story of your life written by ted chiang

First because I haven't read a lot of short stories so I wasn't sure this collection would grab me.

Originally published at: A Girl that Likes Books This was the September pick for the Sword and Laser book club First impression I have to admit that I was reluctant at first to give this book a try. A clever pastiche of news reports and interviews chronicles a college's initiative to 'turn off' the human ability to recognize beauty in 'Liking What You See: A Documentary.' With sharp intelligence and humor, Chiang examines what it means to be alive in a world marked by uncertainty and constant change, and also by beauty and wonder. In the amazing and much-lauded title story (the basis for the 2016 movie Arrival), a grieving mother copes with divorce and the death of her daughter by drawing on her knowledge of alien languages and non-linear memory recollection. Stories of Your Life and Others presents characters who must confront sudden change-the inevitable rise of automatons or the appearance of aliens-while striving to maintain some sense of normalcy. Combining the precision and scientific curiosity of Kim Stanley Robinson with Lorrie Moore's cool, clear love of language and narrative intricacy, this award-winning collection offers listeners the dual delights of the very, very strange and the heartbreakingly familiar. each of those stories is a goddamned jewel.This new edition of Ted Chiang's masterful first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, includes his first eight published stories. Junot Diaz United by a humane intelligence that speaks very directly to the reader, and makes us experience each story with immediacy and Chiang's calm passion.Ĭhina Miéville, Guardian Ted is a national treasure. I always suggest a person read at least 52 books a year for proper mental functioning but if you only have time for one, be at peace: you found it. Chiang is so exhilarating, so original, so stylish he just leaves you speechless. ‘United by a humane intelligence that speaks very directly to the reader, and makes us experience each story with immediacy and Chiang’s calm passion.’ – China Miéville

The science fiction novella 'Story of Your Life' is the basis for the Academy Award nominated film Arrival. With Stories of Your Life and Others, his masterful first collection, multiple-award-winning author Ted Chiang deftly blends human emotion and scientific rationalism in eight remarkably diverse stories, all told in his trademark precise and evocative prose.įrom a soaring Babylonian tower that connects a flat Earth with the firmament above, to a world where angelic visitations are a wondrous and terrifying part of everyday life from a neural modification that eliminates the appeal of physical beauty, to an alien language that challenges our very perception of time and reality, Chiang’s rigorously imagined fantasias invite us to question our understanding of the universe and our place in it.

Story of your life written by ted chiang