Stories of Your Life and Others

In a conversation with a friend, I mentioned I like science fiction, and then she asked me if I had read Ted Chiang, who, according to her, is one of the best writers in this genre. I was amazed. How come I have never heard of this author before? I did some googling and realized that’s because he only writes short stories, which I rarely read unless I am familiar with the author.

That said, I knew I had to pick up a book from him, and I chose to start with this one – Stories of Your Life and Others.

About the book

What if men built a tower from Earth to Heaven and broke through to Heaven’s other side? What if we discovered that the fundamentals of mathematics were arbitrary and inconsistent? What if there were a science of naming things that calls life into being from inanimate matter? What if exposure to an alien language forever changed our perception of time? What if all the beliefs of fundamentalist Christianity were literally true, and the sight of sinners being swallowed into fiery pits were a routine event on city streets? These are the kinds of outrageous questions posed by the stories of Ted Chiang.

~ Synopsis from GoodReads

My Review

I have to say I was blown away by this book. The stories are so different from each other and so unique! Each story has layers to it, and although these are shorts, they are not simple at all. All his stories have a point, and many get into the spiritual realm (something that I was not expecting from a science fiction book).

While all the stories are drastically different from each other, the basic structure seems to be the same. Chiang takes a basic premise (in maths, science, or even religion) and takes it to an absurd level asking me to stretch my suspension of disbelief, but in the end, the payoff is fantastic!

One thing to note though – his stories are absolutely dry, and their endings are not super important. You read them more for the concept or the thought process rather than to learn what happens in the end.

Here are some of my favorite stories:

• Hell is the Absence of God — I love how he leans into Christian beliefs here. Although I am agnostic, reading this story was a very uplifting experience.
• Tower of Babylon — This is another semi-religious story. The ancient people of Babylon built a tower that would take them to heaven, with surprising results. I love how many different interpretations this short story could have. Are they already in the Kingdom of Heaven, which is why they were unsuccessful? Or alternatively, if God or a higher power doesn’t want you to do something you simply can’t? You cannot break into the Kingdom of Heaven because any attempts will simply put you back where you started. One of the shortest stories in the book, but with the biggest impact.
• Understand — This story is a masterclass in writing. I love how Chiang’s writing style changes as the protagonist’s intelligence evolves, becoming more cold, detached, and analytical. The story is basically about how intelligence changes a person, but fundamentally he retains his innermost nature. I don’t want to say too much about this story – it reads like a video game, and of all the stories in this book, the one that would most work as a movie IMO.
• Story of Your Life — I need to read this again before I do it justice in terms of review. It deals with questions of determinism and free will. It deals also with how our language and sense organs create our perception and experience of reality. And also how thinking in a different language could change how our brains perceive phenomena. These huge concepts are all dressed up in a story about alien contact, human short-sightedness, and ambition. It’s also a very human story about love, parenting, all the tiny moments in life that make it meaningful as we are living it even though we know it amounts to nothing in the longer run, plus just some basic truths about love, heartbreak, childrearing, letting people go, letting go of control more generally. Phew! That’s a lot isn’t it? But it’s one of those stories that feels very expansive and universal in nature.
• Division by Zero  — As a terrible maths student, it was wonderful to read this story about how the protagonist finds a loophole in a basic rule of mathematics and suffers a nervous breakdown as a result. This story prompted me to look it up, and sure enough it’s something people have talked about, mostly as a warning when doing proofs.

There are other good stories too. This is a very even short story collection, where each story has a very definite value and purpose. Overall, just a very cerebral read that was simultaneously emotionally satisfying. Highly recommend!