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A review by hagwife
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

I'm so glad I picked up a copy of this book and spent more time with Ted Chiang's work after Exhalation. There are a lot of similarities in style and in the thought given to Chiang's stories, which were more apparent to me after reading both collections. Warning that from here it gets pretty lengthy so I can organize my thoughts so the TL;DR is that the book is wonderful and I like Exhalation ever so slightly more aesthetically. If you're interested in story notes but not the rest of it, scroll to the bottom. 

Chiang includes notes at the end of the book for each story (love this) and the notes can be separated into two categories: a converging of themes or a question to be ruminated on. I think it's incredibly difficult to find the balance between the narrative of a story and its purpose; with most of the stories, that there is a driving force behind them is clear, but it doesn't feel solely like a writing exercise. 
  • One reoccurring theme is how humans interact with the divine, the supernatural, or purely the "Other". Given that so many of the tales are set in universes where supernatural or paranormal (yes, these are different, promise I'm not just playing around with a thesaurus for the hell of it) occurrences are considered part of the everyday, it can be hard to classify certain experiences or other types of beings. A few sub-themes that have emerged to me. 
    • This has been changed from the original statement here in that I need to reflect more on what Chiang’s works say on our relationship with the divine.
    • Communication and self-reflection are pivotal in the attempt to understand ourselves and therefore others. The attempt itself to understand is framed as, perhaps, the greatest and most important undertaking of humanity.
  • A second theme is that technology is going to happen to humanity because of humanity (possibly outside forces) and there's no point in bemoaning this fact.  Technology often represents the "how" an event might have occurred but not the "why". In this, Chiang's stories are similar to my favourite episodes of Black Mirror. However, I like Chiang's approach better. There can be elements of unease or even horror at times, but it feels like the point of the story is not to scare us into being better people or give us a look at the worst case scenario, but to think about the consequences of our actions more deeply.  I don't even think most of the discussions about the use and outcomes of technology or other scientific marvels have a hard moral stance; we're supposed to think about the possibilities and make choices accordingly, which I like quite a bit. 
  • All in all, no matter the exact driving question behind the story, each story ruminates on an aspect of what it means to be alive and what it means to understand what "alive" is and how it connects a single being to the rest. 

In terms of personal preference, I think I liked Exhalation more. I don't think that the stories in Exhalation are any technically better (in terms of aspects of writing a story), but these fell slightly more on the side of "unadorned philosophical question" than "philosophical question wrapped in the weird and / or whimsical". I definitely know people who prefer the former, but I really do like an extra touch of something to a story. For both collections, I love how Chiang utilizes forms for his stories that impart a bit of meta-knowledge to the story (an op-ed, a journal publication, a documentary transcript, etc.). I've said it before and I'll say it again, that form equaling function is one of my favourite things to look for and find in a written piece. 

I also didn't write any individual story notes for Exhalation though I think I will for a few from this collection. It's unclear as to whether these made me think more, or I was more critical of the stories so I have more thoughts, or if I'm just more familiar with Chiang's writing style and so was able to engage with this book in a different manner. 
  • "Understand" is wild and such a fascinating premise. I'm consistently blown away by how Chiang extrapolates from the modern day and makes the fantastic accessible, even when it is purposefully designed to be unreachable by humanity as it currently stands.
  • "Story of Your Life" is remarkable and lovely. I'm going to have to rewatch Arrival now for comparison; I'm uninterested in which one I think is "better" and more interested to see if the film conveys the same message as the short story. This is probably my favourite story across the board of narrative choices, themes, and overall packaging. 
  • "Seventy-Two Letters" is the most disquieting for me. If you liked Babel by R.F. Kuang I would give this a go and vice-versa. 
  • "Liking What You See: A Documentary" was also tough to grapple with, in my opinion because it is the one that is closest for us to relate to. Chiang does an amazing job of replicating the voices and moves we're likely to see in any debate surrounding socio-political issues. My stance can probably be distilled into education over augmentation. 
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