Exhalation, by Ted Chiang

[sophia_sol]

I read this short story collection for the promise of a story about the Thousand and One Nights with time travel, despite having decided after reading Chiang's other collection that his writing is not for me.

And...his writing continues to not be for me. The vast majority of the stories in this collection, like his other collection, are explorations of thought experiments housed in a light narrative frame--and in one case he doesn't even bother with a narrative frame at all. Also the story I was lured in by isn't actually about the Thousand and One Nights or any of the stories in it, it's just vaguely inspired by the structure and setting!! And I didn't find it emotionally satisfying either! Sigh.

I don't know what else I expected though. Chiang is the kind of writer he is, and I am the kind of reader I am, and the two just don't get along. That's how it goes sometimes. I'm going stop trying with Chiang going forward, and leave him to be enjoyed by readers better suited to what he has to offer.

Comments

[cahn]

Ha, oh well! I shall chalk this one down to "things I like that you're not into" and structure recs accordingly :) I am basically the perfect reader for Chiang, but I can totally see how he's not for everyone.

...though "story about the Thousand and One Nights with time travel" is a really really misleading description of that story, though, and I would have been disappointed as well if it had been described to me that way.

[sophia_sol]

Yeah, our tastes do not entirely overlap! I'm glad you get such pleasure from Chiang's writing :)

Honestly the thousand and one nights story was one of my favourite stories in this collection, even though it wasn't what I was hoping for, and it almost worked for me! I just felt like if it was going to be making the statement that some people can be entirely comfortable and happy with the idea of an immutable past/future, you need to engage a bit more with that idea. Because as it is I was left feeling like it was weird that the main character hadn't even considered that a version of his life could have existed where his young self would have received the message of his wife's last words and not lived through decades of misery. Also: fridged wife is never a plot I love.

[silverflight8]

Lol I feel this. There's books I read and I'm like, this was good, I enjoyed it not at all, good day.

[sophia_sol]

Yeah, exactly! I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy this book at all, but I was definitely left dissatisfied throughout.

[lirazel]

Hmmm.....This is very interesting. I haven't read him yet, but I've heard some interviews with him and I really liked the way his mind worked, so I was looking forward to checking out his writing. I'm still going to do so, but now I'll have a better idea of what I'm getting into. Given what you've written here, I suspect I'll feel the same way you do, but it's worth a shot!

[sophia_sol]

Oh yeah, I think his mind is probably absolutely fascinating, and his thought experiments are usually very carefully considered and interesting! I just don't find they work for me as stories. I think it definitely is worth giving him a try at least, because I know multiple people who absolutely love his writing -- I hope you at least get something out of the attempt :)

[lirazel]

Yes, that makes so much sense!