soph (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophia_sol) wrote2021-04-23 02:36 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2021-04-23 02:36 pm
Exhalation, by Ted Chiang
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.
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.
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