What do you think?
Rate this book
Yellow and the Perception of Reality
"Yellow and the Perception of Reality" by Maureen McHugh is a science fiction story about a woman who delves into the mystery of why and how her twin sister, a physicist, has been brain damaged in a lab accident in which two of her colleagues died.I wear yellow when I go to see my sister. There’s not a lot of yellow at the rehab facility; it’s all calm blues and neutrals. I like yellow—it looks good on me—but I wear it because Wanda is smart and she’s figured it out. She knows it’s me now when she sees the yellow. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
32 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 22, 2020
7 people are currently reading
268 people want to read
About the author
Maureen F. McHugh
117 books281 followersMaureen F. McHugh (born 1959) is a science fiction and fantasy writer.
Her first published story appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in 1989. Since then, she has written four novels and over twenty short stories. Her first novel, China Mountain Zhang (1992), was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula Award, and won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. In 1996 she won a Hugo Award for her short story "The Lincoln Train" (1995). McHugh's short story collection Mothers and Other Monsters was shortlisted as a finalist for the Story Prize in December, 2005.
Maureen is currently a partner at No Mimes Media, an Alternate Reality Game company which she co-founded with Steve Peters and Behnam Karbassi in March 2009. Prior to founding No Mimes, Maureen worked for 42 Entertainment, where she was a Writer and/or Managing Editor for numerous Alternate Reality Game projects, including Year Zero and I Love Bees.
Her first published story appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in 1989. Since then, she has written four novels and over twenty short stories. Her first novel, China Mountain Zhang (1992), was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula Award, and won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. In 1996 she won a Hugo Award for her short story "The Lincoln Train" (1995). McHugh's short story collection Mothers and Other Monsters was shortlisted as a finalist for the Story Prize in December, 2005.
Maureen is currently a partner at No Mimes Media, an Alternate Reality Game company which she co-founded with Steve Peters and Behnam Karbassi in March 2009. Prior to founding No Mimes, Maureen worked for 42 Entertainment, where she was a Writer and/or Managing Editor for numerous Alternate Reality Game projects, including Year Zero and I Love Bees.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
July 27, 2020
She’s touching things a lot lately. I let her touch me. She’s relearning all those colors and edges and sounds and textures the way an infant does. She’s putting that together. She keeps getting better. She’s started dropping things. I know it’s on purpose. She drops and then she looks. They don’t know how much better she’s going to get but I do. Wanda will get well.
a long time ago i read this author's short story collection After the Apocalypse, and this free tor shortie reminded me how oh-so-good she is. it's a smooth, rich story, and you can just ignore the science parts if they make your brain hurt because the human elements are lovely and haunting, ditto for the octopus parts, and that "cover" image is already giving me nightmares. it's not a terribly long story, but you feel full after reading it—plump and satisfied.
i would very much enjoy reading the further adventures of claude the octopus, as long as they weren't too sad.
and that's a short review of a short story!!
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2020/07/22/yellow...
come to my blog!
January 12, 2021
I wanted a little more from it, but you can tell McHugh is a skilled writer of short stories and a scientifically curious person. Quite complex for its length.
July 11, 2021
“We don’t perceive everything. We can’t see X-rays or radio waves, but what we can perceive—I thought that was reality.”
“You’re going to tell me it’s not.”
“Yeah, I am. Our brains have a kind of interface. Like your phone.” He pulls out his iPhone. He does that thing that a lot of teachers do: He speaks in paragraphs. “These apps,” he says. “What we perceive is not the actual app. The actual app is a computer code running electrons in a pattern in a very sophisticated machine. We don’t see the chips and wires, we don’t see that code or even the action of it. What we see is a red, mostly square thing with an arrow in it. The interface is not the app.”
I loved this, even though some of the more science-y bits are more complicated than I understand just from reading it once. This is smart, and sad, and just so interesting and well-written.
Free from Tor: https://www.tor.com/2020/07/22/yellow...
“You’re going to tell me it’s not.”
“Yeah, I am. Our brains have a kind of interface. Like your phone.” He pulls out his iPhone. He does that thing that a lot of teachers do: He speaks in paragraphs. “These apps,” he says. “What we perceive is not the actual app. The actual app is a computer code running electrons in a pattern in a very sophisticated machine. We don’t see the chips and wires, we don’t see that code or even the action of it. What we see is a red, mostly square thing with an arrow in it. The interface is not the app.”
I loved this, even though some of the more science-y bits are more complicated than I understand just from reading it once. This is smart, and sad, and just so interesting and well-written.
Free from Tor: https://www.tor.com/2020/07/22/yellow...
August 5, 2020
“Cause I’m reading this book and it says you need some things for consciousness. You need a simulation of reality.”
A mysterious lab accident leaves two scientist dead, and one with a traumatic brain injury. What happened? Was the octopus a witness or the attacker?
Fascinating tale, and I LOVE this author's writing style. Adding some of her novels to my to-read list NOW.
A mysterious lab accident leaves two scientist dead, and one with a traumatic brain injury. What happened? Was the octopus a witness or the attacker?
Fascinating tale, and I LOVE this author's writing style. Adding some of her novels to my to-read list NOW.
August 6, 2020
“Yellow and the Perception of Reality” by McHugh.
Powerful and sad. Women in STEM. Love between sisters. What happens when humans think they have a handle on science. So sad. 4, thoughtful and teary, stars.
Powerful and sad. Women in STEM. Love between sisters. What happens when humans think they have a handle on science. So sad. 4, thoughtful and teary, stars.
August 15, 2020
A decent short story with good characterization and some reasonably interesting science about the nature and perception of reality. A quick easy read that managed to hold my attention, but perhaps I was expecting a bit more from McHugh. The ending was rather abrupt. I also wish there had been more about Claude, the psychopathic octopus. :-)
3.5 stars.
3.5 stars.
July 25, 2020
That broke my heart.
March 20, 2021
TL;DR: Mostly well done, but I have mixed feelings
Beautifully done story that can be summed up as: while doing a cool but horribly cruel thing, a bad thing happened, and now we are all sad.
The characterization is excellent. The idea is interesting. I really wish it was longer and had some resolution and a happy ending for the sisters and Claude.
But also:
Beautifully done story that can be summed up as: while doing a cool but horribly cruel thing, a bad thing happened, and now we are all sad.
The characterization is excellent. The idea is interesting. I really wish it was longer and had some resolution and a happy ending for the sisters and Claude.
But also:
November 1, 2020
Plot: Woman deals with the fallout of her twin sister having a lab accident.
Ideas: The nature of reality. How far do we go for science. Family.
Thoughts: There's a lot in here about reality and perception, about interfaces and programs. It's also a very complete story- yes there are plenty of questions leftover, but the emotional beats- love and loss and anger and resignation are solid. I think this may actually be one of those stories best left at this length? The idea of perception of reality being something best left alone is not exactly new, but I like how it was explored here.
Plus the writing was really very competent and pulled me along effortlessly even through long explanations about reality perceptions and you have to appreciate that.
Ideas: The nature of reality. How far do we go for science. Family.
Thoughts: There's a lot in here about reality and perception, about interfaces and programs. It's also a very complete story- yes there are plenty of questions leftover, but the emotional beats- love and loss and anger and resignation are solid. I think this may actually be one of those stories best left at this length? The idea of perception of reality being something best left alone is not exactly new, but I like how it was explored here.
Plus the writing was really very competent and pulled me along effortlessly even through long explanations about reality perceptions and you have to appreciate that.
July 25, 2020
I found this story engaging and horrifying and educational and poignant. Maddening, and relatable. The illustration by Mary Haasdyk is fabulous.
This is a sticky story, it's going to be in me for a long time.
https://www.tor.com/2020/07/22/yellow...
This is a sticky story, it's going to be in me for a long time.
https://www.tor.com/2020/07/22/yellow...
July 24, 2020
It’s remarkable how much can be conveyed in a short story format. This was a very satisfying read that did a fine job of developing character and plot despite not taking a lot of pages to do so. I think one one of the things I’ve not enjoyed about reading short stories is that there isn’t the time to develop much in the way of characters yet this story did very well. As someone who has studied Avaita Vedanta I found the subject of consciousness and reality especially interesting.
April 22, 2023
Yeah, but is it really REAL.
One day, while on the bus home from university, I was pondering the concept of color vision. We'd just had a lecture that day on color perception. I thought, "How do I know what I see as 'red' is the same as what the lady next to me sees as 'red'?" Her perception of reality might not be the same as mine. Maureen McHugh explores the concept of reality; a very difficult thing to grasp. She does it with aplomb however in this thought-provoking shorty. Character development is pretty good in the confines of the 32 pages she has to work with. Interestingly, the character I keep thinking about is Claude, the octopus. Did the goggles Claude used transfer his personality to the other three characters? Or did all four characters in the experiment share their reality? Hmm. I wonder. The plot? Well there isn't much of plot but what plot there is - is very - umm - concentrated.
This is a great short story. Well written and something to discuss with friends afterwards. Good on ya Maureen. It's five seafoody stars from me. 🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙
One day, while on the bus home from university, I was pondering the concept of color vision. We'd just had a lecture that day on color perception. I thought, "How do I know what I see as 'red' is the same as what the lady next to me sees as 'red'?" Her perception of reality might not be the same as mine. Maureen McHugh explores the concept of reality; a very difficult thing to grasp. She does it with aplomb however in this thought-provoking shorty. Character development is pretty good in the confines of the 32 pages she has to work with. Interestingly, the character I keep thinking about is Claude, the octopus. Did the goggles Claude used transfer his personality to the other three characters? Or did all four characters in the experiment share their reality? Hmm. I wonder. The plot? Well there isn't much of plot but what plot there is - is very - umm - concentrated.
This is a great short story. Well written and something to discuss with friends afterwards. Good on ya Maureen. It's five seafoody stars from me. 🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙
December 24, 2020
Oh man, this was beautiful and scary and good. It's a story of science gone wrong, of scientists trying to delve into the mysterious of reality and perception and getting brain fucked as a result. But the story is told from the perspective of the sister, the family member that is left behind to deal with the wreckage of her genius sister who is stuck in her wrecked mind. Global perceptual agnosia. "She can see but she can’t put all that together to have it make sense; it’s all parts and pieces. She can see the yellow and the edge but she can’t put the edge and the yellow together. I try to imagine it, like a kaleidoscope or something, but a better way to think of it is probably that it’s all noise."
It's a beautiful story, as it focuses on family love and sacrifice and steadfastness. Plus, it has an awesomely grumpy octopus named Claude!
It's a beautiful story, as it focuses on family love and sacrifice and steadfastness. Plus, it has an awesomely grumpy octopus named Claude!
finished-short-stories
September 3, 2020interesting to have an outsider/family perspective for the aftermath of an experiment gone wrong and i liked the sibling bond but it felt quite superficial thematically and imo, stilted/bland writing, like there wasn't much... depth? idk. anyway
August 14, 2020
More Claude the Octopus, please!!!
September 22, 2020
Hits all the right notes. Equal parts murder mystery, sisterly love and sci-fi theorycrafting. And octopodes! Engaging enough to leave you wanting more, but so finely tuned that you can't help but feel that even just another paragraph would ruin it.
This short story is available for free on Tor's website.
This short story is available for free on Tor's website.
November 15, 2020
As far as short stories go, I found Yellow and the Perception of Reality impressive. I would have loved to read a longer version of it and will definitely be checking out more by the author in the future.
April 14, 2022
Fell in love with the sibling dynamic
July 26, 2020
June is a social worker, and she's trying to help her sister, a physicist, recover from a bad lab accident. A giant Pacific Octopus was involved. Her sister has global perceptual agnosia. She might be getting better. Their parents are going broke, paying for Wanda's care....
This is a well-written story, with an interesting premise and loads of cool details and grace notes. Getting lost on the UCLA campus! Very easy to do. “People think scientists are these rational, logical people ... But we’re all actually dorky, weird people.”
I was wobbling between 3 & 4 stars for this one, and settled on 3.5, rounded up. Recommended reading, and free, too.
https://www.tor.com/2020/07/22/yellow...
This is a well-written story, with an interesting premise and loads of cool details and grace notes. Getting lost on the UCLA campus! Very easy to do. “People think scientists are these rational, logical people ... But we’re all actually dorky, weird people.”
I was wobbling between 3 & 4 stars for this one, and settled on 3.5, rounded up. Recommended reading, and free, too.
https://www.tor.com/2020/07/22/yellow...
September 16, 2021
Fraternal twin sister of brilliant physicist postdoc who is involved in an accident relates her relationship with her sister and what she thinks might have happened. That’s it. Well, that’s the plot—the story is actually about the relationship between the two sisters and how each perceive reality, where one sister is grounded to the physical, while the other has always sought the metaphysical. A metaphor, somewhat, written into human lives. Well done, but I was unsatisfied by it on the whole, feeling like I needed something more for it to really cohere.
August 1, 2020
32-pages and it really felt like a waste of time. I thought the concept was interesting but it's not fleshed out nearly enough and sped through at a breakneck pace.
I understand the purpose of a short story but each sentence in this begged to be explained and deepened into a longer work. It felt extremely stilted with how short and final every paragraph read.
1.5-stars rounded up because I don't think it deserves a 1, though at the end of the day I just didn't care much.
I understand the purpose of a short story but each sentence in this begged to be explained and deepened into a longer work. It felt extremely stilted with how short and final every paragraph read.
1.5-stars rounded up because I don't think it deserves a 1, though at the end of the day I just didn't care much.
January 22, 2021
what's up w yt authors who are weirdly obsessed w race... this story's characterization and racially-charged interactions read as insincere and lowkey racist
February 24, 2021
This story is unique, to say the very least. I wish I could say I loved it, as the premise definitely makes you think and it's a deeply emotional story about struggling to help a loved one suffering from a terrible, mind-altering injury. But the writing honestly felt rather uneven, and the story takes a scattershot approach that isn't as effective as it should have been.
Wanda was once an accomplished scientist... but a disaster in the lab has killed two of her fellow researchers and damaged her brain to such a degree that she can no longer process reality. Her sister, June, visits her devotedly and struggles to help her make progress and recover, while also looking into the accident that left her in such a state. Answers, sadly, are in short supply... and June must come to terms with the fact that whatever happened to her sister, she may never be the same...
This story tries to make a statement about the perilous nature of reality -- how we're not equipped to truly handle it, and how much work our brains do to process reality into a form we can understand. But the approach she takes is fairly scattered and unfocused -- which is probably part of the point, as June is a layperson who's struggling for the scant information she can glean about her sister's research. Still, a short story/novella needs to be fairly tightly plotted to make the most of its limited length, and it doesn't feel like this story does that. The octopus segment, for example, feels rather unnecessary, or at least could have been much shorter.
Despite the unfocused story, it does manage to be deeply emotional. It's a harrowing look at taking care of a loved one who's suffered a devastating brain injury, and the struggle to help them recover and make sense of a vastly changed world. Science fiction elements aside, it packs an emotional punch, and anyone who's had to deal with a serious illness or injury to a family member can probably relate in some way to June and Wanda, and their struggles.
"Yellow and the Perception of Reality" has its flaws, and honestly felt rather scattershot in its approach. But it does have some lovely bits as well, and is a deeply heartfelt piece that I'll remember for some time to come.
Wanda was once an accomplished scientist... but a disaster in the lab has killed two of her fellow researchers and damaged her brain to such a degree that she can no longer process reality. Her sister, June, visits her devotedly and struggles to help her make progress and recover, while also looking into the accident that left her in such a state. Answers, sadly, are in short supply... and June must come to terms with the fact that whatever happened to her sister, she may never be the same...
This story tries to make a statement about the perilous nature of reality -- how we're not equipped to truly handle it, and how much work our brains do to process reality into a form we can understand. But the approach she takes is fairly scattered and unfocused -- which is probably part of the point, as June is a layperson who's struggling for the scant information she can glean about her sister's research. Still, a short story/novella needs to be fairly tightly plotted to make the most of its limited length, and it doesn't feel like this story does that. The octopus segment, for example, feels rather unnecessary, or at least could have been much shorter.
Despite the unfocused story, it does manage to be deeply emotional. It's a harrowing look at taking care of a loved one who's suffered a devastating brain injury, and the struggle to help them recover and make sense of a vastly changed world. Science fiction elements aside, it packs an emotional punch, and anyone who's had to deal with a serious illness or injury to a family member can probably relate in some way to June and Wanda, and their struggles.
"Yellow and the Perception of Reality" has its flaws, and honestly felt rather scattershot in its approach. But it does have some lovely bits as well, and is a deeply heartfelt piece that I'll remember for some time to come.
December 12, 2020
I enjoyed this thought-provoking tale of sibling love and science run amok.
What I liked:
The cover is lovely. It is a very good representation of the brain injury suffered by the main character's sister which caused her to be unable to integrate all of her sensory perceptions.
The casual, almost journal-like writing style provides us with a deep look inside the main character June's perspective. I love this style since it allows us to really get inside a character's head. The story is written in the present tense. These two stylistic choices complement each other well.
The questions raised about the nature of consciousness were interesting. No straight answers are given, leaving it to the reader to ponder these mysterious topics.
June's love for her sister Wanda shines through so beautifully. June is dedicated in her faith that Wanda will one day recover. We see how the lab accident that damaged Wanda's brain and killed 2 people had a serious impact on June. A different author may have written this story as a more science-focused tale, with hard facts and less heart. Instead, we get a tale about sisterly love and how a family continues on in the wake of a tragedy.
What I was ambivalent about:
I hoped a definitive answer about Wanda's condition would be revealed. But we are left with June's faith that she is getting better each day. Maybe that is enough. Even though the ending felt abrupt, the heart of the story was June coming to terms with her sister's injury, so maybe a definitive answer just wouldn't have worked with the story's themes.
What I liked:
The cover is lovely. It is a very good representation of the brain injury suffered by the main character's sister which caused her to be unable to integrate all of her sensory perceptions.
The casual, almost journal-like writing style provides us with a deep look inside the main character June's perspective. I love this style since it allows us to really get inside a character's head. The story is written in the present tense. These two stylistic choices complement each other well.
The questions raised about the nature of consciousness were interesting. No straight answers are given, leaving it to the reader to ponder these mysterious topics.
June's love for her sister Wanda shines through so beautifully. June is dedicated in her faith that Wanda will one day recover. We see how the lab accident that damaged Wanda's brain and killed 2 people had a serious impact on June. A different author may have written this story as a more science-focused tale, with hard facts and less heart. Instead, we get a tale about sisterly love and how a family continues on in the wake of a tragedy.
What I was ambivalent about:
I hoped a definitive answer about Wanda's condition would be revealed. But we are left with June's faith that she is getting better each day. Maybe that is enough. Even though the ending felt abrupt, the heart of the story was June coming to terms with her sister's injury, so maybe a definitive answer just wouldn't have worked with the story's themes.
May 1, 2021
Well, that was depressing (is that a requirement of more recent "Best of Tor.com" selections?)
Basic plot: June's brilliant physicist sister Wanda had an accident and is now in a care home. It has something to do with the theories about reality... and an octopus.
This seemed so promising, being about sibling relationships and the hardships of illness, and I was just waiting for the sci-fi to kick in. But then I waited. And waited. And while we get some thoughtful musings and speculating on theoretical matters, I didn't feel it really ended up going anywhere (and maybe it went a bit over my head what the point of the speculating was - sorry, layman, lack of theoretical physics knowledge). I liked the style, but the experience didn't feel entertaining as a narrative and the ending didn't feel quite as satisfying as I'd hoped.
Basic plot: June's brilliant physicist sister Wanda had an accident and is now in a care home. It has something to do with the theories about reality... and an octopus.
This seemed so promising, being about sibling relationships and the hardships of illness, and I was just waiting for the sci-fi to kick in. But then I waited. And waited. And while we get some thoughtful musings and speculating on theoretical matters, I didn't feel it really ended up going anywhere (and maybe it went a bit over my head what the point of the speculating was - sorry, layman, lack of theoretical physics knowledge). I liked the style, but the experience didn't feel entertaining as a narrative and the ending didn't feel quite as satisfying as I'd hoped.
July 7, 2021
Wanda was on the forefront of research into perception and consciousness. An unexplained lab accident left her coworkers dead and Wanda brain damaged, incapable of telling herself from the rest of the world. She's possibly slowly recovering, but her twin sister June wishes she knew what happened to her. This is a very thoughtful short story dealing with areas of study that often don't get much attention from sf, but even better, June is such a fully realized character. So much of this short story is actually about June loving and respecting her sister, and I treasured that.
Available online here.
Available online here.
January 31, 2021
It's funny when you're among the neuroscience crowd, delivering a presentation on the convergent evolution of LTP in octopuses, and the greatest debate it fosters is over the correct plural form of the word "octopus." It's funnier when what was determined to be a mistake (by unwitting purists) keeps popping up everywhere.
I'm not sure how I should feel about this one, though. I'm trying to look beyond the mistakes I'm so sorely tempted to nitpick and to acknowledge the value of the story, however...it's underdeveloped. There's so much more I wish the author would have delved into considering the MC is little more than a color to a person she loves.
I'm not sure how I should feel about this one, though. I'm trying to look beyond the mistakes I'm so sorely tempted to nitpick and to acknowledge the value of the story, however...it's underdeveloped. There's so much more I wish the author would have delved into considering the MC is little more than a color to a person she loves.
December 24, 2021
like. what does it mean to experience reality and how do we even know if reality is the reality we think it is. this story is so interesting. about the philosophical idea of perception but also about love and sisters.
"I will never know reality. Wanda is proof. If she can’t handle it, no one can, But I have traveled through the gathering dark and come to her. It doesn’t matter that I will never know the vibration of quantum energies, never see them or touch them."
"I will never know reality. Wanda is proof. If she can’t handle it, no one can, But I have traveled through the gathering dark and come to her. It doesn’t matter that I will never know the vibration of quantum energies, never see them or touch them."
January 5, 2025
It is a sad story about sister love, physics, women in STEM, and intelligent octopuses (please don't experiment like this with other sentient beings, there could be consequences...).
I have interpreted this book as a metaphor for what would happen to us if we really saw reality as it is, without the ‘editing’ that our brains do.
The perception of reality is not beneficial to survival.
I think they tried to see reality and it screwed them up.
I have interpreted this book as a metaphor for what would happen to us if we really saw reality as it is, without the ‘editing’ that our brains do.
The perception of reality is not beneficial to survival.
I think they tried to see reality and it screwed them up.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews