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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
Great collection of short stories, especially "Story of Your Life," which was made into the film "The Arrival" (which wasn't as good as the short story). I used to read a lot of short stories back in the day, but drifted away from that genre for some reason. I may have to get back into it, because Chiang has written others that I'd like to read. These stories are not of the "hard sci-fi" type that I enjoy more, but nonetheless are good because the characters are drawn very realistically. If you like sci-fi, I'd definitely give this collection a try.
2024 update: I have had the ending scene from Arrival stuck in my head since reading this book and rewatching the movie. I frequently rewatch the ending, and even tried to learn the song on guitar (and learned songs for violin don't work very well on guitar).
I loved rereading the original story and noticing all the foreshadowing and details. The sentence structure "I remember when [insert something in the future tense]" is so smart and creative, I think about it all the time. The nuanced way the story deals with determinism and free will works for me.
The movie feels like a human story that happens to have aliens involved, but the book is more of an alien story that happens to have a human element. I actually think they're synergistic in that the details in the book help you appreciate the adaptations in the movie.
Story of Your Life is a strong enough 5 stars that I'm going to rate this collection 5 stars and pretend I didn't read the bad stories included.
Original review:
This is the Paul George of books. Paul George is a very good NBA player; he has incredible highlights, he's had very good regular season performances, and is entertaining to watch, but he is also frequently injured and he started his career missing his first 13 potential game winning shots. In a moment of NBA infamy Paul George capped off a historic collapse by clanking an open shot off the side of the backboard.
This book is a collection of 8 short stories. 4 of them were not compelling at all to me, 2 had very interesting ideas but unsatisfying endings, 1 was fantastic all around, and 1 was an absolute clunker off the side of the backboard.
"Story of Your Life" (basis for the movie Arrival) is the highlight of the collection. I actually prefer the short story over the movie - there's no political fluff and no "saving the world" drama, just pure bizzare, intricate ideas on how the world might be very different than we perceive it intertwined with a simple, meaningful story. Days later I am still thinking about it, wrapping my head around how it would work and appreciating the subtle details that make the story consistent to its theme. It's no Better Call Saul, but it was concise, clever, and compelling.
Three critiques of this as a collection of short stories:
1) Only one of these had a satisfying ending
2) They were all way too similar in theme - all having to do directly with humans ascending to something more than they currently are. I haven't read much sci-fi, but this seems too narrow to have 8 separate stories on
3) For me, one major benefit of reading a book over other forms of entertainment is that the time spent, detail, and active participation (i.e. reading vs watching) allows me to develop a different world in my head where I can intuitively understand and feel what is happening. Short stories inherently numb that aspect of reading by just being short and without much detail
When I rated each story individually I got to 21/40 stars, so rounding up to 3/5.
I loved rereading the original story and noticing all the foreshadowing and details. The sentence structure "I remember when [insert something in the future tense]" is so smart and creative, I think about it all the time. The nuanced way the story deals with determinism and free will works for me.
The movie feels like a human story that happens to have aliens involved, but the book is more of an alien story that happens to have a human element. I actually think they're synergistic in that the details in the book help you appreciate the adaptations in the movie.
Story of Your Life is a strong enough 5 stars that I'm going to rate this collection 5 stars and pretend I didn't read the bad stories included.
Original review:
This is the Paul George of books. Paul George is a very good NBA player; he has incredible highlights, he's had very good regular season performances, and is entertaining to watch, but he is also frequently injured and he started his career missing his first 13 potential game winning shots. In a moment of NBA infamy Paul George capped off a historic collapse by clanking an open shot off the side of the backboard.
This book is a collection of 8 short stories. 4 of them were not compelling at all to me, 2 had very interesting ideas but unsatisfying endings, 1 was fantastic all around, and 1 was an absolute clunker off the side of the backboard.
"Story of Your Life" (basis for the movie Arrival) is the highlight of the collection. I actually prefer the short story over the movie - there's no political fluff and no "saving the world" drama, just pure bizzare, intricate ideas on how the world might be very different than we perceive it intertwined with a simple, meaningful story. Days later I am still thinking about it, wrapping my head around how it would work and appreciating the subtle details that make the story consistent to its theme. It's no Better Call Saul, but it was concise, clever, and compelling.
Three critiques of this as a collection of short stories:
1) Only one of these had a satisfying ending
2) They were all way too similar in theme - all having to do directly with humans ascending to something more than they currently are. I haven't read much sci-fi, but this seems too narrow to have 8 separate stories on
3) For me, one major benefit of reading a book over other forms of entertainment is that the time spent, detail, and active participation (i.e. reading vs watching) allows me to develop a different world in my head where I can intuitively understand and feel what is happening. Short stories inherently numb that aspect of reading by just being short and without much detail
When I rated each story individually I got to 21/40 stars, so rounding up to 3/5.
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My copy of 'Arrival' looks like a cheap give-away, cashing in on the film's popularity, but it's actually a very strong collection of stories, published earlier as 'Stories of Your Life and Others' (2002). Chiang is a surprisingly versatile writer, his stories are wide ranging in format and not every story in this collection can be described as 'science fiction'.
The collection opens with the powerful 'Tower of Babylon' (1990), which takes as its starting point: what if the tower of Babylon had really been built? The story is akin to Harry Harrison's '[b:Captive Universe|710839|Captive Universe|Harry Harrison|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1263743112s/710839.jpg|2861555]' (1969), except that this time the odd cosmology is real.
In 'Understand' (1991) a man becomes hyper-intelligent. Chiang does not only make his development mindblowingly believable, the story is also an exciting thriller.
'Division by zero' (1991) on the other hand will probably appeal to scientists , only, and in particular to mathematicians, as it deals with the esthetics of mathemathics.
Centerpiece of the collection is 'Story of Your Life' (1998), on which the film 'Arrival' is based. Chiang's description of a totally foreign language and world view is very convincing, even though I cannot go with the concept of 'memories of the future' (I already thought that the weakest part of the film). If you liked the movie, you certainly will like the story even better.
'Seventy-Two Letters' (2000) takes place in an alternative Victorian universe, in which golems and homunculi really exist. Chiang does an excellent job in building a convincing science out of these outdated concepts. This story is Chiang's own personal version of steampunk. I'd certainly like to see more of this wonderful world.
'The evolution of human science' (2000) is a very short story written for Nature. It may because of its short length or because it was commissioned, but it's the least interesting entry in this collection.
'Hell is the Absence of God' (2001) again takes place in an alternative universe in which God, angels, heaven and hell not only really exist, but manifest themselves in the visible world. Yet, this world remains surprisingly similar to ours, and the story tells some fundamental truths about the nature of God.
'Liking what you see: a documentary' (2002) is indeed written like a TV-documentary, consisting news snippets and recurring people telling their stories. The story deals with the last bastion of discrimination: the fact that more beautiful people are more successful. Chiang calls this 'lookism' and the story deals with a technological cure. During the development of the story, Chiang is always ahead of you, coming up with aspects and counter-reactions that make perfect sense. The story has a lot in common with the rising of Social Media, and it's surprising that it was written before that happened.
At the end of the book Chiang tells a little about the genesis of his stories, and his personal stance. Highly recommended.
The collection opens with the powerful 'Tower of Babylon' (1990), which takes as its starting point: what if the tower of Babylon had really been built? The story is akin to Harry Harrison's '[b:Captive Universe|710839|Captive Universe|Harry Harrison|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1263743112s/710839.jpg|2861555]' (1969), except that this time the odd cosmology is real.
In 'Understand' (1991) a man becomes hyper-intelligent. Chiang does not only make his development mindblowingly believable, the story is also an exciting thriller.
'Division by zero' (1991) on the other hand will probably appeal to scientists , only, and in particular to mathematicians, as it deals with the esthetics of mathemathics.
Centerpiece of the collection is 'Story of Your Life' (1998), on which the film 'Arrival' is based. Chiang's description of a totally foreign language and world view is very convincing, even though I cannot go with the concept of 'memories of the future' (I already thought that the weakest part of the film). If you liked the movie, you certainly will like the story even better.
'Seventy-Two Letters' (2000) takes place in an alternative Victorian universe, in which golems and homunculi really exist. Chiang does an excellent job in building a convincing science out of these outdated concepts. This story is Chiang's own personal version of steampunk. I'd certainly like to see more of this wonderful world.
'The evolution of human science' (2000) is a very short story written for Nature. It may because of its short length or because it was commissioned, but it's the least interesting entry in this collection.
'Hell is the Absence of God' (2001) again takes place in an alternative universe in which God, angels, heaven and hell not only really exist, but manifest themselves in the visible world. Yet, this world remains surprisingly similar to ours, and the story tells some fundamental truths about the nature of God.
'Liking what you see: a documentary' (2002) is indeed written like a TV-documentary, consisting news snippets and recurring people telling their stories. The story deals with the last bastion of discrimination: the fact that more beautiful people are more successful. Chiang calls this 'lookism' and the story deals with a technological cure. During the development of the story, Chiang is always ahead of you, coming up with aspects and counter-reactions that make perfect sense. The story has a lot in common with the rising of Social Media, and it's surprising that it was written before that happened.
At the end of the book Chiang tells a little about the genesis of his stories, and his personal stance. Highly recommended.
Best short-story/story sf book, I've read so far... It does not only focuses on technology vs life as it is but asks bigger questions about some fundemental issues that we came to face more and more in our everyday life. Some stories are better than the others as it can be expected. Nonetheless, Chiang accomplish a mesmerizing effect, nearly, in everything he writes; it does not matter whether it is four pages long, or fifty...
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
sometimes the stories had me hooked from the start, other times I'd be a little out of it until the end crept up on me n i was left unable to move on, stuck thinking about them.
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A mixed bag, some stories interesting and purposeful, some flat and slow. A lot of different styles of writing on display from an obviously talented author, but the content of some stories may put off some readers, especially those expecting science fiction specifically. Overall some good ideas, not always well executed, but still worth a read for fans of the author or short stories in general.
slow-paced
This was a think-y collection of short stories, and it explores things like technology, linguistics, and religion through a science fiction lens. Not as haunting as the ones you read in your high school English class, but they'll stick with me. Some micro-thoughts on each one because they were all pretty interesting:
1. Tower of Babylon: It was like historical sci-fi which was really cool. This one had the most satisfying ending for me.
2. Understand: This guy takes a drug that makes him super intelligent, to the point where he can control his organs--he no longer has a subconscious. I didn't understand (hehe) the end?? But it's impressive to realistically write a character smarter than you so props to the author.
3. Division by Zero: A mathematician creates a proof that shows 1=2, which makes no sense and throws what she fundamentally believes about her field into disarray. The format was cool but overall it was kinda sad.
4. Story of Your Life: It was very Christopher Nolan-esque but with a good female protagonist and linguistics. This was one of my favorites!
5. 72 Letters: Nomenclature actually gives life to objects--a cool concept, but this was probably the most boring story for me T^T
6. The Evolution of Human Science: Flash fiction that was kinda meta but also,, just some words
7. Hell is the Absence of God: Another 'cool concept, depressing story' one. It was interesting to see the ways devotion looks when faith (or at least uncertainty) is no longer present. The author wrote it partially as a response to Job, but I disagree with his conclusion.
8. Liking What You See: A technology that blocks the brain's aesthetic reaction to beauty is popularized. This was really cool, and the author explores the concept from all angles. I think it's an interesting look at the relationship between mind and body and technology in general.
1. Tower of Babylon: It was like historical sci-fi which was really cool. This one had the most satisfying ending for me.
2. Understand: This guy takes a drug that makes him super intelligent, to the point where he can control his organs--he no longer has a subconscious. I didn't understand (hehe) the end?? But it's impressive to realistically write a character smarter than you so props to the author.
3. Division by Zero: A mathematician creates a proof that shows 1=2, which makes no sense and throws what she fundamentally believes about her field into disarray. The format was cool but overall it was kinda sad.
4. Story of Your Life: It was very Christopher Nolan-esque but with a good female protagonist and linguistics. This was one of my favorites!
5. 72 Letters: Nomenclature actually gives life to objects--a cool concept, but this was probably the most boring story for me T^T
6. The Evolution of Human Science: Flash fiction that was kinda meta but also,, just some words
7. Hell is the Absence of God: Another 'cool concept, depressing story' one. It was interesting to see the ways devotion looks when faith (or at least uncertainty) is no longer present. The author wrote it partially as a response to Job, but I disagree with his conclusion.
8. Liking What You See: A technology that blocks the brain's aesthetic reaction to beauty is popularized. This was really cool, and the author explores the concept from all angles. I think it's an interesting look at the relationship between mind and body and technology in general.