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The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate
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In medieval Baghdad, a penniless man is brought before the most powerful man in the world, the caliph himself, to tell his story. It begins with a walk in the bazaar, but soon grows into a tale unlike any other told in the caliph's empire. It's a story that includes not just buried treasure and a band of thieves, but also men haunted by their past and others trapped by the
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Sharing Apatt's response: I think the PDF is A4 size, so there are more words per page, in a paperback book I think it will take up 50-60 pages.
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The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate is made up of four intricately woven stories: the titular story, "The Tale of the Fortunate Rope-Maker," "The Tale of the Weaver Who Stole from Himself," and "The Tale of the Wife and Her Lover." As Fuwaad the fabric merchant wanders the bazaar of Baghdad, he discovers a new merchant with a marvelous assortment of goods. Perhaps impulsively, the merchant Bashaarat decides to show the him one of his more unusual alchemical experiments, a hoop whose sides are sepa ...more
Jan 20, 2017
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ by:
Tatiana
Full review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Arabian Nights meets time travel in this Hugo and Nebula award-winning novelette, containing a story ― or more precisely, three stories ― within a story. Fuwaad ibn Abbas is brought before the caliph in medieval Baghdad, to whom he tells his story, as “a warning to those who would be warned and a lesson to those who would learn.”
Fuwaad tells the caliph that one day he chanced to enter a shop in the market place that was filled with a wond ...more
Arabian Nights meets time travel in this Hugo and Nebula award-winning novelette, containing a story ― or more precisely, three stories ― within a story. Fuwaad ibn Abbas is brought before the caliph in medieval Baghdad, to whom he tells his story, as “a warning to those who would be warned and a lesson to those who would learn.”
Fuwaad tells the caliph that one day he chanced to enter a shop in the market place that was filled with a wond ...more
If this was my first exposure to Ted Chiang I would have thought “Very good storyteller but not sure what the fuss is about”. The best introduction to Ted Chiang is to read the anthology Stories of Your Life and Others, definitely one of the all-time greats. Also, quite a few of his stories are legitimately available for reading online (or download), here is a link to the available stories (some of the links on that page no longer work, sorry).
That opening remark may sound like a criticism, but it is more of a testamen ...more
That opening remark may sound like a criticism, but it is more of a testamen ...more
Nested stories of portals to alternative lives, set and told like a Tale of the Arabian Knights.
"Coincidence and intention are two sides of a tapestry, my lord. You may find one more agreeable to look at, but you cannot say one is true and the other is false."
Image: Front and back of tapestry cushion depicting Esther and Ahasuerus in a wreath (Northern Netherlands, 1650-80 - so yes, wrong culture and wrong period!) (Source.)
Traditional sci-fi writers tackle the mechanics and paradoxical consequences of time travel. They include futuristic space-faring, alien planets, and exotic lifeforms. Chiang takes a theological, philosophical, alchemical approach, and sets it on Earth, hundreds of years ago.
Sit comfortably and submit to the tangled enchantment of a matryoshka-like story with an ancient, mythical tone. See, hear, and touch the buzz of a Baghdad bazaar long ago. Wander, wonder, and ponder. This has a moral, but does not preach. It might be a tale of Scheherazade.
Framing Story
“My heart was troubled, and neither the purchase of luxuries nor the giving of alms was able to soothe it. Now I stand before you without a single dirham in my purse, but I am at peace.”
A penniless man tells his story to a mighty caliph.
Middle Layer
His story begins when he entered the shop of a metalsmith, where he found wares more varied, exotic, and fine than he had ever seen (“an astrolabe equipped with seven plates inlaid with silver, a water-clock that chimed on the hour, and a nightingale made of brass that sang when the wind blew”). The owner chatted and then took him to a back room, where he told three fantastic stories, all relating to knowledge, understanding, and acceptance of the past and the future: free will versus destiny - the will of Allah. The “alchemy” of which the metalsmith spoke is a time portal.
“He offered an explanation, speaking of his search for tiny pores in the skin of reality, like the holes that worms bore into wood, and how upon finding one he was able to expand and stretch it the way a glassblower turns a dollop of molten glass into a long-necked pipe, and how he then allowed time to flow like water at one mouth while causing it to thicken like syrup at the other.”
Three More Stories
The metalsmith’s tales are of those who used his gate: The Fortunate Rope Maker, The Weaver Who Stole From Himself, and The Wife and Her Lover. All of life is here: treasure, travel, love, loss, robbers, deceit, disguise, and sacrifice.
Most importantly, there is guilt, repentance, atonement, and forgiveness. “That is all, but that is enough.”
What Does it Mean?
Chiang does confront paradoxes, but not the “What if I kill my grandfather?” kind. He drills into the human psyche and soul. And the deeper he goes, the more pleasingly tangled the knots in the back of the tapestry become.
“Past and future are the same, and we cannot change either, only know them more fully. My journey to the past had changed nothing, but what I had learned had changed everything.”
Links
There are echoes of style, setting, and tone of JL Borges’ stories. See my overview review HERE.
Telling a wondrous story to a great man reminded of Calvino’s Invisible Cities, which I reviewed HERE.
This story was published in Chiang’s collection, Exhalation. See HERE for my reviews of the other stories.
...more
"Coincidence and intention are two sides of a tapestry, my lord. You may find one more agreeable to look at, but you cannot say one is true and the other is false."
Image: Front and back of tapestry cushion depicting Esther and Ahasuerus in a wreath (Northern Netherlands, 1650-80 - so yes, wrong culture and wrong period!) (Source.)
Traditional sci-fi writers tackle the mechanics and paradoxical consequences of time travel. They include futuristic space-faring, alien planets, and exotic lifeforms. Chiang takes a theological, philosophical, alchemical approach, and sets it on Earth, hundreds of years ago.
Sit comfortably and submit to the tangled enchantment of a matryoshka-like story with an ancient, mythical tone. See, hear, and touch the buzz of a Baghdad bazaar long ago. Wander, wonder, and ponder. This has a moral, but does not preach. It might be a tale of Scheherazade.
Framing Story
“My heart was troubled, and neither the purchase of luxuries nor the giving of alms was able to soothe it. Now I stand before you without a single dirham in my purse, but I am at peace.”
A penniless man tells his story to a mighty caliph.
Middle Layer
His story begins when he entered the shop of a metalsmith, where he found wares more varied, exotic, and fine than he had ever seen (“an astrolabe equipped with seven plates inlaid with silver, a water-clock that chimed on the hour, and a nightingale made of brass that sang when the wind blew”). The owner chatted and then took him to a back room, where he told three fantastic stories, all relating to knowledge, understanding, and acceptance of the past and the future: free will versus destiny - the will of Allah. The “alchemy” of which the metalsmith spoke is a time portal.
“He offered an explanation, speaking of his search for tiny pores in the skin of reality, like the holes that worms bore into wood, and how upon finding one he was able to expand and stretch it the way a glassblower turns a dollop of molten glass into a long-necked pipe, and how he then allowed time to flow like water at one mouth while causing it to thicken like syrup at the other.”
Three More Stories
The metalsmith’s tales are of those who used his gate: The Fortunate Rope Maker, The Weaver Who Stole From Himself, and The Wife and Her Lover. All of life is here: treasure, travel, love, loss, robbers, deceit, disguise, and sacrifice.
Most importantly, there is guilt, repentance, atonement, and forgiveness. “That is all, but that is enough.”
What Does it Mean?
Chiang does confront paradoxes, but not the “What if I kill my grandfather?” kind. He drills into the human psyche and soul. And the deeper he goes, the more pleasingly tangled the knots in the back of the tapestry become.
“Past and future are the same, and we cannot change either, only know them more fully. My journey to the past had changed nothing, but what I had learned had changed everything.”
Links
There are echoes of style, setting, and tone of JL Borges’ stories. See my overview review HERE.
Telling a wondrous story to a great man reminded of Calvino’s Invisible Cities, which I reviewed HERE.
This story was published in Chiang’s collection, Exhalation. See HERE for my reviews of the other stories.
...more
Fate guides Fuwaad ibn Abbas, a well-travelled purveyor of fine fabrics, to an intriguing shop in the metalsmiths' quarter of Baghdad.
What follows is a delightful Arabian Nights-style succession of short parables within a parable parcel, that focus on a time-travelling portal that Scheherazade herself would have liked to have discovered.
I loved this! The entire story takes less than half an hour to read and took me on a magical carpet ride back to my childhood memories of Ali Baba and Sinbad the Sailor.
...more
What follows is a delightful Arabian Nights-style succession of short parables within a parable parcel, that focus on a time-travelling portal that Scheherazade herself would have liked to have discovered.
I loved this! The entire story takes less than half an hour to read and took me on a magical carpet ride back to my childhood memories of Ali Baba and Sinbad the Sailor.
...more
Mar 22, 2017
Nandakishore Varma
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction
OH MY GOD. This novelette absolutely blew me away. It's very rarely that one finds terrific imagination mixed with high quality narration in an SF story - when it happens, the moment is to be treasured.
The 'story within a story' structure is a very common device in the east. It is present in the The Katha Sarit Sagara and Pancha Tantra - Five Wise Lessons: A Vivid Retelling of India's Most Famous Collection of Fables in India, and as is common knowledge, in The Arabian Nights. The style of the last has ...more
The 'story within a story' structure is a very common device in the east. It is present in the The Katha Sarit Sagara and Pancha Tantra - Five Wise Lessons: A Vivid Retelling of India's Most Famous Collection of Fables in India, and as is common knowledge, in The Arabian Nights. The style of the last has ...more
Let's try this again, Goodreads. Bad gateway. Hmmph.
Though I suppose a bad gateway is apropos for this book, as it is about a gateway through time, and depending on your actions in the past/future, the outcome might be bad. Oh server error, I see what you did there. Next time, though, try not to DELETE MY REVIEW to make a point*.
Anyway.
I wanted to read this very slim book for threefold reasons:
1) It's very short, but if I tag it with "2011," it gets added to my read to ...more
Though I suppose a bad gateway is apropos for this book, as it is about a gateway through time, and depending on your actions in the past/future, the outcome might be bad. Oh server error, I see what you did there. Next time, though, try not to DELETE MY REVIEW to make a point*.
Anyway.
I wanted to read this very slim book for threefold reasons:
1) It's very short, but if I tag it with "2011," it gets added to my read to ...more
The story was written in Arabian night style (stories within story) with a time machine as the magical device. I have no need to spoil more about the stories . For time travel story fans, you could guess the promised interwoven plot twists.
I like the message at the ending of the story. It maybe could help for a little introspection, especially for readers who preparing for the fasting (Yes, I intentionally write this review D-1 before holy month).
The free link of the story is here: ...more
I like the message at the ending of the story. It maybe could help for a little introspection, especially for readers who preparing for the fasting (Yes, I intentionally write this review D-1 before holy month).
The free link of the story is here: ...more
” The story I have to tell is truly a strange one, and were the entirety to be tattooed at the corner of one's eye, the marvel of its presentation would not exceed that of the events recounted, for it is a warning to those who would be warned and a lesson to those who would learn.”
This is a fantasy novelette that was written in 2007, but feels as ancient as the desert sands of the Baghdad of long ago. It follows a fabric merchant in ancient Baghdad who discovers a new shop whose owner invites him int ...more
This is a fantasy novelette that was written in 2007, but feels as ancient as the desert sands of the Baghdad of long ago. It follows a fabric merchant in ancient Baghdad who discovers a new shop whose owner invites him int ...more
Ted Chiang is such an elegant, concise writer!
This is a fantastic time travel story, and available online for free!
https://web.archive.org/web/200802141...
This is a fantastic time travel story, and available online for free!
https://web.archive.org/web/200802141...
3.5 stars.
This story is like a maze where characters criss cross in their present as well as 20 years past. Husbands meet their wives who are 20 years younger or older and vice versa, self meets self, friends meet for the first time and the last, and events occur in a loop.
All this because an Alchemist merchant has doors from his shop, leading into the past as well as the future.
The narrator decides to go back to his past to try and modify an unpleasant and saddening event tha ...more
This story is like a maze where characters criss cross in their present as well as 20 years past. Husbands meet their wives who are 20 years younger or older and vice versa, self meets self, friends meet for the first time and the last, and events occur in a loop.
All this because an Alchemist merchant has doors from his shop, leading into the past as well as the future.
The narrator decides to go back to his past to try and modify an unpleasant and saddening event tha ...more
In short, this was the best story of 2015 for me.
Ted Chiang somehow creates a version of time travel that's both fun and believable. While as entertaining as Harry Potter, this story touches on everything from happiness to free will and fate. And it does so in a magical voice that transports you back in time and makes you feel like a king listening to a jester's top tale. And make no mistake, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate is one of the best around!
Ted Chiang somehow creates a version of time travel that's both fun and believable. While as entertaining as Harry Potter, this story touches on everything from happiness to free will and fate. And it does so in a magical voice that transports you back in time and makes you feel like a king listening to a jester's top tale. And make no mistake, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate is one of the best around!
A wise and enchanting parable told in delightful fairytale fashion in the time of the Arabian Nights. Not to be missed! My thanks to Kevin Ansbro for the enlightening, delightful find!
Another excellent story by Ted Chiang... actually, it's three stories, set in a framing device.
In the medieval Middle East, an alchemist has developed a kind of time machine. When a potential customer walks in, the inventor offers him the chance to go through his gateway and through time - but first he tells the stories of three other people who took such a journey, and what befell them.
Like a tale of the Arabian Nights, the story has a fairy-tale feel to it, told simply and briefly, but with ...more
In the medieval Middle East, an alchemist has developed a kind of time machine. When a potential customer walks in, the inventor offers him the chance to go through his gateway and through time - but first he tells the stories of three other people who took such a journey, and what befell them.
Like a tale of the Arabian Nights, the story has a fairy-tale feel to it, told simply and briefly, but with ...more
An additional star for the enriching discussions...
Detailed review to follow...
Edit:
This invoked so much of childhood emotions - Tales of Arabian nights.
Being a short story with time travel concepts, you may be able to feel a few logical plot holes...
And that's the reason for loving it as a short story.
Had it been a full fledged novel, would have thrashed it left and right for wasting so much of time!
P.S. : I'm never going to repeat the mista ...more
Detailed review to follow...
Edit:
This invoked so much of childhood emotions - Tales of Arabian nights.
Being a short story with time travel concepts, you may be able to feel a few logical plot holes...
And that's the reason for loving it as a short story.
Had it been a full fledged novel, would have thrashed it left and right for wasting so much of time!
P.S. : I'm never going to repeat the mista ...more
Completely in keeping with the stories of the Arabian Nights, right down to the stories with the story, the Baghdad and Cairo setting, the characters / character types and the format of the story. This one however revolves around time travel / alternative lives.
I found it excellent, and a quick and satisfying read. The free download pdf is only 18 pages long, so doesn't take long!
Available for free download here
4 stars.
I found it excellent, and a quick and satisfying read. The free download pdf is only 18 pages long, so doesn't take long!
Available for free download here
4 stars.
“Past and future are the same, and we cannot change either, only know them more fully. My journey to the past had changed nothing, but what I had learned had changed everything, and I understood that it could not have been otherwise. If our lives are tales that Allah tells, then we are the audience as well as the players, and it is by living these tales that we receive their lessons.”
If you enjoyed the The Alchemist then you would presumably enjoy this too! The audio-book is interesting with all those g ...more
If you enjoyed the The Alchemist then you would presumably enjoy this too! The audio-book is interesting with all those g ...more
A very short book set in medieval Baghdad. A poor man is brought before the Caliph. It's revealed that his circumstances and journey are extraordinary. The format is probably inspired by Scheherazade, but Chiang cuts to the heart with 3 or 4 tales. Again, amazing, how thoughts of life and living are spread before the reader in such a feast of words.
Loved the fairy tale like feel, the time travel, the narration. This was one story which went so smoothly like a river flowing....
Excellent! I liked this best (so far; I haven't read everything else of his) of what I've read of his work. And not just because Kip Thorne's wormhole work is some of my favorite theoretical physics.
Unlike some of Chiang's other stories, the science here is handled with a very light touch; it is peripheral to the story, not central. (And putting modern theoretical physics in the language of the medieval was very well done.) The characters, especially the two main characters, are bett ...more
Unlike some of Chiang's other stories, the science here is handled with a very light touch; it is peripheral to the story, not central. (And putting modern theoretical physics in the language of the medieval was very well done.) The characters, especially the two main characters, are bett ...more
Wonderful story/stories.
What a lovely and meaningful tale. Many thanks to Cheri and Kevin for another delightful experience. I am trying to read more short-stories, because they give you such a lot of return for such a small investment!
To anyone who would like to read this one: https://web.archive.org/web/200803020...
To anyone who would like to read this one: https://web.archive.org/web/200803020...
Both clever and wise. Beautiful illustrations. Can be enjoyed as literature, even *L*iterature, not just as SF. Almost a five star read; tbh I'm not quite sure why I'm not rounding up....
Like Old Joseph from Book of Genesis, Fuwaad Ibn Abbas is pleading innocence before Caliph explaining the strange turn of events that resulted in his current predicament. Fuwaad‘s narrative forms the periphery of this novelette, and is centripetally enhanced by three separate stories, whose subtle concatenations are enough to capture readers attention till last page. And it involves time travel and alchemy.
There are two streams that are generally favoured in time travel stories – one where the changes ...more
There are two streams that are generally favoured in time travel stories – one where the changes ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
A novelette set in ancient Baghdad and Cairo, as a merchant tells us – and the Caliph – nested tales of time travel.
Okay, the reason I love Ted Chiang is that he consistently has gotten me simultaneously in the geeky intellectual sweet spot of shinykeen science, and the unreasoned emotional response. And here he did neither, particularly.
It's a pretty story, with a perfect tempo and all the charm and style you'd expect from framing time travel in a 1001 Nights homage, wit ...more
Okay, the reason I love Ted Chiang is that he consistently has gotten me simultaneously in the geeky intellectual sweet spot of shinykeen science, and the unreasoned emotional response. And here he did neither, particularly.
It's a pretty story, with a perfect tempo and all the charm and style you'd expect from framing time travel in a 1001 Nights homage, wit ...more
This was a pleasant and interesting read. A man retelling the stories he heard from a mysterious merchant/alchemist to the caliph of Bagdad, then moving on to his own story. It's a time travel story, written in the style of beloved classic The Arabian Nights. It successfully fulfills the rule that a short story like this must have a good twist at the ending.
“Past and future are the same, and we cannot change either, only know them more fully. My journey to the past had changed nothing, but what I had learned had changed everything, and I understood that it could not have been otherwise. If our lives are tales that Allah tells, then we are the audience as well as the players, and it is by living these tales that we receive their lessons.”
Audio Book : http://www.uvulaaudio.com/Books/merch...
Audio Book : http://www.uvulaaudio.com/Books/merch...
A fun little time travel tale.
Nice!
The story initially hooked my interest withits Arabian Nights tone and theprospect of time travel. However, the rather bland plot, worsened by its religious motif (I detest religious literature even when written by the likes of John Donne), and the huge gaping plot holes spoilt it for me :(
Sep 12, 2016
Silvana
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Silvana by:
Jokoloyo
Timey wimey wibbly wobbly! But somehow I think it has more fantasy feel than sci-fi.
Charming, nicely set (1001 Nights-ish) but I am already forgetting most of the stories by now (approximately five hours after I finished reading). I'll reserve my stars for other Chiang's stories.
Charming, nicely set (1001 Nights-ish) but I am already forgetting most of the stories by now (approximately five hours after I finished reading). I'll reserve my stars for other Chiang's stories.
Though sold as a book, this is really a long short-story of about 60 plus pages. A medieval tale about a man who travels back in time and ultimately learns that neither the past nor the future can be changed but only more fully understood, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate offers some interesting ideas about fate/destiny.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this as much as his collection of short stories, Stories of Your Life and Others, so if you've heard about Chiang and are interested in readi ...more
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this as much as his collection of short stories, Stories of Your Life and Others, so if you've heard about Chiang and are interested in readi ...more
Another wonderful short story from Ted Chiang. I was hesitant to read it because it involves time travel and I hate reading things about time travel because there's usually so many bad plot holes but I needn't have worried! Ted Chiang does it again -- a mind-bending short story about history, the future, the present, and life, all without being too preachy. Like his other short stories, this is life-changing.
What I really love about Ted Chiang's writing is that it's simple, yet effec ...more
What I really love about Ted Chiang's writing is that it's simple, yet effec ...more
"Four things do not come back: The spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity."
Arabian Nights meets time travel in this Hugo and Nebula Award winning tale. Quite different from Chiang's usual technical, hard sci-fi, it mimics the Persian storytelling style very well, and is thus unlike any story of his I've read so far. Instead of focusing on the possible paradoxical consequences of time travel, he instead explores philosophical concerns in stories within stories, making this a mor ...more
One can't change the past no matter what, but... you'll see what by reading it - a delightful time travel story in the style of Arabian tales One Thousand and One Nights.
Short stories are always hard to review. How do you sell such a short book to someone without spoiling too much? It's always a fun little challenge, and it's particularly hard on The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate, a story in which discovering all these little twists and turns by yourself plays such a huge role.
And what's this about a gate, you ask? Well, that's a portal. To the past. and to the future. You just walk in. And back. You can even bring things with you! And maybe even people, ...more
And what's this about a gate, you ask? Well, that's a portal. To the past. and to the future. You just walk in. And back. You can even bring things with you! And maybe even people, ...more
Apr 12, 2017
Sharadha Jayaraman
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
Philosophers, Master-Oogway-fans, Arabian-Nights-lovers
Recommended to Sharadha by:
Em Lost In Books
Shelves:
2017
4-star Review:
The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang
(Source)
“Four things do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.”
The only way I can read this book is when Master Oogway is narrating it in my head. This extremely well-written and lucid novel has plenty of takeaways and wisdom nuzzled into it, however, one that's stuck wirel="nofollow">Source)“FourReview:The ...more
The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang
(Source)
“Four things do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.”
The only way I can read this book is when Master Oogway is narrating it in my head. This extremely well-written and lucid novel has plenty of takeaways and wisdom nuzzled into it, however, one that's stuck wirel="nofollow">Source)“FourReview:The ...more
Absolutely amazing. Enough said.
A wonderful audio edition can be heard here.
A wonderful audio edition can be heard here.
เรืองเลาในเรืองเลา เปนไทมทราเวลทีแฟนตาซี และไมมีพาราดอก มันใหนิยามชีวิตหนึงเหมือนหนังสือทีไมมีวันเปลียนแปลง ไมวาจะกระโดดเขาไปวุนวายหนาไหนกตาม เหมือนจะมีความเชือทางอิสลามนิดหนอยดวย
แตเอาจริงกจับ capital ไมคอยไดอะ เปนงงๆ อยู มันมีทังคนทีไปอนาคตแลวไดคำชีแนะจากตัวเอง คนทีขโมยเงินตัวเองมาสรางฐานะแตงเมีย คนทีกลับไปหลงรักผัวเวอรชันหนุม อะไรแบบนี จะวามันไมมีพาราดอกเลยกไมเตมปาก เพราะมันกกระทบ และไมเหมือนพหุภพ หรือหลักสอดคลองอะไรตังตางดวย
แตวาเรืองยอยมันสนุกดีนะ ถาอนาคตถูกกำหนดไวแลวจ ...more
แตเอาจริงกจับ capital ไมคอยไดอะ เปนงงๆ อยู มันมีทังคนทีไปอนาคตแลวไดคำชีแนะจากตัวเอง คนทีขโมยเงินตัวเองมาสรางฐานะแตงเมีย คนทีกลับไปหลงรักผัวเวอรชันหนุม อะไรแบบนี จะวามันไมมีพาราดอกเลยกไมเตมปาก เพราะมันกกระทบ และไมเหมือนพหุภพ หรือหลักสอดคลองอะไรตังตางดวย
แตวาเรืองยอยมันสนุกดีนะ ถาอนาคตถูกกำหนดไวแลวจ ...more
What I just read...utterly genius work by Ted Chiang. Beautiful, completely fascinating,every word of it.
Every time I read it, I'm awed by it! Truly a masterpiece.
Every time I read it, I'm awed by it! Truly a masterpiece.
One of his better stories.
Free copy online: http://attach3.bdwm.net/attach/boards...
Free copy online: http://attach3.bdwm.net/attach/boards...
First story of Chiang I've read, and I'll definitely be reading more. A brilliant story on the middle ground between free will and fatalism.
Some of the favorite quotes from the story:
"Like infernal fire, grief burns but does not consume; instead, it makes the heart vulnerable to further suffering."
"And that you cannot avoid the ordeals that are assigned to you. What Allah gives you, you must accept."
"Even though the past is unchangeable, one may encounter the unex ...more
This is the first story of Chiang’s that I’ve read and I think it’s a beautifully constructed tale, rich in layers, stories woven within stories, but all leading to the immutable conclusion that the past and the future cannot be changed but only known more fully. I’m certainly no expert on the period, but the language and style strike me as elegantly framed for a medieval Arabian setting. Befitting a story based on the concept of travelling through a Gate of Years, there is, at times, a mystical
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Every time I read a Ted Chiang story I think "I'm not gonna cry." Then I get to the the end and oh shit, here come the waterworks
Puikūs laiko viražai, o ir alchemija aukščiausios rūšies.
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Ted Chiang is an American speculative 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).
Although not a prolific author, having published on ...more
Although not a prolific author, having published on ...more
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“Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement, and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough.”
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“Four things do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.”
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