedly Story of Your Life, famously adapted into Denis Villeneuve’s brilliant film Arrival. It’s one of the few Chiang stories that truly evokes deep feeling. Unsurprising, given that it’s told from the perspective of a mother addressing her unborn daughter. It weaves two parallel narratives across three temporal threads, with a substantial dose of linguistic theory. While the film smooths out some of the story’s more academic edges, the original retains a quiet, cerebral beauty of its own.
Tower of Babylon reimagines the biblical myth as a tale of ancient engineers trying to reach the vault of heaven. It’s an intriguing concept with philosophical undertones.
Understand is a modern riff on Flowers for Algernon, where a man undergoes an experimental treatment that turns him into a hyperintelligent being. The story culminates in a comic book-style clash between two super-geniuses. A bold, if slightly over-the-top, finale.
Division by Zero follows a mathematician who discovers a formula that unravels the very foundations of mathematics. The core idea is fascinating, though the ending feels somewhat flat.
Seventy-Two Letters attempts to merge two ambitious speculative concepts that Chiang found thematically linked. He explains this in his story notes, but the execution suffers from heavy-handed exposition and overly technical dialogue that bogs down the narrative.
The Evolution of Human Science is so brief and abstract that it barely leaves an impression. A thought experiment, more than a story.
Hell is the Absence of God takes a satirical approach, exploring a world where angelic visitations are real, but often catastrophic. It feels stylistically different from the rest of the collection, and refreshingly light on hard science. One can almost imagine it inspiring Garth Ennis’s The Boys, minus the superheroes.
Liking What You See: A Documentary reads like an episode of Black Mirror, presenting a provocative idea in an inventive documentary format. The concept is strong, though the execution can feel intellectually taxing.
Despite my reservations, I’ll continue reading Ted Chiang’s work. His ideas alone make the journey worthwhile. Still, I can’t help but wish he would infuse his fiction with more emotion and fuller, more complex characters. If he ever does, his stories could transcend even their current brilliance and become something truly unforgettable.
June 29, 2024
2023: fave book of the year!! probably the best sci-fi shorts i’ve ever read. the ideas behind each story are so interesting & beautiful. learned a lot about time, math, linguistics, a bit of psychology, religious interpretation, some biology... all through a super imaginative lens. Chiang's worldbuilding within a short story is incredible.
2024 update: *chef’s kiss* so good i had to reread after telling someone about “Story of Your Life” (aka Arrival)… particularly loved “Liking What You See: A Documentary” and better appreciated “Hell is the Absence of God” this time around.
2024 update: *chef’s kiss* so good i had to reread after telling someone about “Story of Your Life” (aka Arrival)… particularly loved “Liking What You See: A Documentary” and better appreciated “Hell is the Absence of God” this time around.
January 18, 2021
I read the short-story version (along with a bunch of other short stories). Damn, Arrival was a challenging but rewarding read. Not for the fainthearted. If you thought the movie was esoteric wait till you read this! It is a classic, though, for its ingenuity and originality. It's very much old-school big concept scifi, but is written in an almost claustrophobic style. Loved it.
September 4, 2019
Fantastisks īso stāstu krājums.
Šogad man ir pagadījies izlasīt lieliskas sci-fi grāmatas, kuras ir nonākušas manā "all time favourites" sarakstā (Hard to Be a God by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky un The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams) un Arrival jeb Stories of Your Life and Others pievienojas šim sarakstam.
Nav 5*, jo bija daži stāsti, kuri tomēr līdz galam nepatika (Hell Is the Absence of God un Seventy-Two Letters).
Iesaku visiem, kuriem patīk pārdomu izraisoša literatūra klasiskā sci-fi stilā.
Mans favorīts - Division by Zero
Šogad man ir pagadījies izlasīt lieliskas sci-fi grāmatas, kuras ir nonākušas manā "all time favourites" sarakstā (Hard to Be a God by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky un The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams) un Arrival jeb Stories of Your Life and Others pievienojas šim sarakstam.
Nav 5*, jo bija daži stāsti, kuri tomēr līdz galam nepatika (Hell Is the Absence of God un Seventy-Two Letters).
Iesaku visiem, kuriem patīk pārdomu izraisoša literatūra klasiskā sci-fi stilā.
Mans favorīts - Division by Zero
June 14, 2020
خوب بود، سخت بود بعضا، خندهدار بود حتی و بسیار زیبا تصویر شده بود!
خیلی قوی بود، بعضی داستانها رو از دست میدادم و مجبور میشدم دوباره از اول بازخوانی کنم تا متوجه منظورش بشم و ایدهها واقعا خلاقانه بود، قوی فکر شده و پردازش بینظیری داشت...به علمی-تخیلیخوانها بشدت پیشنهاد میشه!
خیلی قوی بود، بعضی داستانها رو از دست میدادم و مجبور میشدم دوباره از اول بازخوانی کنم تا متوجه منظورش بشم و ایدهها واقعا خلاقانه بود، قوی فکر شده و پردازش بینظیری داشت...به علمی-تخیلیخوانها بشدت پیشنهاد میشه!
April 30, 2026
This book was given to me as a present: my boyfriend bought it partly as a joke -he knows I hate books with film tie-in covers- but also because I loved Arrival. I was genuinely surprised, since I didn't even know that Villeneuve's film was based on a story/novella and I had never heard of Ted Chiang before. This book is worth 5 stars just because of "Story of your life", the novella on which the film is based, but each of the stories included in the book are truly wonderful. The author writes with an astounding technical precision and intelligence and imbues his stories with an obvious passion for mathematics, language, physics or computer science, but at the same time with a humanity and tenderness that moved me to tears. This unexpected gift turned out to be one of the best science-fiction books I've read in a long, long time.
August 13, 2019
Pateicoties filmai "Arrival" šo jau sen gribēju izlasīt. Ļoti interesanti stāsti, dažus noteikti nākotnē pārlasīšu. Vislabākais noteikti ir “Story of Your Life” (tas pats, uz kura balstīta filma). Kamēr filma diezgan vienkāršā līmenī parāda ideju, stāsts to izskaidro daudz plašāk, izmantojot fiziku un matemātiku, kā arī daudz vairāk pievēršas valodas mācīšanās procesa detaļām. Noteikti iesaku visiem, kam patika filma, bet gribas uzzināt vairāk.
October 1, 2019
Pievienojos pārejo sajūsmai. Patiešām vieni no labākajiem SF stāstiem, ko sanācis lasīt. Visi gan nav vienā līmenī. Pats labākais šķiet Stories of your life, kas ir par pamatu Arrival filmai. Patika,ka dažos stāstos ir atsauces uz lingvistiskajām teorijām, tas sasilda manu filologa sirsniņu!
March 19, 2020
Tower of Babylon:- 5 stars.
Understand:- 4.5 stars
Division by Zero:- 4 stars
Story of Your Life:- 5 stars
Seventy-Two Letters:-4.5 stars
The Evolution of Human Science:- 3 stars
Hell Is the Absence of God:-3.5 stars
Liking What You See: A Documentary:- 5 stars
overall:- 4.5 stars
Understand:- 4.5 stars
Division by Zero:- 4 stars
Story of Your Life:- 5 stars
Seventy-Two Letters:-4.5 stars
The Evolution of Human Science:- 3 stars
Hell Is the Absence of God:-3.5 stars
Liking What You See: A Documentary:- 5 stars
overall:- 4.5 stars
January 9, 2019
A bizarre collection of short stories which focuses on the inevitable binding and meshing of human life, STEM and a little bit of religion. Ted Chiang writes with deep knowledge on his subjects at hand, proving to be technical without making the reader feel invaded and treated dumb by not being too technical. There were themes of struggling sense of morality and mortality in most of the stories. The emotions were vivid enough in a setting of progress and indifference/shock. The collection was composed of 8 short stories with different points of view; settings of which were often into the very far future. The characters in most short stories usually try their best to make sense of their situations and adapt in a world of constant change. That said a Story Notes section was included in the last pages of the book which proved to be helpful rather than make the stories lose their meaning and destroy their thought-provoking essence.
My personal favorites are Understand, Division by Zero, Story of Your Life and Liking What You See: A Documentary.
Tower of Babylon - 3/5
A tale about the building of the Tower of Babylon, the human struggles included in it and a reaching of a so-called "Nirvana".
Understand - 4/5
Very reminiscent of sci-fi films Lucy (2014) and Limitless (2011). Only, this one was more believable, wittier, and entirely throws away the myth that humans only use 10% of their brains. There's a battle of the brains near the end of the story and it's fantastic.
Division by Zero - 4/5
The title proved what Mathematics really was within the confinements of a crumbling marriage between a Biologist and Mathematician. It's subliminal and also a kind of a slap on the face as if everything one believed in had been a lie (but you'd be crazy to believe that).
Story of Your Life - 5/5
The film Arrival (2016) was based on this story. Its themes swirled around the complications and intricacies of language not only after the arrival of Aliens but also the lexical ambiguity and breakdown in the main protagonist's relationship both with her husband and daughter. Heartbreaking and touching.
Seventy-Two Letters - 3/5
The most tedious story in the collection. The setting was in the Victorian era but some devices were very post-modern while the plot was baffling. I suggest a second reading to fully appreciate this. A gist: bringing inanimate objects to life one human action at a time.
The Evolution of Human Science - 4/5
The shortest story in the collection.
Hell is the Absence of God - 3/5
Here, angels were destructive forces of nature. The main protagonist was a non-religious whose wife was religious enough that when she died she went to heaven. Depressed by his wife's death and pushed to a suicidal state, he made efforts so that he could join his wife in heaven when he finally dies. The journey sure was interesting but not interesting enough to live a religious life. It's also quite comical.
Liking What You See: A Documentary - 5/5
We all have heard and know of racism, sexism, ageism, et cetera, but have we heard of lookism (which was the discrimination of people based on their looks)? This was the most interesting short story as the structure was documentary-like: interviewing people about lookism with this technology called calliagnosia where a predisposed attitude in looks will be "turned off" (we all know pretty people get better things). There were opposite parties about the use of calliagnosia whose statements will rattle the reader, make him/her ponder, laugh, cry a little bit, and dream of a world like this out of pure curiosity and wishful-thinking.
My personal favorites are Understand, Division by Zero, Story of Your Life and Liking What You See: A Documentary.
Tower of Babylon - 3/5
A tale about the building of the Tower of Babylon, the human struggles included in it and a reaching of a so-called "Nirvana".
Understand - 4/5
Very reminiscent of sci-fi films Lucy (2014) and Limitless (2011). Only, this one was more believable, wittier, and entirely throws away the myth that humans only use 10% of their brains. There's a battle of the brains near the end of the story and it's fantastic.
Division by Zero - 4/5
The title proved what Mathematics really was within the confinements of a crumbling marriage between a Biologist and Mathematician. It's subliminal and also a kind of a slap on the face as if everything one believed in had been a lie (but you'd be crazy to believe that).
Story of Your Life - 5/5
The film Arrival (2016) was based on this story. Its themes swirled around the complications and intricacies of language not only after the arrival of Aliens but also the lexical ambiguity and breakdown in the main protagonist's relationship both with her husband and daughter. Heartbreaking and touching.
Seventy-Two Letters - 3/5
The most tedious story in the collection. The setting was in the Victorian era but some devices were very post-modern while the plot was baffling. I suggest a second reading to fully appreciate this. A gist: bringing inanimate objects to life one human action at a time.
The Evolution of Human Science - 4/5
The shortest story in the collection.
Hell is the Absence of God - 3/5
Here, angels were destructive forces of nature. The main protagonist was a non-religious whose wife was religious enough that when she died she went to heaven. Depressed by his wife's death and pushed to a suicidal state, he made efforts so that he could join his wife in heaven when he finally dies. The journey sure was interesting but not interesting enough to live a religious life. It's also quite comical.
Liking What You See: A Documentary - 5/5
We all have heard and know of racism, sexism, ageism, et cetera, but have we heard of lookism (which was the discrimination of people based on their looks)? This was the most interesting short story as the structure was documentary-like: interviewing people about lookism with this technology called calliagnosia where a predisposed attitude in looks will be "turned off" (we all know pretty people get better things). There were opposite parties about the use of calliagnosia whose statements will rattle the reader, make him/her ponder, laugh, cry a little bit, and dream of a world like this out of pure curiosity and wishful-thinking.
December 9, 2017
Like the previous book I read, ‘Arrival’ gave me a definite sense of deja vu. I’d undoubtedly read the first two stories before somewhere and they immediately seemed familiar as they’re both so distinctive. Every story in the collection proved to be similarly thoughtful, well-crafted, and original. Chiang has that rare and miraculous ability to craft short stories that don’t feel like explorations of ideas too small for a novel, nor incomplete snippets. Each story is short because no additional words appear necessary; Borges also consistently manages this extremely difficult feat of writing.
Part of my impetus to read this collection was the desire to see the film Arrival, based on ‘Story of your Life’, which I couldn’t very well do before reading the book version. Although I enjoyed the story, it was by no means my favourite of the eight. Yet I’m all the more intrigued to see the film, as the story did not strike me as terribly cinematic. I wonder how the complex discussion of linguistic structures comes across on film and look forward to finding out.
All the stories were rewarding to read and written in an impressively accomplished style. My favourites were the final three, as I found them the most thought-provoking. Each extrapolates from an astonishing concept, asking how people would live if the extraordinary were relatively mundane, or at least widely accepted. One deals with the effects of golems on Victorian industry, biology, and social mores; another the social impact of extremely literal angelic visitations and awareness of heaven and hell. The final story, and the one I enjoyed most of all, presents a written documentary on ‘calliagnosia’ or beauty-blindness technology. The immense range of perspectives and nuance that Chiang brought to this were both intellectually satisfying and very entertaining. 'Liking What You See: A Documentary' left me thinking carefully about whether I’d to get ‘calli’ treatment myself, if it existed, and whether its existence would have a positive social effect.
All told, this is a truly excellent collection covering theological, technological, linguistic, and social issues intelligently and humanely. Books like this remind me how mind-expanding sci-fi can be, and thus why I started reading it in the first place.
Part of my impetus to read this collection was the desire to see the film Arrival, based on ‘Story of your Life’, which I couldn’t very well do before reading the book version. Although I enjoyed the story, it was by no means my favourite of the eight. Yet I’m all the more intrigued to see the film, as the story did not strike me as terribly cinematic. I wonder how the complex discussion of linguistic structures comes across on film and look forward to finding out.
All the stories were rewarding to read and written in an impressively accomplished style. My favourites were the final three, as I found them the most thought-provoking. Each extrapolates from an astonishing concept, asking how people would live if the extraordinary were relatively mundane, or at least widely accepted. One deals with the effects of golems on Victorian industry, biology, and social mores; another the social impact of extremely literal angelic visitations and awareness of heaven and hell. The final story, and the one I enjoyed most of all, presents a written documentary on ‘calliagnosia’ or beauty-blindness technology. The immense range of perspectives and nuance that Chiang brought to this were both intellectually satisfying and very entertaining. 'Liking What You See: A Documentary' left me thinking carefully about whether I’d to get ‘calli’ treatment myself, if it existed, and whether its existence would have a positive social effect.
All told, this is a truly excellent collection covering theological, technological, linguistic, and social issues intelligently and humanely. Books like this remind me how mind-expanding sci-fi can be, and thus why I started reading it in the first place.
April 22, 2023
2.5 ☆ - majority of the stories in here were 2☆ stories for me. although the concepts were unique, i found that they were underdeveloped, ended really abruptly, or were rather forgettable
there were three stories that i loved. one of them being 'story of your life', aka the story that the film arrival is based on. definitely a standout story in this collection. i reallly liked 'hell is the absence of god'. i think that ted chiang excels at writing longer, emotive pieces as opposed to ambitious scientific thought projects. the latter comes across as dull in this format, the former works realllyy well for me. this was so good, i loved the unique take on religion and theology. my other favourite was 'liking what you see: a documentary'. this final story was the most thought-provoking. it's discussions on beauty/pretty privilege were outstanding. i love that chiang approached this extremely complex topic from a variety of perspectives, allowing the reader to arrive at their own conclusions. so so well-written.
however, only 3 out of 8 stories worked for me :/ even though those 3 stories were incredible, the collection as a whole was disappointing
there were three stories that i loved. one of them being 'story of your life', aka the story that the film arrival is based on. definitely a standout story in this collection. i reallly liked 'hell is the absence of god'. i think that ted chiang excels at writing longer, emotive pieces as opposed to ambitious scientific thought projects. the latter comes across as dull in this format, the former works realllyy well for me. this was so good, i loved the unique take on religion and theology. my other favourite was 'liking what you see: a documentary'. this final story was the most thought-provoking. it's discussions on beauty/pretty privilege were outstanding. i love that chiang approached this extremely complex topic from a variety of perspectives, allowing the reader to arrive at their own conclusions. so so well-written.
however, only 3 out of 8 stories worked for me :/ even though those 3 stories were incredible, the collection as a whole was disappointing
November 20, 2019
Having watched Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi masterpiece Arrival last year prior to not knowing anything besides the filmmakers involved, it definitely peaked my interest towards the author behind the source material. As part of the promotion for that film, Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others gets another published edition with short sci-fi stories that explores diverse ideas of what makes the human tick and the world it inhabits.
Out of the eight short stories, three of them stood out for me from Tower of Babylon – a group of miners take part in an enormous brick tower that has been in continuous construction for centuries – to Liking What You See: A Documentary – an exploration on lookism and how beauty can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. However, my favourite is Story of Your Life which became Arrival as the story contrasts between the dissection of an alien race’s distinct language and a woman telling the entire life of her daughter.
Out of the eight short stories, three of them stood out for me from Tower of Babylon – a group of miners take part in an enormous brick tower that has been in continuous construction for centuries – to Liking What You See: A Documentary – an exploration on lookism and how beauty can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. However, my favourite is Story of Your Life which became Arrival as the story contrasts between the dissection of an alien race’s distinct language and a woman telling the entire life of her daughter.
August 30, 2019
Ted Chiang can basically do no wrong in my eyes.
February 4, 2022
One of those rare cases where the film is actually better than the book. (3,4 / 5)
July 25, 2025
False, Heartless stories
When I use the word "heartless", I am doing something that Chiang himself likes to do: playing with language. Usually we take "heartless" to mean "cruel", but Chiang's stories are only occasionally cruel, and never so without justification. I call them "heartless" because they lack heart. Chiang is surreally good at making his characters uninteresting, even when interesting things are happening to them.
I guess a lot of the problem for me was that Chiang used these stories as vehicles to explore certain intellectual ideas in physics, mathematics, linguistics, and biology. I found his explorations naïve and simplistic.
Blog review.
A true story is never quite so true as an invented one.Somerset Maugham never read Ted Chiang's stories in Arrival. They are invented stories, but they are deliberately untrue. In my opinion, Chiang does not use fiction to make his stories more true -- he makes them more false. In most of the stories the falsity is obvious, for instance, future generations are not stored in sperm as literal homunculi ("Seventy-two letters"). But I was most bothered by "Story of your Life", which was inspired by "variational principles of physics", as Chiang writes in the story notes. It is however a deliberately distorted version of those principles. Chiang chose this distortion to improve the "metaphoric possibilities". This bothered me because it was less obvious and therefore more deceptive than the distortions in his other stories.
? W. Somerset Maugham
When I use the word "heartless", I am doing something that Chiang himself likes to do: playing with language. Usually we take "heartless" to mean "cruel", but Chiang's stories are only occasionally cruel, and never so without justification. I call them "heartless" because they lack heart. Chiang is surreally good at making his characters uninteresting, even when interesting things are happening to them.
I guess a lot of the problem for me was that Chiang used these stories as vehicles to explore certain intellectual ideas in physics, mathematics, linguistics, and biology. I found his explorations naïve and simplistic.
Blog review.
April 26, 2018
This book of short stories contains one which was made into a film titled Arrival which came out in 2017, and was then re-released with that same title. That story is just one of eight in this very strong collection. "Tower of Babylon" is narrated by a stone cutter, Hillalum, hired by the creators of the famous tower. They have nearly reached the vault of heaven, which seems to be made of a smooth white marble. It takes Hillalum and his fellow workers a full month to climb to the tower's summit before they can set out on the daunting task of breaching heaven. "Understand" and "Divide by Zero" both contain super-smart individuals ultimately undone by their own intelligence. The standout piece is "Story of Your Life", in which a professor of linguistics is hired by the US government to learn the language of an alien race, which has set up a series of mysterious mirror-like communication devices all over the world. As she learns both their written and oral languages she begins to gain strange insights into how these new being think outside of linear time. "Seventy-Two Letters" is set in an alternate Victorian England in which Jewish mysticism has influenced the development of a new branch of science with staggering practical and theoretical applications. "Hell is an Absence of God" introduces a world in which angelic visitations are extremely common, and effect humans similarly to localized natural disasters. Then there are two shorter more meta pieces, one written as a introduction to a scientific journal and one as a transcription of a documentary both in future worlds in which new scientific advancements have drastically changed human life. A very enjoyable book.
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