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A review by booksbythewindow
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
mysterious
reflective
For full review: https://booksbythewindow.wordpress.com/2023/03/22/stories-of-your-life-and-others/
I found this a really fascinating collection with a couple of stories that really stood out to me, as well as themes that were interesting and thought-provoking. Chiang shows through all the stories in the collection that one of his real strengths is being able to write in such a diversity of styles and narrations, opening up interesting discussions of themes throughout his works.
One of the stories which I found very engaging was ‘Understand’, which follows a patient in a drug trial whose intelligence suddenly becomes beyond human understanding. As his mind and body adjust to his new view of the world and language, he goes on the run from all of those who want to study and use his new intelligence. ‘Understand’ is written in first person present tense narration, a writing style that is very difficult to get right but which really allows the reader an insight into the urgency and speed of the protagonist’s mind.
I found this a really fascinating collection with a couple of stories that really stood out to me, as well as themes that were interesting and thought-provoking. Chiang shows through all the stories in the collection that one of his real strengths is being able to write in such a diversity of styles and narrations, opening up interesting discussions of themes throughout his works.
One of the stories which I found very engaging was ‘Understand’, which follows a patient in a drug trial whose intelligence suddenly becomes beyond human understanding. As his mind and body adjust to his new view of the world and language, he goes on the run from all of those who want to study and use his new intelligence. ‘Understand’ is written in first person present tense narration, a writing style that is very difficult to get right but which really allows the reader an insight into the urgency and speed of the protagonist’s mind.
The story which really stood out from this collection and was by far the strongest was ‘Story of Your Life’, written as a letter from mother to child, detailing the time she spent learning and translating an alien language. It is a fascinating work in which the connections between time and language are explored through the eyes of an engaging protagonist and narrator.
Another interesting story from Stories of Your Life and Others is ‘Liking What You See: A Documentary’, a story which would definitely translate well into an adaptation. Told through a series of interviews and soundbites, this story follows a debate on Pembleton university campus about whether it should make ‘calliagnosia’ a requirement, meaning that no-one on the campus would have a reaction to physical attributes. It is a really interesting exploration of beauty, equality, and human connection, told through this fictional documentary of a student debate.
I would definitely recommend this for anyone who has an interest in speculative short fiction.
Another interesting story from Stories of Your Life and Others is ‘Liking What You See: A Documentary’, a story which would definitely translate well into an adaptation. Told through a series of interviews and soundbites, this story follows a debate on Pembleton university campus about whether it should make ‘calliagnosia’ a requirement, meaning that no-one on the campus would have a reaction to physical attributes. It is a really interesting exploration of beauty, equality, and human connection, told through this fictional documentary of a student debate.
I would definitely recommend this for anyone who has an interest in speculative short fiction.