Ted Chiang's short stories have been on my radar for a long time, but like most everything else, kind of got lost in the TBR sea for a while. I finally got around to reading Stories of Your Life and Others and I'm incredibly pleased to say that, at least for me, the hype was completely justified.
As a massive Vonnegut fan, the hallmark story "Story of Your Life" having a very Tralfamadorian-esque vibe to the messaging of nonlinear experiences of time absolutely tickled me. Whether or not Vonnegut was actually a direct inspiration for Chiang/this story, I can't say with certainty, but I'm thoroughly pleased nonetheless.
What blew me away about Chiang's writing the most was his ability to speak with such perceived expertise about so many different highly academic subjects, but portray those subjects in a way that didn't feel completely overwhelming or pretentious. The stories were palatable, the ideas were interesting, and I sort of felt like I was getting an education without necessarily putting in any of the work.
As somebody who doesn't work in any of those fields, I of course can't speak to the exact authenticity of the more scientific/field-specific terminology he used, but for it to have felt authentic from a layperson perspective was already more than impressive enough. Combining that perceived authenticity with legitimately entertaining storytelling is an unbelievable gift.
The final story of the collection, "Liking What You See: A Documentary", is such a prescient, poignant take on personal vanity and corporate marketing. I was not expecting to like another story in this collection more than "Story of Your Life", but this one hit on such an intensely profound level for me. To have read this story in our current times, well into the social media era and freshly into the AI era… it was almost too much. Such a wizened view of humanity.
What I loved about that story the most was its presentation of logical and illogical arguments from both sides of the topic. The ability to have a discussion rooted in disagreement, while maintaining a level of civility within that disagreement, is a skill that rapidly disappearing from society today on a broad scale. It's one of the single more sociologically worrisome topics for me personally, which is probably why this story hit me so hard.
What a talent Ted Chiang is. I'll absolutely, unashamedly be picking up Exhalation next time I visit a bookstore.
by PsyferRL
3 Comments
He’s amazing, and all his writings have such a wonderful, specific *feeling* to them that are just right and just hit the spot. Love him and always will, can’t wait for more of his work in the future.
Yeah he is absolutely brilliant. After smashing through both collections last year I’m desperate for more!
Exhalation caused literal goosebumps while reading it. I rarely reread books because im a heavy library user but I went out and bought Exhalation just to read it again.