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A review by nakedsushi
Sorry Please Thank You by Charles Yu
3.0
Sorry. Please. Thank you. They say that if you knew the words of these three phrases in any language, you can probably get by pretty well. Maybe if you can understand all the stories in here, you'll be able to get by in life? Overall, I found it to be like a less-successful Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (which you should read if you haven't already). Each of the stories in here is a little bizarre in the way Twilight Zone episodes are bizarre.
Unfortunately, the stories were hit or miss.
The ones I liked:
- Standard Loneliness Package: as a programmer, I can relate to someone who "rents out their mind" for work. While programmers rent out their thinking brain space, the people in this story rent out their feeling brain space. The ending was touching.
- Open: surreal and metaphorical, but I liked it. It was sad, but hopeful.
- Yeoman: you know that minor character in episodes of Star Trek that always ends up dying some ridiculous death? This is the story about him.
I didn't like the other stories as much because they seemed trite or trying too hard. Designer Emotion was heavy handed and didn't really need to be written. Inventory was one I "didn't get." First Person Shooter was silly but not in a good way. Troubleshooting was only okay.
Unfortunately, the stories were hit or miss.
The ones I liked:
- Standard Loneliness Package: as a programmer, I can relate to someone who "rents out their mind" for work. While programmers rent out their thinking brain space, the people in this story rent out their feeling brain space. The ending was touching.
- Open: surreal and metaphorical, but I liked it. It was sad, but hopeful.
- Yeoman: you know that minor character in episodes of Star Trek that always ends up dying some ridiculous death? This is the story about him.
I didn't like the other stories as much because they seemed trite or trying too hard. Designer Emotion was heavy handed and didn't really need to be written. Inventory was one I "didn't get." First Person Shooter was silly but not in a good way. Troubleshooting was only okay.