Group Reads Discussions 2023: "Stories of Your Life and Others" Story by Story *tagged spoilers*

[Anthony]

I don’t know about you, but I love reading short fiction, so I’m very excited about a buddy read of a single author’s collection, especially of an author who specializes in short fiction.

Please use spoiler tags, and indicate which story (or stories) you’re referring to as you discuss them.

[Jemppu]

This will be my first short fiction collection. Started it a while back, and haven't gotten past the first story yet, but am interested to see how comparing several works of a single author will be like.

Debating whether to read the author's story notes before the story, but probably best to treat them like one would blurbs: leave them for after.

ETA on mod request: Starting from February 2023 this thread is now a BOTM group discussion. Mod info in message #98.

[Wen]

Jemppu wrote: "This will be my first short fiction collection. Started it a while back, and haven't gotten past the first story yet, but am interested to see how comparing several works of a single author will be..."

I would suggest to read them after? It echoes more:)

[Anthony]

Yes, I would highly recommend reading the notes after you read the story.

Tower of Babylon:(view spoiler)[ I would never have predicted this collection to begin with a tale that feels like a parable. I love the sense of wonder that Chiang effortlessly evokes here, and I love his ability to get inside the very intimate and personal experience of his protagonist. I feel like I’m in very good hands with Chiang. (hide spoiler)]

[Wen]

I love short stories because the main reason is that I’m super slow:) And also you can open all of them at the same time, like all those gifts under the tree:)

[Cheryl]

I'll try to join in, though I read it quite some time ago. I did give it 4 stars and recommend it.

As I said, these are the kinds of stories I love. More Sense of Wonder and even What If than Adventure (like so much modern SF), is what I mean.

[Gabi]

I'm in. I just have to finish American Gods. Short stories is where I come from.

[Rachel]

I’ll be reading this after (or with?) Ball Lightening- since it’s short stories I may first the first in soon somehow

[Jemppu]

Anthony wrote: "Tower of Babylon:[spoilers removed]"

Tower of Babylon (view spoiler)[This was indeed a breath taking beginning - such a picture to imagine the view. Also, made me kinda wish for a disaster movie a la "Towering Inferno" on such a setting. (hide spoiler)]

Understand, first thought (view spoiler)[Speaking of movies: isn't this Lucy? (hide spoiler)]

[Anthony]

Understand:(view spoiler)[What a delightfully wicked morality tale. The ramping up of Greco’s abilities and madness was quite skillfully done. (hide spoiler)]

[Wen]

Jemppu wrote: "Understand, first thought [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Somehow I feel Lucy is not scary as this one. It transforms into divine powers... (hide spoiler)]

[Ariana]

I read this earlier this year, and had vastly different reactions to the different stories. Some I loved so much and are among my very favorite short stories ever, and others I just Did Not Get.

Tower of Babel: (view spoiler)[This was sort of interesting, but just a little too bizarre for me. I just couldn't really get the point of the whole thing. But I know lots of people love this one. (hide spoiler)]

Understand: (view spoiler)[I thought this one was really fun, despite (because of?) the deliciously narcissistic narrator. It was fun to think of what you would do if you were given that kind of ability (goodbye TBR list!).
(hide spoiler)]

[Wen]

Division by Zero: (view spoiler)[I feel they are so closed but still paralleled.(sigh) (hide spoiler)]

[Jemppu]

Understand. Gah, this became a read along:

(view spoiler)[I feel it should be addressed how much energy using one's full mental capacity would potentially require. If one is aware of one's nutrient absorption etc. wouldn't that include breathing and heartbeat as well? Would being aware of these change them from involuntary to voluntarily actions? One would have to concentrate on keeping them going? Would it matter with such increased mental power, or would they still be easy enough to run on idle in the background without much effort or disrupted thinking?

I imagine other bodily functions would be controllable then as well. How handy.

In extension to my first thought I thought "at least this doesn't have the forced action requirement of boosting one's fighting skills... boom. Oh, well.

Hey! The nutrition issue answered.

I dread the aspect of a public setting with such heightened senses. The flood of stimuli would be excruciating. Good thing it's so godlike now to handle those stress levels even.

Pheromone controlled manipulation? How insect-like.

And speaking of controlling own body on a molecular level: curing deceases? He's controlling his lactic acid - he'd be able to cure his body's possible lactose intolerance, surely? No reason to believe he wouldn't then also be able to send 'troops' to battle against deceases.

Epic Mind Battle?

... Well that escalated to delightfully Death Note-ian levels. In these worlds that are essentially our reality, do these characters know of our popculture to realize they are acting on it? *hah*


Wen wrote: "Somehow I feel Lucy is not scary as this one. It transforms into divine powers..."

Admittedly I watched the movie only half interested, but didn't Lucy go there as well? And got backlash for exactly this kind of 'mental manipulation' tricks - for being too 'outlandish' or supernatural? (hide spoiler)]

[Rachel]

Damnit I'm supposed to be starting Ball Lightening which I've been really looking forward too but these tags look like pretty easter eggs to mine eye

[Jemppu]

Division by Zero (view spoiler)[This touched close. Some of the lines strike so true one has to wonder about the author's experiences - mathematics aside.
Beautiful juxtaposing of one's struggles with their beliefs, with those in their relationship. (hide spoiler)]

Story of Your Life (view spoiler)[And obviously, this is The Arrival. I feel I was too spoiled, to fully enjoy the unraveling of it. Shame. But I'd love to hear of the reactions to this of those not familiar with the movie already.

I find it fascinating that this is the one from this set of short stories to inspire a movie adaptation. Also, reading this, I liked seeing how much of the design of the 'written' language and of the aliens' physique was movie production, not dictated by the text. (hide spoiler)]

[Monica]

This is easily one of my favorite story collections. The brilliant title story is not in my top 3 favorites. Ted Chiang is genius!!

[Gabi]

Tower Of Babylon (view spoiler)[ What a beautiful description of the endeavours humankind is capable of in pursuit of the understanding of its gods. Never has the story of the tower been so lively for me. I felt a certain awe as I read along the slow ascent of the miners. All those years in constant hope, the change in the way of living for those who have never set a foot on earth. Aw! Loved it. Especially the moment of sunrise was of unearthly beauty.
The ending was predictable, yet utterly fitting.
Such a good short story. (hide spoiler)]

[Jemppu]

Hell is the Absence of God (view spoiler)[Just sharing appreciation for the ambiguity of the statement "obvious as 1 + 1 = 2" created after a previous story in the same book. (hide spoiler)]

Hell is the Absence of God & Liking What You See (view spoiler)[ Utterly enjoying the amount of ideas and opinions in these stories. Nothing much left to say - the narratives present their own cases for and against quite extensively. All one is left to do is serve as a spectator for the abundant flow of thoughts. (hide spoiler)]

[Kaa]

Tower of Babylon: (view spoiler)[As others have said, this is a lovely, beautifully described story. I have to admit that I was a little sad that the language aspect of the original story was absent, but that reflects a personal interest - this story worked well without it. (hide spoiler)]

[Wen]

Jemppu wrote: "Division by Zero ...Story of Your Life "

Division by Zero: (view spoiler)[The relationship seems so beautiful to me...aww, but the ending sounds dismayed... (hide spoiler)]
Story of Your Life:(view spoiler)[The idea somehow is similar to Babel-17 but involving with aliens:) (hide spoiler)]

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Tower of Babylon (view spoiler)[ I liked the mythic quality of it, and the (literal!) concrete feeling of the world. I wanted a bit more impact at the end, but I think it was a strong concept. (hide spoiler)]

[Wen]

Allison wrote: "Tower of Babylon [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[It sounds like an fascinating fairy-tale world. And they work so hard! I feel they are like the dwarfs in Snow White. (hide spoiler)]

[Gabi]

Understand (view spoiler)[ What a ride! I loved that one. The battle of minds at the end had me on the edge. (hide spoiler)]

[Udayan]

Ted Chiang is supremely gifted.

The stories in this collection filled me with a sense of pure wonder. Feel they are various versions of "what if?" ideas taken to their very summits.

The writer challenges the expectation of logic or even internal consistency by the reader in some of the stories without ever putting the reader off. I found this to be unique amongst the authors I have read.

[Jemppu]

The Merchant and the Alchemist Gate (view spoiler)[ Ooh, how brilliant! Step aside anonymous, we have a new writer to continue the Tales of 1001 Nights. Could easily read a book filled with just these. My favorite so far. Truly captivating. (hide spoiler)]

[Jemppu]

Udayan wrote: "...The writer challenges the expectation of logic or even internal consistency by the reader in some of the stories without ever putting the reader off. ..."

Full agreement. I find myself nodding along, understanding/feeling the logic and/or emotions behind the view points of all the sides engaged in conflicts presented in the stories.

[Gabi]

Division By Zero: what a powerful story! (view spoiler)[ This one gave me goosebumps. The beauty of maths and the utter devastation Renee's formalism would mean for it (and therefor for her life) are described in such a convincing way. I could feel her struggle and her despair quite physically. This paralleled by Carl's attempt in understanding her and the equation of the last chapter made this short story a work of art for me. My favourite so far. (hide spoiler)]

[Travis]

Tower of Babylon: (view spoiler)[I'd read and seriously disliked the last Tower of Babel fiction I read (Senlin Ascends), so I was dreading this. But I really enjoyed it: the different worlds felt like humans exploring the possibilities that limitation might offer for different ways of living. The ending was, for me, ho hum, but I nevertheless really enjoyed the story. (hide spoiler)]

[Kaa]

Understand: (view spoiler)[It took me a little while to get into this one because I've worked in medical research and always get distracted by minor errors related to the research process. Usually in SFF, I make myself assume the study is either unapproved or done other a different system of regulation to avoid getting too bothered, but when your story specifically says it had FDA oversight, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to get around that.

The story as a whole I thought was fascinating, though. Not entirely my kind of story, but I enjoyed it. And I did appreciate the part about language, especially since that was absent from the first story. It reminded me a bit of Babel-17, actually, in terms of thinking of language as both a tool to influence the world and as a weapon. (hide spoiler)]

ETA:
Division by Zero: Gabi, I had almost exactly the same response, (view spoiler)[goosebumps and all. Probably my favorite so far as well. I love the structure of the sections and all the levels of parallels. Beautifully constructed. (hide spoiler)]

[Wen]

Story of Your Life:(view spoiler)[Somehow this story is sad, aw, it's a bit broken-hearted. It's like everything has an end. I don't think I Love You can last forever. (hide spoiler)]

[Ariana]

Story of Your Life: (view spoiler)[I loved this one so much. Usually I have a hard time with stories about grief, especially parental grief, because I end up empathizing too much. But this was so lovely and bittersweet. Definitely a favorite.
(hide spoiler)]

[Jemppu]

The Lifecycle of Software Objects / final thoughts half asleep
(view spoiler)[
Oh, my gosh, this one. Didn't expect this. I'm honestly surprised how much I loved this. So multilayered, so sweet, so real and humane...

And so wholesome! Starting innocently enough as a simple, though brilliantly imagined near-future gaming scenario with a cute pet care aspect weaved into it - easily accessible: I was already enthralled for it being so in touch with the current online culture, user experience development processes, and corporation politics even (why, oh, why though, did this feel relatable? I might just sit in office too much around these sort of folks). Then, as it gradually evolved into topics of relationships, struggles in child-rearing, questions on sexual development and ponderings on one's kids growing independent - I was completely sold.

Loved every bit of it: from the entertainment to the great moral dilemmas, the many relatable characters (Derek the graphic designer had me at "the product manager asked for something he considers a bad idea"), the settings (oh, this world, with all the delightfully feasible 'software pitches'), as well as the overall flow of the narration (didn't want to speed past one bit of it).

The developers'/trainers' struggles to keep their 'household' afloat and the offspring cared for became ever more heartfelt the more parental their care developed into, and it was bit daunting to witness the 'kids' grow up to the increasing awareness of their unfortunate situation - their eagerness to help was sweet. As was the 'family community' and the sense of comradery that built around these creatures.

Can this even be called (science)fiction? It felt so contemporary most of the time (for the whole first half). Somewhere out there someone are already developing great number of the ideas presented here - having meetings and heated discussions for these very things. Feels almost like Chiang is close to having tricked folks into reading contemporary fiction - of the YA-ish variety even *ha*

I must repeat my bafflement though: that of all of these stories the linguistics driven Story of Your Life was the one to get picked for a Hollywood movie adaptation (not saying this is bad - just surprising). Granted, this particular one would likely need a full series for any production to do justice for it (couldn't this too have been called "The Story of Your Life" in fact?).

I am left in awe of the intelligence, heart and the impressive scope of the stories in this book, and this was such an unexpected, fascinating and charmingly rich gift to end it on. (hide spoiler)]

[Gabi]

Gosh, I'm falling in love with Ted Chiang's writing. Just finished "Story of your life" and have to start travelling again, so comments later- just a short: BEAUTIFUL!

[Anthony]

It occurred to me reading “Story of Your Life” that because of “Arrival,” I knew (view spoiler)[ the central ideas at play, and the spine of the story, and yet, very much like the narrator, it would never stop me from seeing it through to the end.

I was also very touched by Chiang’s author’s note in which he said that one of the sources of inspiration for the story was seeing a one-man show about a husband living through his wife’s breast cancer, and how that made Chiang feel about having to face the inevitable. (hide spoiler)]

I’m finding these stories to be both fiercely intelligent and deeply humane. And I think it’s remarkable to read the work of a writer who only writes short stories. It’s so rare anymore to encounter such writers in SFF. And it’s such a specialized skill, and one that I’ve always appreciated so much.

[Jemppu]

@Anthony re “Story of Your Life” (view spoiler)[Anthony wrote: "I was also very touched by Chiang’s author’s note in which he said that one of the sources of inspiration for the story was seeing a one-man show about a husband living through his wife’s breast cancer, and how that made Chiang feel about having to face the inevitable."

Beautiful. These kind of revelations are such a gift: to be able to think back afterwards and realize how the inspiration manifests in the narration. (hide spoiler)]

Anthony wrote: "... fiercely intelligent and deeply humane..."
Already agreed to this, but must do so again: this is the perfect description of these.

[Gabi]

Anthony wrote: "... And I think it’s remarkable to read the work of a writer who only writes short stories. It’s so rare anymore to encounter such writers in SFF. And it’s such a specialized skill, and one that I’ve always appreciated so much. .."

This is my sentiment as well. I was hoping to learn to know good newer short story authors, now that I finally got into SF again. So far I've only read the Tor collection from 2016, which wasn't bad per se, but to 3/4 mediocre.
I'm deeply grateful that this collection became a BR, so that I could stumble over it. These are the kind of stories I was looking for.

[Anthony]

@Gabi one of the great gifts of this wonderful book club has been the opening of doors to new and thrilling writers. And then we get the bonus of discussing and sharing in the joys of their work with a vibrant and engaged community. How luck are we?

[Wen]

Personally I feel sharing together is way much better than just reading by myself, thank you all ( ⸝⸝•ᴗ•⸝⸝ )

[Travis]

What a treat to read "Story of your Life" after Babel-17: so many overlapping ideas and themes between them, but the writers take them in such different directions.

My favorite phrase from "Story of your Life": (view spoiler)["I remember what it will be like..." (hide spoiler)]

[Gabi]

Travis wrote: "What a treat to read "Story of your Life" after Babel-17: so many overlapping ideas and themes between them, but the writers take them in such different directions.

My favorite phrase from "Story ..."

And not only Babel-17, there were also parallels to "The Dispossessed" which I enjoyed immensely! I adore this story - and I will never look at a ray of light in water the same way again.

@Anthony: I was saying it to Allison the other day - I'm immensely grateful that you got me into this group. I never knew I missed reading and talking about books so much.

@Kaa reg "Understand" (view spoiler)[ The mentioning of the Research process is a good point! I should have realised this myself (cause I was working in this field, too, … in my former life … ), but somehow I just bought it here, waving it away as a government camouflage (hide spoiler)]

@Ariana "Story of your life" - yeah, me too! So in love with this story.

[Oleksandr]

Tower of Babylon (view spoiler)[I actually expected some kind of SF twist, e.g. they are actually on a generation ship and forgot it, like Orphans of the Sky. (hide spoiler)]

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Yeah, agreed, Oleksandr! That would have been neat.

[Jemppu]

@Travis: such a cunningly beautiful line.

[Bobby]

I wasn't planning to read this, but I needed something short on Kindle I could read on the go, and my library had it immediately available. Not to mention the siren song of another buddy read drew me in. I'm not sure if I will finish the whole thing right away, but I can always necro post.

I've only read Tower of Babylon so far (view spoiler)[ It was an interesting story, and the writing was good enough that it held my interest. I really liked the magnitude of it. The fact that it took centuries to build, and then years to tunnel through was very cool. (hide spoiler)]

[Gabi]

Seventy-Two Letters: (view spoiler)[At first I wasn't sure, if this story could capture me, but then it did. This is my first brush with Steampunk (I hope this counts as Steampunk ^^') and after some early reservations I really digged this alternate Victorian universe, where the Jewish Golem mysticism is a fact. I was fascinated to follow the dialogues of the scientists whose genetic understanding is so weird for us, but so logic in itself. A successful rendering of a world where different natural laws exist. (hide spoiler)]

The Evolution of Human Science: This one did nothing for me.

Hell is the Absence of God: (view spoiler)[ I'm a bit on the fence with this one. In general I love stories that center around religious questions, and I also liked the setting of hell being just in the neighbourhood for everybody to see, or the indifferent angels who seemingly do as much damage as they do good. The unforgiving end was equally good. But somehow the story didn't capture me as most of the others so far did. (hide spoiler)]

[Dawn F]

Damnit guys, now you’re making we want to read this one, too.

[Gabi]

Dawn wrote: "Damnit guys, now you’re making we want to read this one, too."

Come on, Dawn! The stories can wonderfully be read between other books.

[Travis]

Hell is the Absence of God: (view spoiler)[I'm trying to remember other stories I've read that take the existence of God, angels, and the like as empirical truths rather than beliefs of faith. Angels in America is the only one I can recall. I enjoyed this one as a thoughtful exploration of disability, loss, and religion. But neither this nor "Seventy-Two Letters" grabbed me like "Story of your Life." (hide spoiler)]

[Anthony]

In both Seventy-Two Letters and Hell Is the Absence of God, I was really taken by (view spoiler)[ Chiang’s ability to fully commit to the milieu in which he’s writing. He doesn’t handhold or overly explain the rules of the world he’s created; he presents it as a fully-formed and alive setting.

In the first of these stories, I very much enjoyed his combining of mysticism and archaic scientific ideas regarding reproduction and evolution. I thought it was especially subtle and quite brilliant of him to populate this story entirely with male characters, since this was very much a world in which women were given so little agency or credit for their contributions to the human race.

Regarding the second, I was reminded of the work of another atheist (Chiang describes himself as atheist), Tony Kushner, who depicted angels in a similarly intense and fearsome manner in his brilliant Angels in America. As an atheist myself, I’m nonetheless fascinated by the role faith plays in people’s lives, and love it when writers such as Kushner and Chiang don’t condemn people with faith, but simply present stories that engage with age-old questions in an invigorating, intelligent manner. (hide spoiler)]