Ria’s Reviews > Stories of Your Life and Others > Status Update

Sure apparently chiang had said that it was a response to deficiences he found in a book of the bible or something but still like.. hes just an atheist interested in writing stories inspired by theology and u cant critique him like he is part of the religion bc in reality his belief is in the absence of divine beings.. it felt like an emotional stretch leading to him hyperfocusing on that inst of the other things

Omg ok 1 ps to hell is the absence of god: i read a christian's review of it and he took it so literal and was very offended. But my main thing i found frankly funny (sorry) was how he said the author's atheism and presumed ignorance on religion was y he bashed on it in the story. That that is y the author fed ethan the lines of god just does w/e w/o reason/morality. Bro atheists dont believe god exists at all... lol

The enlightened/struck blind by the light lack wisdom in this story ngl so the word doesnt describe it well and i should just stick to w/e word he used (i forgot). Its funny how this whole story is also full of interpretations from the mortals especially when a holy text and satan r absent (even in their thoughts).. mb the lightstrucks do help? Lastly the line of how he was sent to hell anyway was hilarious. (5/5)

their purpose is and whether what they are saying even makes sense and the imposter syndrome they feel and pressure to do things correctly especially when they have people asking them for guidance and putting them on a pedestal. Even that this floundering is superior to being "enlightened" but unable to connect anymore to her roots and previous supporters/marginalised community. I use ".." bc enlightened (4/x)

how Janice was so favoured by her disabled followers and then when she finally found peace and clear direction and understanding she could no longer connect to them and disappointed/alienated them because of that. Yet she didnt mind bc her new message felt superior and authentic to her instead of her feeling a bit lost and confused herself before. This reads as really compassionate to people not knowing what (3/x)

I feel like the story instead has a lot of merit and cool things to it when seeing it as a critique on (conditional) love and interestingly, whether seeking specific purpose in life is selfish. Eg. Ethan had a nice childhood and lovely family, yet wasnt described to even have regret when they left him bc he kept ditching them in his quest for a clear sign from God and seemed happier as a preacher. Also i loved (2/x)

The evolution of human science reads as a sequel to Understand but even further and where the method is unclear ig

Seventy-two letters: again a slog but at least it became steadily more interesting as it went on. The time period it was seemingly written in and the region with the lowww bar for its politics i just dont enjoy reading even if its accurate or a snark at/critique of it through scifi. The analogies for the fear of machines taking ppls jobs and government-controlled reproduction were cool but not sth i'd keep pondering.

Just being cynical and disbelieving of how good it is when i wonder if id enjoy the story of your life as much if i were a physicist

About halfway into the story of your life, around where louise has a breakthrough with the refraction of light's path's teleology, literally every page is interesting and i even have to stop myself from reading ahead to catch the ends of her sentences (how apt) and omg i wish i could buy this short story on its own for display and rereading bc it is perfect and i do not care for the other stories yet