Se gli uomini avessero costruito una torre fino al cielo? Se un farmaco incrementasse l'intelligenza? Se i fondamenti della matematica fossero arbitrari e inconsistenti? Se l'esposizione a una scrittura aliena modificasse la nostra percezione del tempo? Se una scienza del dare nomi chiamasse alla vita la materia inanimata? Se la ricerca scientifica fosse monopolio di una casta di mutanti? Se angeli di salvezza e distruzione apparissero quotidianamente per le strade? Se ci fosse modo di rimanere indifferenti alla bellezza fisica?
Ted Chiang: Stories of Your Life and Others (Hardcover, 2002, Tor)
4 stars
Arrival is one of my favorite movies so I wanted to check out the source material and I'll say I was not disappointed. I think the movie did the text justice. Lots of fun, short speculative fiction ideas played with in this collection. If you're a sci-fi/fantasy to hard sci-fi person and you haven't read this already, I'd recommend it.
The two stories of 'Stories of Your Life' (the inspiration of the movie Arrival) and 'Tower of Babylon' are very readable. The others are still great, but get technical. Chaing really is a great short story writer if you like the media.
Not my type of sci-fi at the end of the day, a little too pop science focused. Loved tower of Babylon, story of your life (the more metaphysical and less pop-sci ones). Rest were ok.
Even if you find yourself less interested in one of the short stories, most will probably be very engaging. The short story "Story of your life", on which the movie "Arrival" is based on, is worth it. The story goes into much more depth than the movie.
This is one of those science fiction books that really manage to blow your mind with the possibilities that the writer proposes. As a short story collection, you're always left out wanting more of the stories. But they are as long as they have to be.
"Hell Is the Absence of God" has stuck with me since I first read it in a collection almost 20 years ago, and Arrival was an instant favourite film when it came out, but somehow it has taken me until the past few years to read more of Chiang's work. I'm glad that I did. Exhalation was brilliant, but I think this collection tops it—the combination of religious/mythical thinking and the methodical, engineering mindset gives each story a unique blend of rigor and depth. He makes worlds where impossible things happen but feel entirely believable, and tells stories that are laden with metaphor and commentary that don't feel didactic. They're magical and often beautiful, but never fanciful—which I mean as high praise.
At this point, I'll read anything from Ted Chiang after having read several short story collections and articles. If you only want to read one collection, I think Exhalation had more stories that will stick with me for a long time than the ones from this earlier collection, but I really enjoyed so many bits of this one too.
Review of 'Stories of Your Life and Others' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Pretty uneven set of stories, but the good ones are very very good. I particularly liked Tower of Babylon, Stories of your life, Hell is the Absence of God and Liking What You See: A Documentary.
All of these give a definite impression of starting with a "what if.... X?" and running with it - sometimes at the cost of feeling like "concepts" rather than "stories with a plot and characters". Which is not necessarily a bad thing, mind you! some of the explored concepts are indeed very intriguing and/or fun!
A collection of beautiful short stories, each mulling over one existential problem or another. They're worth it just to let your mind soak and contemplate the big questions you spend most of your time ignoring.
This is my favorite format of science fiction : short but thought provoking stories. Surprisingly, the story that gave the name to this book is far from being the best in my opinion. If you want mind-bending novels that are both fun and at the same time disturbing, this book is a must-read.
Review of 'Stories of Your Life and Others' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
As I have grown older, more stressed, more worried, more cynical, and have read more books; I suppose I have gotten a bit blasé. It is not often that I read a book that stirs me so much that it feels like it sits in my body for days after, and poses questions and tells stories that somehow feel urgent to think about and mull over in my head. I am glad to report that this book showed me it is still possible.
Not all the stories are fantastic. But Chiang has that rare quality to his writing where even the stories that are not good are still good. I didn't care much for "Understand", "Division by Zero" or "Liking What You See". They are great ideas, and Chiang does a formidable job of diving into his own ideas and examining them from all angles. But sometimes, as in these …
As I have grown older, more stressed, more worried, more cynical, and have read more books; I suppose I have gotten a bit blasé. It is not often that I read a book that stirs me so much that it feels like it sits in my body for days after, and poses questions and tells stories that somehow feel urgent to think about and mull over in my head. I am glad to report that this book showed me it is still possible.
Not all the stories are fantastic. But Chiang has that rare quality to his writing where even the stories that are not good are still good. I didn't care much for "Understand", "Division by Zero" or "Liking What You See". They are great ideas, and Chiang does a formidable job of diving into his own ideas and examining them from all angles. But sometimes, as in these two stories, he seems to be too much into the idea itself and forget a bit about the story, and I find I do not feel much for or care much about the characters and their feelings or motivations. Even so, Ted Chiang at his poorest is still better than a lot of other writers at their best.
And Ted Chiang at his best is... A force of Nature. Apart from "Story of Your Life", the story behing the movie "Arrival", I absolutely adored stories like "The Tower of Babylon", "Seventy-Two Letters", and "Hell is The Absence of God", for very different reasons, as they are stories with very different atmospheres. I am a sucker for the "What if we assume that old fashioned world models are actually literally true and then examine what that would be like" kind of stories. It's not a genre Chiang has invented - one great example is [a:Philip José Farmer|10089|Philip José Farmer|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234714074p2/10089.jpg]'s novelette [b:Sail On! Sail On!|52489268|Sail On! Sail On!|Philip José Farmer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1564382468l/52489268.SX50_SY75.jpg|72440550] from 1952 - but he has certainly refined it and elevated it to new heights. And unlike most other examples I have seen, these stories do not only play with the idea of what such worlds would be like - the design, the make, of these worlds, and the experiences of the protagonists inside them, also make important and interesting philosophical points; philosophy that spans from cosmology to the human condition, suffering, loss and redemption. This may sound cheesy, but it's just not.
I am a little ashamed that I lived to be 43 years old to know Chiang's stories (apart from watching Arrival), but I'm gonna make up for it now!
Review of 'Stories of Your Life and Others' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I'm thrilled to have finally gotten around to the story that one of my favorite movies was based on. Story of Your Life made me appreciate the movie Arrival even more, while enjoying additional story elements from the source material here. I'm not very familiar with the world of sci-fi, but ever since Black Mirror went on hiatus I've had an unmet hankering for some good dystopian speculation that leaves you with that warm and fuzzy existential dread.
Chiang is my first exposure to short sci-fi. His stories are heavy on the math and science, and are so well done that I sometimes had trouble discerning where the fiction elements began. The other side of the coin here is that the stories often do focus more on the ideas than the characters or plot. But the ideas were so interesting that I didn't care.
Chiang's ability to write for so …
I'm thrilled to have finally gotten around to the story that one of my favorite movies was based on. Story of Your Life made me appreciate the movie Arrival even more, while enjoying additional story elements from the source material here. I'm not very familiar with the world of sci-fi, but ever since Black Mirror went on hiatus I've had an unmet hankering for some good dystopian speculation that leaves you with that warm and fuzzy existential dread.
Chiang is my first exposure to short sci-fi. His stories are heavy on the math and science, and are so well done that I sometimes had trouble discerning where the fiction elements began. The other side of the coin here is that the stories often do focus more on the ideas than the characters or plot. But the ideas were so interesting that I didn't care.
Chiang's ability to write for so many different perspectives on a novel topic was consistently impressive. For example: how does the world, and the various tribes and organizations within, react to random angelic visits that are akin to a natural disaster? This ability was most impressive in the final story, where seeing physical attractiveness is optional. I was blown away by this collection and am stoked for Exhalation. And don't skip the Story Notes at the end. They briefly cover Chiang's inspiration for each piece.
