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Gabrielle's Reviews > Exhalation
Exhalation
by
by
Gabrielle's review
bookshelves: speculative-fiction, short-stories, read-in-2019, sci-fi, reviewed
Jul 31, 2019
bookshelves: speculative-fiction, short-stories, read-in-2019, sci-fi, reviewed
I just love Ted Chiang. I read his earlier collection of short stories a few months ago (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) and all the praise I heaped on him then are still true with "Exhalation". His style is completely unique, and while he sometimes plays with old ideas, he has a way of making them fresh, bright and very thought-provoking.
Just as with "Stories of Your Life and Others", there are a couple of less than stellar stories here, but they don't diminish the quality of this collection! Here are the highlights from my favorites:
"The Merchant and the Alchemist Gate": Don't you just love a 1,001 Nights kind of story? I know I do! And just as he reworked Biblical myth gorgeously, here Chiang channels Scheherazade perfectly to tell a tale of time travel, and ultimately, of love. Superb.
"The Life Cycle of Software Objects" actually brought to mind a game some of you might remember; I never played Faunasphere, but my husband wrote a book about it (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...), and the way people got attached to their digital pets in the game is so similar to the relationships developed between the creators of the digients they care for. It's also a fascinating reflection on AIs - as something not threatening for a change!
"The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling" explores the idea that the technology we use eventually shapes the way our cognitive capacities work, the way they influence our perceptions - to a rather moving ending. I'll be chewing on this one for a while.
"The Great Silence" is both humorous and an interesting shift in the perspective we use to define sentient life capable of communication. Kurt Vonnegut would be proud of this one!
"Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom": I've never seen a story that explores the idea of free will and the parallel worlds theory quite that way. For a while, I wondered where we were going with this "Black Mirror"-type story: addiction to technology, predatory business practices linked to technology usage... But then it got wrapped up in a very human, compassionate way, and it was perfect.
If you are not already a Ted Chiang fan, I suggest you get your hands on any of his short story collections. Fantastic sci-fi!
Just as with "Stories of Your Life and Others", there are a couple of less than stellar stories here, but they don't diminish the quality of this collection! Here are the highlights from my favorites:
"The Merchant and the Alchemist Gate": Don't you just love a 1,001 Nights kind of story? I know I do! And just as he reworked Biblical myth gorgeously, here Chiang channels Scheherazade perfectly to tell a tale of time travel, and ultimately, of love. Superb.
"The Life Cycle of Software Objects" actually brought to mind a game some of you might remember; I never played Faunasphere, but my husband wrote a book about it (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...), and the way people got attached to their digital pets in the game is so similar to the relationships developed between the creators of the digients they care for. It's also a fascinating reflection on AIs - as something not threatening for a change!
"The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling" explores the idea that the technology we use eventually shapes the way our cognitive capacities work, the way they influence our perceptions - to a rather moving ending. I'll be chewing on this one for a while.
"The Great Silence" is both humorous and an interesting shift in the perspective we use to define sentient life capable of communication. Kurt Vonnegut would be proud of this one!
"Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom": I've never seen a story that explores the idea of free will and the parallel worlds theory quite that way. For a while, I wondered where we were going with this "Black Mirror"-type story: addiction to technology, predatory business practices linked to technology usage... But then it got wrapped up in a very human, compassionate way, and it was perfect.
If you are not already a Ted Chiang fan, I suggest you get your hands on any of his short story collections. Fantastic sci-fi!
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Reading Progress
March 25, 2019
– Shelved as:
to-read
March 25, 2019
– Shelved
March 25, 2019
– Shelved as:
speculative-fiction
March 25, 2019
– Shelved as:
short-stories
July 17, 2019
–
Started Reading
July 17, 2019
– Shelved as:
read-in-2019
July 17, 2019
– Shelved as:
sci-fi
July 31, 2019
– Shelved as:
reviewed
July 31, 2019
–
Finished Reading
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by
Cecily
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rated it 4 stars
Aug 19, 2019 01:22PM
You're so right: it's remarkable how he manages to mix and replay similar ideas, but with each story being utterly distinct in style.
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Cecily wrote: "You're so right: it's remarkable how he manages to mix and replay similar ideas, but with each story being utterly distinct in style."Reading his collection of stories feels like digging into a nice box of chocolates with no idea what the next bite will be :-)
Forrest Gump's mother would approve.;)
Oh my goodness, you are so right about "The Great Silence" - it is precisely the kind of story that would fall out of Vonnegut's mind. Good Review!
Francesca wrote: "Oh my goodness, you are so right about "The Great Silence" - it is precisely the kind of story that would fall out of Vonnegut's mind. Good Review!"Thank you Francesca! I thought of Vonnegut immediately, it's really his style!
I love the cover, and yes, I need to read his work soon!
Julie wrote: "I love the cover, and yes, I need to read his work soon!"I just got this new very pretty edition and I can't stop staring at it! And yes, read it very soon :D
