Scan barcode
A review by theaurochs
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.
5.0
One of the greatest collections of sci-fi short stories ever put to print. Tiptree manages to tap into something transcendental and captures something fundamental about the human experience, while at the same time providing some really innovative visions of the future. These stories are filled with exquisite sadness; the deep anguish of existence and its futility, but presented in such fantastic prose and cleverly constructed ways. They brim with the “new, just anger” that Tiptree also describes in the feminist writings of their correspondent and somewhat-contemporary Joanna Russ; Tiptree (of course in reality actually one Alice Sheldon) uses their male point of view and assumed voice to publish some scathing criticisms of the society of the late 60s, much of which is depressingly relevant today. But rarely does this feel preachy; Tiptree manages to build these ideas deftly into her stories, even in miniscule wordcounts. Some might even argue too deftly, reading without a critical eye could render some of these (relatively) straightforward adventure stories. Of course nothing is ever entirely straightforward with Tiptree; even when things are blunt and surface-level they will have been designed to be such for maximum impact. Every single element is put carefully in its place with a strong literary sensibility.
The stories run a full gamut from frantic and chilling apocalypse scenarios, to an early and influential cyberpunk story, to one of the best explorations of really ‘alien’ aliens you’re likely to find, to incredibly succinct explorations of civilizational ennui, to intricate explorations of gender and the place of gender in society. It’s heavy stuff, certainly, and a lot of it could not unfairly be described as a ‘downer’; definitely not recommended if you need a comforting pick-me-up read. But these incredibly well-constructed works will challenge your views on the universe and invariably give you something to think about. I often had to leave a day or two between short stories as I was still mulling over the content of the last one.
The mystique around Tiptree themselves of course adds to the whole experience- this mysterious writer who crops up in the late sixties publishing stories that are widely regarded as ‘manly’ or ‘masculine’ almost without equal; being called an heir to Hemingway or ‘the man to beat’ at awards ceremonies. Naturally Tiptree was in fact Alice Sheldon writing under a pseudonym, and reading all of these stories with that knowledge adds an extra layer of deliciousness to the whole thing. Sheldon’s life was quite the story in itself, and I’d highly recommend looking into it if you are at all interested.
Safe to say I absolutely love this collection. It’s dark, it’s brutal, it’s unforgiving, it’s haunting, it’s wildly imaginative and profoundly real, and it’s entirely human.
The stories run a full gamut from frantic and chilling apocalypse scenarios, to an early and influential cyberpunk story, to one of the best explorations of really ‘alien’ aliens you’re likely to find, to incredibly succinct explorations of civilizational ennui, to intricate explorations of gender and the place of gender in society. It’s heavy stuff, certainly, and a lot of it could not unfairly be described as a ‘downer’; definitely not recommended if you need a comforting pick-me-up read. But these incredibly well-constructed works will challenge your views on the universe and invariably give you something to think about. I often had to leave a day or two between short stories as I was still mulling over the content of the last one.
The mystique around Tiptree themselves of course adds to the whole experience- this mysterious writer who crops up in the late sixties publishing stories that are widely regarded as ‘manly’ or ‘masculine’ almost without equal; being called an heir to Hemingway or ‘the man to beat’ at awards ceremonies. Naturally Tiptree was in fact Alice Sheldon writing under a pseudonym, and reading all of these stories with that knowledge adds an extra layer of deliciousness to the whole thing. Sheldon’s life was quite the story in itself, and I’d highly recommend looking into it if you are at all interested.
Safe to say I absolutely love this collection. It’s dark, it’s brutal, it’s unforgiving, it’s haunting, it’s wildly imaginative and profoundly real, and it’s entirely human.