Monday, September 2, 2013
How did you like the anthology?
I want to know which story was your favorite, which the least, and why. Personally, my favorite story was "Liking What You See" because the subject raised a number of intersting topics, the debate over the issue was somewhat humorous depending on the character being "interviewed" (like the person who got their nose removed), and I enjoyed the documentary-style format it was written in. Unfortunately, my least favorite was "Understand." The idea of being able to artificially augment your intelligence to superhuman levels is interesting, and I liked the fact that it seemed like a supervillain creation story, but I didn't really connect with Leon, and I found it a little hard to follow the final confrontation with Reynolds. So how about you guys, which were your favorite(s)?
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My favorite was most definitely "Story of Your Life." I really like how, while the plot devices still couldn't be explained by traditional science, they were still fairly straight-forward in how the COULD work. Also, it was sentimental and I liked the deeper themes of maternal love.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite, though I enjoyed all of them, was "Seventy Two Letters." I was really lost during the bit about genomes and reinforcing themselves, etc. I know that science fiction doesn't have to make total sense, but it's nice when the reader feels like it does.
My favorite was definitely "Hell is the Absence of God." The twist at the end really fooled me and even before that it was fascinating to read about a world in which the afterlife was not a mystery at all.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite was probably "The Evolution of Human Science" - ironic as it was the story I was in charge of leading discussion for. I understand that it was written AS a "science article" instead of a short story and as such, complaining that it wasn't a short story misses the point, but.... That's still my biggest complaint. I was relieved after 2 pages to learn that it was almost over.
My favorite was also "Story of Your LIfe." It was intriguing to think about the future in regards to myself and to think about what I would do if I knew what would happen in my life. The theme of fate versus free will has always been interesting to me, probably because no one can prove one way or the other.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite was probably "Understand." At first the idea was interesting to explore because it seems like something like that would be possible, but by the end of the story it seemed so unrealistic and so out there that I had a hard time following what was happening.
My favorite was 'Liking What You See". I think this due to the fact the world we live in is so judgemental regarding personal appearance these days. I found it easy to relate to, and am already looking into themes and ideas that I could write my potential paper on. I still can't decide if I would choose to turn off my calliagnosia off or not.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite was also "The Evolution of Human Science". I found it hard to follow and it left me confused.
My favorite was "Hell is the Absence of God." I loved the idea of that world and how the heavenly beings really did not cause that much chaos. People just lived with whatever affliction or unfairness like they would in this world. There was still free will people could either love God and go to heaven (maybe) or not love God or rebel and go to Hell. The only punishment in Hell was separation from God and for most people it wasn't that big a deal, except, of course, for our protagonist.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite was "Seventy-Two Letters." I loved the ideas it represented and all the golem lore and Jewish history. However, I got really bogged down in the fake science. If I'd been reading this one my own I would've just skipped down the page to where they weren't talking about the fake science anymore.
Lauren: Some read science fiction the way Linus (in Schulz's "Peanuts") read the Russian names in The Brothers Karamazov: "when I come to one I can't pronounce, I just bleep right over it!"
ReplyDeleteMy favorite story was "Liking What You See" just because it really relates to the judgmental society we live in today, and I just found the ability to turn your calli on or off was really interesting. I really enjoyed Chiang's set up of the story and how it was written like a documentary with various characters voicing different views on the subject of calli's.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite story was "Hell is the Absence of God'. I really didn't like the fact that heaven was presented as something you could easily see, and people still chose not to believe. Another thing that sort of bugged me was how God was not really seen as this loving caring being but more of a harsh, punishing God. I still really enjoyed the story, but out of all the other readings that was definitely my least favorite.