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Tower of Babylon
A Vintage Shorts “Short Story Month” Selection
Together with a crew of other miners and cart-pullers, Hillalum is recruited to climb the Tower of Babylon and unearth what lies beyond the vault of heaven. During his journey, Hillalum discovers entire civilizations of tower-dwellers on the tower—there are those who live inside the mists of clouds, those who raise their vegetables above the sun, and those who have spent their lives under the oppressive weight of an endless, white stratum at the top of the universe.
“Tower of Babylon” is a rare gem—a winner of the prestigious Nebula award, the first story Ted Chiang ever published, and the brilliant opening piece to Chiang’s much-lauded first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, which is soon to be a major motion picture starring Amy Adams.
An eBook short.
Together with a crew of other miners and cart-pullers, Hillalum is recruited to climb the Tower of Babylon and unearth what lies beyond the vault of heaven. During his journey, Hillalum discovers entire civilizations of tower-dwellers on the tower—there are those who live inside the mists of clouds, those who raise their vegetables above the sun, and those who have spent their lives under the oppressive weight of an endless, white stratum at the top of the universe.
“Tower of Babylon” is a rare gem—a winner of the prestigious Nebula award, the first story Ted Chiang ever published, and the brilliant opening piece to Chiang’s much-lauded first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, which is soon to be a major motion picture starring Amy Adams.
An eBook short.
39 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1990
217 people are currently reading
3842 people want to read
About the author
Ted Chiang
111 books10.9k followersTed Chiang is an American science fiction writer. His Chinese name is Chiang Feng-nan. He graduated from Brown University with a Computer Science degree. He currently works as a technical writer in the software industry and resides in Bellevue, near Seattle, Washington. He is a graduate of the noted Clarion Writers Workshop (1989) and has been an instructor for it (2012, 2016). Chiang is also a frequent non-fiction contributor to the New Yorker, where he writes on topics related to computing such as artificial intelligence.
Chiang has published 18 short stories, to date, and most of them have won prestigious speculative fiction awards - including multiple Nebula Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, and British Science Fiction Association Awards, among others. His short story "Story of Your Life" was the basis of the film Arrival (2016). He has never written a novel but is one of the most decorated science fiction writers currently working.
Chiang's first eight stories are collected in "Stories of Your Life, and Others" and the next nine, in "Exhalation: Stories".
Chiang has published 18 short stories, to date, and most of them have won prestigious speculative fiction awards - including multiple Nebula Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, and British Science Fiction Association Awards, among others. His short story "Story of Your Life" was the basis of the film Arrival (2016). He has never written a novel but is one of the most decorated science fiction writers currently working.
Chiang's first eight stories are collected in "Stories of Your Life, and Others" and the next nine, in "Exhalation: Stories".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 242 reviews
August 5, 2020
Re-Thinking the Covenant
Chiang‘s interpretation of the well known biblical myth of the Tower is innovative, interesting, and... well, inspired. It is also acutely theological and reveals Chiang’s familiarity with some lesser known biblical material.
The tower story is contained in Chapter 11 of the book of Genesis. It is derived from similar Semitic myths current in the Middle East. Ostensibly it is an explanation for the existence of the diversity of human language. This has always struck me as a trivial waste of biblical space. It seems that Chiang thinks the same way.
The real point of the myth has to do with the potency of collective human effort. This is clear from the reason given for YHWH’s throwing those working on the tower into mutual incomprehensibility: “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” [Genesis 11:6].
Why YHWH should be so concerned about the cooperative abilities of humanity is not stated directly in the biblical text. In order to rationalise the divine action, a sort of meta-myth about human impertinence and arrogance in attempting to reach God has emerged as the implicit standard. Men were getting too big for their breeches and had to be taught a lesson.
But like much of what is compiled in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is context that is the most important element in interpretation. And the important context here occurs several chapters previously. After YHWH has destroyed life on Earth with the exception of Noah, his family and his animals, he apparently has some severe divine remorse. YHWH promises never to do the watery death thing again. And he also lays down seven rules of behaviour - no murder, no adultery, no lying, no stealing etc. These overlap with the later Ten Commandments but, since Abraham and his Israelite descendants are as yet only in the distant future, the rules apply to all of humanity not just to Jews.
This arrangement is known as the Covenant of Noah, and is the first of many other covenants which are proclaimed by YHWH with humanity. This idea of covenant is extremely fluid in biblical literature. It takes on content relevant to the changing circumstances at hand. But the concept always involves the self-restraint of YHWH and the imposition of rules. Most importantly the violation of rules may result in divine punishment but no degree of transgression will void the covenant itself.
Because of its ambiguities, the relation of the covenant might be considered ephemeral, hard to discern among the apparently important events of daily life. The reality of the covenantal relation is, therefore, often made explicit by YHWH and by Israel in a 'concrete' object as a symbol of the reality created and maintained in the covenant by Israel jointly with YHWH and to which both Israel and YHWH submit.
Various physical and ritual symbols are used throughout the Hebrew Scriptures as a reminder of the continuing existence of the covenant: a heap of stones, the Sabbath, the altar of the Temple, a tamarisk tree, the sun and the moon, the stone which Jacob used for a pillow, and a monumental stone slab or stele. All have a simple function: to ensure that the covenant is remembered as a fundamental fact of reality.
The Tower of the biblical myth is perhaps the grandest of these cultural reminders. This is clearly how Chiang interprets it. The workers, assembled from many foreign places, share not just a language but a devotion to YHWH. The tower itself is being built to honour him. It is the physical representation of the spiritual search for YHWH that is implicit in its changing content. Humanity is attempting to reach YHWH not out of arrogance but as a matter of devotion.
Of course, human understanding cannot reach to the exalted heights of YHWH’s existence. But only when their search stops is the covenant in jeopardy. In their continuing physical and intellectual quest for the ultimate reality human beings can put themselves in awkward and life-threatening situations. No matter what happens, however, YHWH can be relied upon not to break his covenant promise - never again will he use water against them, nor let them use it against themselves.
Oh, and there are also some interesting meditations on the philosophy and poetry of science. Don’t miss it.
Chiang‘s interpretation of the well known biblical myth of the Tower is innovative, interesting, and... well, inspired. It is also acutely theological and reveals Chiang’s familiarity with some lesser known biblical material.
The tower story is contained in Chapter 11 of the book of Genesis. It is derived from similar Semitic myths current in the Middle East. Ostensibly it is an explanation for the existence of the diversity of human language. This has always struck me as a trivial waste of biblical space. It seems that Chiang thinks the same way.
The real point of the myth has to do with the potency of collective human effort. This is clear from the reason given for YHWH’s throwing those working on the tower into mutual incomprehensibility: “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” [Genesis 11:6].
Why YHWH should be so concerned about the cooperative abilities of humanity is not stated directly in the biblical text. In order to rationalise the divine action, a sort of meta-myth about human impertinence and arrogance in attempting to reach God has emerged as the implicit standard. Men were getting too big for their breeches and had to be taught a lesson.
But like much of what is compiled in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is context that is the most important element in interpretation. And the important context here occurs several chapters previously. After YHWH has destroyed life on Earth with the exception of Noah, his family and his animals, he apparently has some severe divine remorse. YHWH promises never to do the watery death thing again. And he also lays down seven rules of behaviour - no murder, no adultery, no lying, no stealing etc. These overlap with the later Ten Commandments but, since Abraham and his Israelite descendants are as yet only in the distant future, the rules apply to all of humanity not just to Jews.
This arrangement is known as the Covenant of Noah, and is the first of many other covenants which are proclaimed by YHWH with humanity. This idea of covenant is extremely fluid in biblical literature. It takes on content relevant to the changing circumstances at hand. But the concept always involves the self-restraint of YHWH and the imposition of rules. Most importantly the violation of rules may result in divine punishment but no degree of transgression will void the covenant itself.
Because of its ambiguities, the relation of the covenant might be considered ephemeral, hard to discern among the apparently important events of daily life. The reality of the covenantal relation is, therefore, often made explicit by YHWH and by Israel in a 'concrete' object as a symbol of the reality created and maintained in the covenant by Israel jointly with YHWH and to which both Israel and YHWH submit.
Various physical and ritual symbols are used throughout the Hebrew Scriptures as a reminder of the continuing existence of the covenant: a heap of stones, the Sabbath, the altar of the Temple, a tamarisk tree, the sun and the moon, the stone which Jacob used for a pillow, and a monumental stone slab or stele. All have a simple function: to ensure that the covenant is remembered as a fundamental fact of reality.
The Tower of the biblical myth is perhaps the grandest of these cultural reminders. This is clearly how Chiang interprets it. The workers, assembled from many foreign places, share not just a language but a devotion to YHWH. The tower itself is being built to honour him. It is the physical representation of the spiritual search for YHWH that is implicit in its changing content. Humanity is attempting to reach YHWH not out of arrogance but as a matter of devotion.
Of course, human understanding cannot reach to the exalted heights of YHWH’s existence. But only when their search stops is the covenant in jeopardy. In their continuing physical and intellectual quest for the ultimate reality human beings can put themselves in awkward and life-threatening situations. No matter what happens, however, YHWH can be relied upon not to break his covenant promise - never again will he use water against them, nor let them use it against themselves.
Oh, and there are also some interesting meditations on the philosophy and poetry of science. Don’t miss it.
January 1, 2018
The first short story in a collection by a supposed sci-fi author is set in Old Testament Babylon, and features nothing futuristic or alien. It almost feels as if it were written in ancient times. If you want a label, you could use Atwood’s “speculative fiction”, or, perhaps less appealingly, maths-fiction.
The Tower of Babylon has nearly reached the vault of heaven. Miners are recruited to drill through, so people can “know Yahweh better”. The tower is so high, it takes the team around four months of solid climbing, dragging tools on carts.
The world-building was believably detailed, the mythology and psychology almost real. Whole communities live at levels on the tower, never coming down to earth, with ingenious ways of growing food. At higher levels, “the light of day shone upward” and plants grow sideways or down.
At the very top, they walk among moving stars and “the sight of the vault inspired unease”.
They question the theology and consequences of what they are doing: might Yahweh punish their arrogance, or be pleased at their aspiration and endeavour? They continue, cautiously, using ancient techniques of fire-setting and simple picks and drills, slowly creating huge chambers in the smooth granite vault.
The dramatic conclusion causes a complete reappraisal of beliefs about God, man, and their relationship. Ultimately, “By this construction, Yahweh’s work was indicated, and Yahweh’s work was concealed.”
For other stories in the collection, Stories of Your Life, see my review HERE.
Image source for ancient cylinder seal:
http://www.ancient.eu/article/846/
December 16, 2020
O ancient miners, seeking to pierce the vault of Heaven! The tower builders built a tower to the heavens, and after them come the miners, to mine deep above. Together they live in a world based on the Babylonian version of a cosmos: as they travel up the tower, they travel past the moon and sun and stars, eventually looking down upon them: a God's eye view. As above, so below: reservoirs of water. Once, long ago, those reservoirs were opened, water spilling forth from sky and from earth: the Deluge.
Chiang creates an interesting world and his details of the tower and how one would mine upwards were absorbing. Of particular interest is the idea of people living, loving, and dying on various levels of the tower, never to set foot on earth. In the end, the message is straightforward: the hallmark of God's design is its perfect symmetry. Synchronicity in solid form.
Read this story for free! Right here:
http://gws.soonlabel.com/misc/Ted%20C...
This is an often fascinating story but perhaps a bit less deep (*cough*) than one would expect. Although one could also say that the most resonant of stories often have the simplest, most straightforward of messages.
Chiang creates an interesting world and his details of the tower and how one would mine upwards were absorbing. Of particular interest is the idea of people living, loving, and dying on various levels of the tower, never to set foot on earth. In the end, the message is straightforward: the hallmark of God's design is its perfect symmetry. Synchronicity in solid form.
Read this story for free! Right here:
http://gws.soonlabel.com/misc/Ted%20C...
This is an often fascinating story but perhaps a bit less deep (*cough*) than one would expect. Although one could also say that the most resonant of stories often have the simplest, most straightforward of messages.
October 23, 2016
This is part of my review of Ted's collection of stories "Stories of Your Life and Others". If you have not read the story yet, be warned that it contains spoilers!
Stories of Your Life and Others
The Babylonian World Picture
This story explores what might have happened if the god of the Jews, Yahwe, had not put an end to the construction of the tower of Babel by destroying people's ability to communicate, as related in the book of Genesis. It is an extremely well-researched story, and Ted goes into lots of detail to describe the actual construction methods that might have been used, and the methods that actually were used to burn the bricks needed for the endeavour. But the brilliance of Ted's idea is that he explores what such a huge tower would have looked like within the Babylonian model of cosmology.
The Babylonians (2nd to 1st millennium BC) basically imagined the universe as a ball cut through the middle, floating in water. Or think dinner in a posh restaurant, and the plate comes to the table with a silver half-dome covering up the dish. In this analogy, the plate would be the earth, and the cloche would consist of several layers, each representing a dome for one of the heavenly bodies (the moon, the sun, etc). The uppermost layer is the firmament, to which the stars are fixed. Above the firmament is water, in fact, this water forms part of the overall body of water surrounding the entire ensemble (the earth and the heavens, or, the dinner plate and the cloche). In the firmament itself are doors - these open periodically to allow rain to fall to the earth, or, in case we were being naughty, diluvian floods to cascade down on us. The dinnerplate (the earth) itself also sort of swims on this all-encompassing body of water, so that lakes, rivers and the oceans are also representations of the same water, bubbling up through holes in the ground.
Why build the tower?
Of course, there is a lot more to this, but I think that is what we need to understand the story. But this is also why I am a bit puzzled by the whole idea. Yes, we can build a big tower, and as we are climbing higher, we would traverse the realm of the moon, and then that of the sun, where it gets hot, and eventually we would be able to touch the firmament. Fine. But why would we possibly then start to burrow into the firmament? Are we mad? We know what's behind it! Water! Tonnes of water - and clearly, we still remember the deluge and that was not a pleasant experience! In fact, we are building an ingenious contraption that would slide into place and seal off the corridors we are digging into the firmament to stop the world underneath us from getting doused - but again, why would we wish to penetrate this layer in the first place?
The answer is possibly because otherwise Ted's story would not work. He needed a device that would be capable of washing his lead character into the waters above the firmament, and prevent him from being flung down to earth by the waters unleashed. And it was important for his lead character to enter that realm because Ted needed him to be delivered back to the surface of the earth (the dinner plate), allowing him to circumvent the cloche on the outside through currents in the surrounding waters. This dive completed, his lead character emerges back on earth, basically where he started, enriched by supposedly great insights into the nature of the cosmos, and motivated to inform his colleagues on the tower and "tell them about the shape of the world" (p34).
Religion and Science
But the shape of the world is no different from what we thought it was! So this is not so much of a revolutionary insight that contradicts conventional wisdom, but more a confirmation of an existing model. Of course, this would be fine - but Ted did not set this story up as an adventure of discovery. At no point in the story is there dialogue or narrative that would establish a sense that the builders of the tower are explorers.
But that is what Ted must have had in mind, because there is evidence that he set out to discuss the relationship between religion and scientific discovery in his story. The Yahwe in Ted's story is markedly different from the Yahwe in Genesis. The latter is distinctly lacking in personal maturity, really, when he robs poeple of the power of speech just because they are getting close to where he lives. The former is more like the Christian god of the Enlightenment, who invites people to discover his glory by inquiring into the nature of things. Ted drops quite heavy hints that this is something he's interested in: "... through their endeavour, men would glimpse the unimaginable artistry of Yahweh's work, in seeing how ingeniously the world had been constructed." (p34). And then one line later: "By this construction [the tower], Yahweh's work was indicated, and Yaweh's work was concealed." Now, this last phrase may have been modelled directly after Sir Francis Bacon's "cosmic hide and seek", the concept expressed in the Novum Organum that arguably freed science from the shackles of medieval scholasticism.
That, to me, would have been an excellent theme to explore in the story. But if Ted meant to do that, he did not set it up as a recurrent theme that runs through the story. And for the story to work overall, I am missing an expository paragraph that introduces the reader to the Babylonian world picture. Without knowledge of how the Babylonians thought about the world, I am afraid, this story never takes off, and never realises its potential.
Stories of Your Life and Others
The Babylonian World Picture
This story explores what might have happened if the god of the Jews, Yahwe, had not put an end to the construction of the tower of Babel by destroying people's ability to communicate, as related in the book of Genesis. It is an extremely well-researched story, and Ted goes into lots of detail to describe the actual construction methods that might have been used, and the methods that actually were used to burn the bricks needed for the endeavour. But the brilliance of Ted's idea is that he explores what such a huge tower would have looked like within the Babylonian model of cosmology.
The Babylonians (2nd to 1st millennium BC) basically imagined the universe as a ball cut through the middle, floating in water. Or think dinner in a posh restaurant, and the plate comes to the table with a silver half-dome covering up the dish. In this analogy, the plate would be the earth, and the cloche would consist of several layers, each representing a dome for one of the heavenly bodies (the moon, the sun, etc). The uppermost layer is the firmament, to which the stars are fixed. Above the firmament is water, in fact, this water forms part of the overall body of water surrounding the entire ensemble (the earth and the heavens, or, the dinner plate and the cloche). In the firmament itself are doors - these open periodically to allow rain to fall to the earth, or, in case we were being naughty, diluvian floods to cascade down on us. The dinnerplate (the earth) itself also sort of swims on this all-encompassing body of water, so that lakes, rivers and the oceans are also representations of the same water, bubbling up through holes in the ground.
Why build the tower?
Of course, there is a lot more to this, but I think that is what we need to understand the story. But this is also why I am a bit puzzled by the whole idea. Yes, we can build a big tower, and as we are climbing higher, we would traverse the realm of the moon, and then that of the sun, where it gets hot, and eventually we would be able to touch the firmament. Fine. But why would we possibly then start to burrow into the firmament? Are we mad? We know what's behind it! Water! Tonnes of water - and clearly, we still remember the deluge and that was not a pleasant experience! In fact, we are building an ingenious contraption that would slide into place and seal off the corridors we are digging into the firmament to stop the world underneath us from getting doused - but again, why would we wish to penetrate this layer in the first place?
The answer is possibly because otherwise Ted's story would not work. He needed a device that would be capable of washing his lead character into the waters above the firmament, and prevent him from being flung down to earth by the waters unleashed. And it was important for his lead character to enter that realm because Ted needed him to be delivered back to the surface of the earth (the dinner plate), allowing him to circumvent the cloche on the outside through currents in the surrounding waters. This dive completed, his lead character emerges back on earth, basically where he started, enriched by supposedly great insights into the nature of the cosmos, and motivated to inform his colleagues on the tower and "tell them about the shape of the world" (p34).
Religion and Science
But the shape of the world is no different from what we thought it was! So this is not so much of a revolutionary insight that contradicts conventional wisdom, but more a confirmation of an existing model. Of course, this would be fine - but Ted did not set this story up as an adventure of discovery. At no point in the story is there dialogue or narrative that would establish a sense that the builders of the tower are explorers.
But that is what Ted must have had in mind, because there is evidence that he set out to discuss the relationship between religion and scientific discovery in his story. The Yahwe in Ted's story is markedly different from the Yahwe in Genesis. The latter is distinctly lacking in personal maturity, really, when he robs poeple of the power of speech just because they are getting close to where he lives. The former is more like the Christian god of the Enlightenment, who invites people to discover his glory by inquiring into the nature of things. Ted drops quite heavy hints that this is something he's interested in: "... through their endeavour, men would glimpse the unimaginable artistry of Yahweh's work, in seeing how ingeniously the world had been constructed." (p34). And then one line later: "By this construction [the tower], Yahweh's work was indicated, and Yaweh's work was concealed." Now, this last phrase may have been modelled directly after Sir Francis Bacon's "cosmic hide and seek", the concept expressed in the Novum Organum that arguably freed science from the shackles of medieval scholasticism.
That, to me, would have been an excellent theme to explore in the story. But if Ted meant to do that, he did not set it up as a recurrent theme that runs through the story. And for the story to work overall, I am missing an expository paragraph that introduces the reader to the Babylonian world picture. Without knowledge of how the Babylonians thought about the world, I am afraid, this story never takes off, and never realises its potential.
February 22, 2023
"The Tower of Babylon" is a Hugo nominated and Nebula award winning short story by new-to-me author Ted Chiang that knocked my socks off and kicked my ass back to the second millennium BCE. The language is poetic, the story is religiously reflective, and the overall effect is simply wonderful.
As soon as I finished reading it, I wanted to start it all over again.
As soon as I finished reading it, I wanted to start it all over again.
July 26, 2016
Tower of Babylon je prva priča koju je Ted Chiang objavio i ona mi je malo razočarenje nakon odlične Story of Your Life .
Unatoč naslovu nisam očekivao da je doslovno o Babilonskoj kuli kako je ona opisana u Bibliji. Svo sam vrijeme očekivao nekakav twist, otkriće veće slike koju glavni lik ne vidi, no do toga nije došlo. Barem je na kraju trebalo biti nešto..
Jedini znanstveno-fantastični element je da je taj svijet možda hiper-toroidalan*. Kažem možda jer se ono na kraju moglo protumačiti i na deset drugih načina. Šteta, bilo je tu potencijala. Priča je ipak dovoljno zanimljiva da zadrži pažnju do kraja, tako da je za nekakvu mršavu trojku.
* - Hypertoroid = A torus scaled up into the fourth dimension.
Unatoč naslovu nisam očekivao da je doslovno o Babilonskoj kuli kako je ona opisana u Bibliji. Svo sam vrijeme očekivao nekakav twist, otkriće veće slike koju glavni lik ne vidi, no do toga nije došlo. Barem je na kraju trebalo biti nešto..
Jedini znanstveno-fantastični element je da je taj svijet možda hiper-toroidalan*. Kažem možda jer se ono na kraju moglo protumačiti i na deset drugih načina. Šteta, bilo je tu potencijala. Priča je ipak dovoljno zanimljiva da zadrži pažnju do kraja, tako da je za nekakvu mršavu trojku.
* - Hypertoroid = A torus scaled up into the fourth dimension.
February 10, 2017
Towers of Babylon is a brilliant, soulful short story by Ted Chiang. It can be read as fantasy, speculative fiction or simply sci-fi; as a parable or a legend restored with an allegoric tone. The narration is concrete and tangible, the plot compact, the characters diverse and mythical yet earthly. There is an inherent feeling that the story resides in an ancient time had science and sci-fi existed then.
“Hillalum imagined that he stood in the black gullet of Yahweh, as the mighty one drank deep of the waters of heaven, ready to swallow the sinners.”
The story takes place in the past when cosmological principles such as celestial bodies and geocentric models were held to be true. Hillalum, a miner from Elam, is enroute to Babylon along with others, to work on an immense tower which has been under construction for centuries and now almost touches the Heavens. What now remains to be done is to dig through the Vaults of Heaven in order to reach Yahweh (the god of Iron Age kingdoms) and his creations.
“It became visible when they were still leagues away: a line as thin as a strand of flax, wavering in the shimmering air, rising up from the crust of mud that was Babylon itself”
We follow Hillalum’s journey on the tower. There is perpetual sense of height and fear depicted by strong imagery which oozes out of the written words and into the readers mind. The author goes into painstaking albeit plausible details of the tower and its residents, the cutting of stone and granite, laying bricks and the importance of a trowel, the atmosphere and architecture, the winds (“It was the most earthy odor the miners had smelled in four months, and their nostrils were desperate to catch a whiff before it was whipped away by the wind”) and sunrays, the clouds, the mist and the view of an endless stratum stretching before their eyes. All this information makes Tower of Babylon feel authentic and visceral.
....
Did the author intend to have a moral of the story? In my opinion meanings or morals extracted from any story depend wholly upon the reader. With strong religious undertones, Tower of Babylon for me is a damning indictment at man’s limitless pursuit of glory and mastery over all creations and creatures. That Hillalum finds himself back on Earth (just when he inadvertently manifests a hint of pride “He would die closer to heaven than any man ever had before”) shows how man must return to their true nature and that advancements of all kinds must not transgress the boundaries confined upon them by their Creator. Humility in thought and actions leads to wisdom that can collectively benefit all of humanity.
Read more here http://wp.me/pZgHK-HM
“Hillalum imagined that he stood in the black gullet of Yahweh, as the mighty one drank deep of the waters of heaven, ready to swallow the sinners.”
The story takes place in the past when cosmological principles such as celestial bodies and geocentric models were held to be true. Hillalum, a miner from Elam, is enroute to Babylon along with others, to work on an immense tower which has been under construction for centuries and now almost touches the Heavens. What now remains to be done is to dig through the Vaults of Heaven in order to reach Yahweh (the god of Iron Age kingdoms) and his creations.
“It became visible when they were still leagues away: a line as thin as a strand of flax, wavering in the shimmering air, rising up from the crust of mud that was Babylon itself”
We follow Hillalum’s journey on the tower. There is perpetual sense of height and fear depicted by strong imagery which oozes out of the written words and into the readers mind. The author goes into painstaking albeit plausible details of the tower and its residents, the cutting of stone and granite, laying bricks and the importance of a trowel, the atmosphere and architecture, the winds (“It was the most earthy odor the miners had smelled in four months, and their nostrils were desperate to catch a whiff before it was whipped away by the wind”) and sunrays, the clouds, the mist and the view of an endless stratum stretching before their eyes. All this information makes Tower of Babylon feel authentic and visceral.
....
Did the author intend to have a moral of the story? In my opinion meanings or morals extracted from any story depend wholly upon the reader. With strong religious undertones, Tower of Babylon for me is a damning indictment at man’s limitless pursuit of glory and mastery over all creations and creatures. That Hillalum finds himself back on Earth (just when he inadvertently manifests a hint of pride “He would die closer to heaven than any man ever had before”) shows how man must return to their true nature and that advancements of all kinds must not transgress the boundaries confined upon them by their Creator. Humility in thought and actions leads to wisdom that can collectively benefit all of humanity.
Read more here http://wp.me/pZgHK-HM
October 24, 2016
I saw the ending coming a mile away, but Chiang's take on the mechanics of a Tower of Babylon was very, very interesting. Anyone who has read this story in the bible must have some curiosity and he did a great job of showing how it would probably work.
This is only the second Chiang I have read, but I may need to shelve him on my mental Mindscrew shelf with Philip K. Dick. Two mind blowers in a row must be a pattern, yes?
This is only the second Chiang I have read, but I may need to shelve him on my mental Mindscrew shelf with Philip K. Dick. Two mind blowers in a row must be a pattern, yes?
February 24, 2016
There and back again: a journey of cyclical apostasy.
May 31, 2020
Поздоровляю, у вас новий улюблений автор.
July 18, 2021
Checking out this author's work was the best decision I've ever made.
September 9, 2022
"Thus would men know their place."
Another fantastically written story by Ted Chiang highlighting a miner's journey up the Tower of Babylon, in hopes to catch a glimpse of heaven, but naturally, with a very humbling and disorienting ending. The description of the tower felt so real, like I was making the journey with Hillalum and therefore feeling his awe along with his disappointments. This was phenomenal.
Another fantastically written story by Ted Chiang highlighting a miner's journey up the Tower of Babylon, in hopes to catch a glimpse of heaven, but naturally, with a very humbling and disorienting ending. The description of the tower felt so real, like I was making the journey with Hillalum and therefore feeling his awe along with his disappointments. This was phenomenal.
December 2, 2016
A vivid and engrossing short story that I am still mulling over and trying to see what the full underlying message might be. I did enjoy the imagery that the author built. This is out of the book Stories of Your Life and Others.
November 26, 2021
A biblical short but make it sci-fi? So cool.
The world building was so immersive, the way the author described the scale and scope of the project, that they were so high up that light came from below.
It really brought this (canon-divergent) tale to life
The world building was so immersive, the way the author described the scale and scope of the project, that they were so high up that light came from below.
It really brought this (canon-divergent) tale to life
February 15, 2017
Sorry ass of an ending for an otherwise interesting story
August 30, 2024
Tower of Babylon, where everything is done by man, even the interpretation of God.
“The priests led a prayer to Yahweh; they gave thanks that they were permitted to see so much, and begged forgiveness for their desire to see more.”
The story takes us on a journey with Hillalum, a miner who, along with other miners, is tasked with opening the vaults of heaven as the Tower of Babylon, after centuries of building, has finally reached its end. Now it is time for the next step: to open the gates of heaven and perhaps see God?
This is my second read of this story, and I am still amazed by the idea, the world, the atmosphere it creates, and how it all comes to such a neat conclusion.
Seeing and then ascending the tower, the character grapples with the line between whether they are doing the right thing or if they are attempting to define God. Hillalum and the other miners wonder if this is truly what God wants, questioning if they should be looking for a sign or if, by interpreting everything through their own understanding, they are overstepping. One thing can be understood in two different ways: the meteor that hit the tower long ago—was it God’s way of telling them to stop, just a coincidence, or something with a different meaning entirely? Or perhaps it had no meaning at all.
And of course, the world-building—or rather, the tower-building—and its immense scale are remarkable. The author effectively conveys the sense of magnificence with a structure that takes around four months to ascend, complete with the people living in it and their perspectives and the different weather! But for what purpose? If the people were to discover what lies beyond the vaults of heaven, what would that mean for everything they have done? After the ending, everything will need to be reconsidered and rearranged, and thoughts will inevitably change.
“The priests led a prayer to Yahweh; they gave thanks that they were permitted to see so much, and begged forgiveness for their desire to see more.”
The story takes us on a journey with Hillalum, a miner who, along with other miners, is tasked with opening the vaults of heaven as the Tower of Babylon, after centuries of building, has finally reached its end. Now it is time for the next step: to open the gates of heaven and perhaps see God?
This is my second read of this story, and I am still amazed by the idea, the world, the atmosphere it creates, and how it all comes to such a neat conclusion.
Seeing and then ascending the tower, the character grapples with the line between whether they are doing the right thing or if they are attempting to define God. Hillalum and the other miners wonder if this is truly what God wants, questioning if they should be looking for a sign or if, by interpreting everything through their own understanding, they are overstepping. One thing can be understood in two different ways: the meteor that hit the tower long ago—was it God’s way of telling them to stop, just a coincidence, or something with a different meaning entirely? Or perhaps it had no meaning at all.
And of course, the world-building—or rather, the tower-building—and its immense scale are remarkable. The author effectively conveys the sense of magnificence with a structure that takes around four months to ascend, complete with the people living in it and their perspectives and the different weather! But for what purpose? If the people were to discover what lies beyond the vaults of heaven, what would that mean for everything they have done? After the ending, everything will need to be reconsidered and rearranged, and thoughts will inevitably change.
November 4, 2017
Read as part of Stories of Your Life and Others.
This short puts an interesting twist on the Biblical story of the Tower of Babylon.
I wouldn't classify this as sci-fi except maybe for the plot twist.
The world building is very descriptive, and you can visualise the journey up the tower.
I enjoyed the writing in general.
I didn't really see the twist coming. It was quite unexpected.
It is arguable whether this ends up with the same consequences as the Bible story. With the difference being that there wasn't a direct interjection by God.
There are obvious scientific flaws in people being that high up in the sky, which does detract from making it that believable.
Discussion around this book could go in various directions, but would probably end up in a science vs religion discussion.
This short puts an interesting twist on the Biblical story of the Tower of Babylon.
I wouldn't classify this as sci-fi except maybe for the plot twist.
The world building is very descriptive, and you can visualise the journey up the tower.
I enjoyed the writing in general.
I didn't really see the twist coming. It was quite unexpected.
It is arguable whether this ends up with the same consequences as the Bible story. With the difference being that there wasn't a direct interjection by God.
There are obvious scientific flaws in people being that high up in the sky, which does detract from making it that believable.
Discussion around this book could go in various directions, but would probably end up in a science vs religion discussion.
January 8, 2017
A unique tale of civilization spending centuries to build a brick tower to check out the heavens, complete with massive supporting infrastructure on the ground and generations of communities living up in the towering construction zone. Sort of an ancient version of sending humans to colonize Mars. The tower passes the moon, then the sun, through the stars (survives occasional star impacts), and finally reaches the dome of the heavens. Miners are sent up to chisel through the dome to see what it is like in heaven..... Well, think of reflecting mirrors as a metaphor.
January 11, 2025
Read this some time ago for a book group and was my first exposure to Ted Chiang's impressive ability to create a world and bring you there so quickly.
August 13, 2018
"Tower of Babylon" is a science fiction short story written by Ted Chiang, which was first published by Omni in 1990 and later collected in Stories of Your Life and Others (2002). It is an interesting tale told from the perspective of Hillalum, a miner from Elam, who is working on the Tower of Babel.
This story takes place in Babylon, where in this world God didn't punish humanity's hubris for building a ziggurat, the Tower of Babel, that reaches the heavens to become like God (Genesis 11:1–9). This short story revisits the Tower of Babel story as a construction mega-project, in a setting where the principles of pre-scientific cosmology are literally true.
Hillalum is a miner from Elam who has been summoned to the Tower of Babylon, an enormous brick tower that has been in continuous construction for centuries. He and his colleagues have been hired to dig through the Vault of Heaven to discover God's creation. Hillalum is the only one of his crew that managed to pass safely through the Vault of Heaven and was surprised at what he found.
The world building was incredibly detailed for such as short story. The perilous journey takes four months to reach their destination and along the way, Hillalum and his crew witness entire communities that live at several levels on the tower, who never come down to Earth, with ingenious ways of growing food. At higher levels, the light of day shines upwards and plants grows sideways or downward. At the very top, they walk among stars and other celestial bodies.
As they travel endlessly upward, Hilalum and the crew question the theology and consequences of what they are doing. They ponder if God would punish them for their arrogance – their hubris or would God be pleased at their aspiration and endeavor. The dramatic conclusion causes a complete reappraisal of Hilalum belief in God, humanity, and their relationship with each other.
"Tower of Babylon" is a wonderfully written short story and rather thought provoking short story. There is a twist in the end, which is rather provocative and sobering. It is a wonderful narrative of humanity's journey to find God and a wonderful commentary on humanity’s relationship with their gods.
All in all, "Tower of Babylon" is a wonderfully written short story and commentary about humanity search for and their relationship with God.
This story takes place in Babylon, where in this world God didn't punish humanity's hubris for building a ziggurat, the Tower of Babel, that reaches the heavens to become like God (Genesis 11:1–9). This short story revisits the Tower of Babel story as a construction mega-project, in a setting where the principles of pre-scientific cosmology are literally true.
Hillalum is a miner from Elam who has been summoned to the Tower of Babylon, an enormous brick tower that has been in continuous construction for centuries. He and his colleagues have been hired to dig through the Vault of Heaven to discover God's creation. Hillalum is the only one of his crew that managed to pass safely through the Vault of Heaven and was surprised at what he found.
The world building was incredibly detailed for such as short story. The perilous journey takes four months to reach their destination and along the way, Hillalum and his crew witness entire communities that live at several levels on the tower, who never come down to Earth, with ingenious ways of growing food. At higher levels, the light of day shines upwards and plants grows sideways or downward. At the very top, they walk among stars and other celestial bodies.
As they travel endlessly upward, Hilalum and the crew question the theology and consequences of what they are doing. They ponder if God would punish them for their arrogance – their hubris or would God be pleased at their aspiration and endeavor. The dramatic conclusion causes a complete reappraisal of Hilalum belief in God, humanity, and their relationship with each other.
"Tower of Babylon" is a wonderfully written short story and rather thought provoking short story. There is a twist in the end, which is rather provocative and sobering. It is a wonderful narrative of humanity's journey to find God and a wonderful commentary on humanity’s relationship with their gods.
All in all, "Tower of Babylon" is a wonderfully written short story and commentary about humanity search for and their relationship with God.
January 10, 2017
I read this online in an hour, although I'm a slow reader, so most of you'd probably finish in less time than that. In a nutshell I think this short story is pretty great. It slowly pulls you along in a surprisingly enticing way that makes you wish the story was a tad bit longer (this story could have easily been atleast 60 or 70 pages). Although I wish the author made the story longer I think the brevity and simplicity of it makes it what it is, interesting and brilliant. I think the shortness of the story makes you think deeper about what the story means and how the reader interprets their experience with it. The idea of the story is quite creative and am curious as to how the author, Ted Chiang, came up with it. All in all, if you have an extra 45 minutes to kill and want to read something interesting look up the .pdf online and pleasure yourself with it. I was surprised at how much I liked the Tower of Babylon.
July 24, 2017
Short story in Stories of your life and others
This was an interesting take on the story of the tower of Babel from the Christian bible. It doesn't address the issue of all the languages in the world which is the reason for it in the old testament, but instead, focuses on what would have happened if the tower got built and actually reached heaven.
It's a fun little story with some clever ideas and a nice twist. Some light theology and philosophy topics are brought up during the course of the story. The writing is subtle but effective and the details the author chose to focus on gave an interestingly believable aspect to the story.
While nothing amazing or mind blowing, It's a good starting point to a series of short stories and I'm looking forward to the rest.
This was an interesting take on the story of the tower of Babel from the Christian bible. It doesn't address the issue of all the languages in the world which is the reason for it in the old testament, but instead, focuses on what would have happened if the tower got built and actually reached heaven.
It's a fun little story with some clever ideas and a nice twist. Some light theology and philosophy topics are brought up during the course of the story. The writing is subtle but effective and the details the author chose to focus on gave an interestingly believable aspect to the story.
While nothing amazing or mind blowing, It's a good starting point to a series of short stories and I'm looking forward to the rest.
April 11, 2022
update 11/04/2022: dalej uwielbiam, ale czy to najlepszy Chiang? chyba nie, bardzo podoba mi się sam pomysł, ale strasznie mi szkoda, że Ted prawie nigdy nie obudowuje swoich (doskonałych) pomysłów w równie dobre postaci i bardzo się spieszy, żeby już dojść do plot twistu (mam taką wizję, że pan Chiang robi sobie tabelkę w Excelu i tam wpisuje jakieś dwie-trzy cechy każdej postaci i jest done!). Zakończenie oczywiście bardzo dobre i w ogóle jestem fanką tego biblijno-apokryficznego nurtu u Chianga: wychodzi mu to o wiele lepiej niż te umysłowo-naukowo-robotowe rzeczy w stylu Zrozum, Niania Dacey'a czy to o papugach
prześliczna!, jak na razie to zdecydowanie mój ulubiony Chiang tak ładnie balansujący między kontekstem mityczno-biblijnym i filozofią nauki - i jak na razie jedyne jego opowiadanie, w którym zakończenie jest tak dobre jak fabuła
prześliczna!, jak na razie to zdecydowanie mój ulubiony Chiang tak ładnie balansujący między kontekstem mityczno-biblijnym i filozofią nauki - i jak na razie jedyne jego opowiadanie, w którym zakończenie jest tak dobre jak fabuła
November 30, 2016
Áhugaverð útfærsla á þekktri sögu úr biblíunni eftir hinn margverðlaunaða sci-fi höfund Ted Chiang. Chiang skrifaði einnig söguna Story of Your Life sem kvikmyndin Arrival er byggð á.
Tower of Babylon beint vísindaskáldsaga, krossar yfir landamærin á milli furðusögu og fantasu. Þetta er smásaga svo hún er fljótlesin. Þetta er fyrsta sagan sem ég les eftir höfundin og hún lofar góðu, því mig grunar að ég eigi meira og betra efni inni.
Tower of Babylon beint vísindaskáldsaga, krossar yfir landamærin á milli furðusögu og fantasu. Þetta er smásaga svo hún er fljótlesin. Þetta er fyrsta sagan sem ég les eftir höfundin og hún lofar góðu, því mig grunar að ég eigi meira og betra efni inni.
October 17, 2018
As far as I can see, Ted Chiang's Tower of Babylon is the first thing he published. It's a short story (that you can find online for free) about two workers climbing the tower of Babylon to dig through the Vault of Heaven.
In this story the tower is not struck down and the people have been working on the tower for centuries. It's a fun read, although not particularly funny or captivating. It does show Chiang's penchant for speculative fiction, though. I liked it, but not enough for four stars and three seems too little. Read it. It's short and I don't want to write more about it than it is itself in length :)
In this story the tower is not struck down and the people have been working on the tower for centuries. It's a fun read, although not particularly funny or captivating. It does show Chiang's penchant for speculative fiction, though. I liked it, but not enough for four stars and three seems too little. Read it. It's short and I don't want to write more about it than it is itself in length :)
May 14, 2022
I needed a break from some of the longer and harder pieces that I've been reading and this short story by Ted Chiang fit the bill! "Tower of Babylon" is a retelling of the classic myth of the same name. It recounts how man wanted to get closer to God and so build a tower that reached towards the Heavens. This version has a wonderful twist at the end with a great message. I definitely recommend this read!
July 22, 2018
Set in the past where the geocentric models were considered accurate, this story has magnificent world building. More of a fantastical thought experiment than a sci-fi fiction, this story, although short, managed to captivate me in a way that some stories with elaborate details comprising thousands of pages could not.
November 19, 2016
Nice to read but not really the very original thing that everybody seems to think. It's basically a cover version of one of the many surreal short stories of Borges or some stuff from Chambers (The Demoiselle d'Ys?).
May 19, 2019
One of my favorite short stories. The ending made me also stand up and shout in wonderment
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