A review by teabrewer
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

As the title suggests, there are multiple short stories in this book. My opinion on each varied greatly. Some felt like pure art and some almost made me give up the book although over all this xollection is really worth reading.
The tower of babylon, the first story, had an interesting message and a very interesting setting, I liked it but it lacked intensity and I wish more time had been spent in the tower's villages elaborating the world.
 The second story, Understand, felt at the beggining like a less interesting version of Flowers for Algernoon. Later on it started to walk with its own legs but, before got anywhere, it tripped and felt on its head fatally. 
So far the stories hadn't necessarily lived up to the hype, but the third story, Division by 0, absolutely did! This is the first time I read a female character written by a man before 2010 that feels like an entire person. Both main characters are incredibly written and every one of their actions and thoughts add to the story beautifully. The contrast between the couple's point of views and the sense of inevitability accompanied by the sections on mathematical theory really marked this stoey as a true masterpiece, seriously. I wish I could frame each page and hang them on my walls. I feel like if you don't care a lot about math, you may have some difficulty understanding Renee and some of the terminology may be a little tiring but I don't know if that would get in the way of enjoying this story. 
Story of our life has a very innovative manner of representing time. I loved the movie and the short story is even better because the manner in which it is written makes the reader feel like they see time like the main character. Again tackling themes around the inevitable. A very interesting representation of motherhood too. 
Seventy-two letters is very interesting and a little uncomfortable to read. I'm not sure if it is a warning or a defense of innovation. 
The last story, Liking what you see, was very interesting and a great exploration of the effects of technology in a society centered around beauty. I also really enjoyed the documentary format 
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