Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

16 reviews

jayisreading's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

3.75

This collection was definitely a mixed bag, with either me enjoying the short story or caring very little about it (if at all). Without a doubt, though, Chiang really knows how to craft a world and situation; even for the short stories I struggled with due to disinterest, I was still impressed with the way he wove everything together. Furthermore, each story posed such interesting questions and challenges to reflect on, whether it be the unreliability of mathematics as we know it, reckoning with the undeniable presence of God and His angels, or reconfiguring one’s reality through language. Perhaps not surprisingly, the gem of this collection is “Story of Your Life,” which may have been one of the best short stories I have read in a long while. (It has certainly incentivized me to finally get around to watching Arrival.) I now understand why it has received as much praise as it has.

To me, the short stories that are worth reading are: “Story of Your Life” (this one is a must, I’d say), “Tower of Babylon,” “Understand,” and possibly “Hell Is the Absence of God.”

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laurenmiller100's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

I loved this. Most of the stories left me gobsmacked and excited to talk about them with friends to really dissect the ideas. This compilation is excellent. As always, I love Ted Chiang’s commentary on where each story came from.

Favorites: The Tower of Babylon, Division by Zero, The Story of Your Life, Hell is the Absence of God, Liking What You See: A Documentary

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malaikawrites's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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

4.5

This was absolutely wonderful! Every story held its own, nut all together? All together it was dynamic, thought provoking and world-view shifting. It was a holistically powerful collection and I'm so glad I decided to pick it up. 

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kimbo8's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative 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? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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kylieqrada's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious 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

4.0

😱 I'm not usually an anthology girly, but this absolutely slapped. Almost all of the stories were highly rated, but Story of Your Life will definitely stick with me. I need to read Exhalation, like, now.

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bomenvernietiger's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

All the points for blowing me away completely. Minus a little for not always understanding women and autism.

This would be fully timeless, except that the author felt the need to include such a sexist trope as a father coming to terms with his daughter developing breasts. This holds the particular story back decades.

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tiredcreature's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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

4.0

• Tower of Babylon: Babylonian sci-fi (3.5/5)

• Understand: superpowered redditors do mind battle (2/5)

• Division by zero: mathematician discovers that mathematics is inconsistent; experiences a crisis (4/5)

• Stories of your life: linguist learns alien language, gains chronologically non-linear memory (5/5)

• Seventy-two letters: steampunk Hebrew true name magic ft. 19th-century-typical eugenics (5/5)

• The evolution of human science: what becomes of human science when we invent metahumans, who are more intelligent and capable than a human could ever become? (??/5 - feels incomplete)

• Hell is the absence of god: Christian horror; monstrous divinity (4/5)

• Liking what you see: fictional documentary transcript; discussion of neuromodification (4/5)

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loujanae's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective
Every time I finished a story, I would look at my cat and say "well that was weird." 

Three stand out stories: 
Tower of Babylon
Story of Your Life
Hell is the Absence of God

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ryyy27's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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leftandleaving_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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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