Reviews tagging 'Death'

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

21 reviews

rlgreen91's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

What a wonderful collection of stories!  I had never heard of Ted Chiang before, but I was happy to squeeze this book in for an online book club, and I'm so glad I did.  Each story was wonderfully thought-provoking and engrossing.  

In response to another reader's question, I'd have to say that "The Tower of Babylon", "Story of Your Life", and "Seventy-Two Letters" are tied for my favorite.  As  a fairly devout Christian, I loved the idea of an alternate version of the Tower of Babylon Bible story.  I enjoyed the twists that emerged from the narrative structure of "Story of Your Life," as well as the linguistic and anthropological aspects of it - it reminded me a bit of "Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler, another short story I really enjoyed.  Finally, I loved "Seventy-Two Letters" because it also invoked linguistic and anthropological concepts - how do you create an epithet that reflects the essence of something?  But Stratton's work is so similar at its core to what I do as a software developer.  And the way Chiang captured Stratton's final idea was perfect - it was exquisite prose that managed to capture not just how revolutionary the discovery of DNA must have been, but also that moment when you've been puzzling over a difficult problem in programming and you finally figure out a simple, elegant solution.  Well, maybe I do have a singular favorite after all, haha.

But really, these short stories are great.  I believe Chiang has another collection so I'll have to pick it up soon. 5 stars.
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jessthanthree's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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stargirlmolly's review

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challenging reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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erissa_lestrange's review

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challenging funny informative mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

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laurareads87's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I just assume that any book by Ted Chiang is going to receive a five-star rating from me, and Stories of Your Life and Others unsurprisingly met that expectation.  I'd read some of the stories in this collection before and I've taught the film Arrival, based on one of them, in a university Cultural Studies class.  What Ted Chiang does remarkably well, in my mind, is take what might seem like a simple premise -- for example, what if a technology existed to disrupt the ability to respond to beauty (or lack thereof) in human faces, thereby eliminating lookism? -- and explore it from multiple angles in a remarkably brief number of pages.  His writing ranges from exhilarating to tragic to hilarious but is always, always thought-provoking in the best possible way.  Highly, highly recommend.
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rileyeffective's review

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inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

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homewithyou's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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bwwilhelm's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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mar's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

5.0

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manarnia's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This collection was great! There were times when it dragged or lost my interest, but overall I found it a really compelling and fun read. Also smart. Like really smart. Like is Ted Chiang an actual genius? Probably!
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