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Interview with Ted Chiang

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Re: Interview with Ted Chiang

#51

Post by superbatfish »

gwern wrote: post #22
elorant wrote: post #6

I’ve just finished reading “The story of your life” the other day and I can’t say I’m impressed. Based on the comments I’ve read about the movie I expected it to be mind boggling. The author claims that knowing the future affects free will but he doesn’t bother explaining how could anyone know the future or why would there be only one – quantum mechanics for example states that there could be countless futures/univer…

I don't think it's nearly as good as "Understand" or "Exhalation" or "Hell is the Absence of God" (all discussed in OP). Like "Life Cycle of Software Objects", it seems seriously overrated. But "Story of Your Life" is definitely one of the more confusing stories and I had to read it at least twice before I thought I understood what sort of Chiang-style message Chiang was going for. What I take him as suggesting is no…

Yes yes yes. We read "Story of Your Life" in my Sci-fi reading club, and several people came away with the misunderstanding that the aliens could see the future or something like that. But your interpretation is correct (IMHO). Chiang was making a point about the subjective nature of consciousness, or at least one aspect of it.

Re: Interview with Ted Chiang

#52

Post by macintux »

superbatfish wrote: post #50
cousin_it wrote: post #12

Ted Chiang is cool. But I think "Story of your life" isn't his best work. If you're going to read one story by Chiang, a good one is "Liking what you see": http://www.ibooksonline.com/88/Text/liking.html

That's interesting, because Chiang himself doesn't view "Liking What You See" to be his best work. In fact, he turned down a Hugo nomination for it, "on the grounds that the story was rushed due to editorial pressure and did not turn out as he had really wanted".[1] Personally, I think Story of Your Life is a master work. I found the strange writing structure annoying at first, and then right at the end of the story…

I was a bit depressed that I didn't get to experience that revelation while reading the story, but getting to experience it while watching the movie is fair recompense.

Re: Interview with Ted Chiang

#53

Post by macintux »

elorant wrote: post #24
ivraatiems wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your appraisal's right, his work is more philosophical/speculative than "hard" SF. But I don't see a problem with that. There's room for both in science fiction. If you don't particularly prefer the spec-fic stuff, there's nothing wrong with that either. It depends on what you see the purpose of scifi as being: Is it to explore cool tech/science we can't explore in reality yet, or is it to use tech/science to ask que…

Sure it's both and a gazillion other things. But here's the thing, even as a philosophical theme I don't find it presented very well. Why for example can't you act on free will? Who's stopping you? The future? And who's enforcing it? He could for example go down the path of the simulation hypothesis which also renders free will irrelevant. But he didn't. I don't know, perhaps after a while it will hit but right now I…

Astonishingly hard to imagine how any such exploration would not have diminished the story. This is a woman narrating an extraordinary experience and a relationship with her daughter, not a physicist giving a lecture on the structure of the universe.

Re: Interview with Ted Chiang

#54

Post by ctchocula »

ivraatiems wrote: post #13
bbctol wrote: post #7

I'm so glad that this movie is getting Ted Chiang more exposure. He's one of the most interesting and creative science fiction authors out there, despite and unbelievably small output (he has literally published fifteen stories over almost 30 years, and picked up four Hugos, four Nebulas, and a ton of other prestigious awards.) Maybe this will finally motivate him to quit his day job and write more, or at least get m…

As a writer, I have a sneaking suspicion that Ted Chiang writes a lot more than he publishes. You just don't get as good as he is without lots and lots of practice. I have a feeling there are a lot of projects he scraps that we never get to see, and many of them are probably pretty great. Personally, I find him and his quality-over-quantity approach inspiring.

> Chiang turned down a Hugo nomination for his short story "Liking What You See: A Documentary" in 2003, on the grounds that the story was rushed due to editorial pressure and did not turn out as he had really wanted.

This seems to fit your theory.

Re: Interview with Ted Chiang

#55

Post by runevault »

samfisher83 wrote: post #35

For a guy with as many awards as him I am surprised he needs a second job. He doesn't write a lot, but given his quality I am surprised someone hasn't paid him to just write.

Short fiction does not pay good money, and that I know of he doesn't publish novels which is where it is POSSIBLE to make a decent to great wage (but quality is no guarantee of making good money).

Re: Interview with Ted Chiang

#56

Post by runevault »

macintux wrote: post #45
sandworm101 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> You're trying awfully hard to dislike a movie you haven't seen. I am. I do try hard. I've been burnt by too many movies. If am only going to see one in a given month (at the theatre) I don't want to waste that opportunity. I don't think I am alone in heavily criticizing how a movie is promoted as part of the decision. One of the reasons I went to DrStrange was that the movie had not been so heavily promoted. It's…

I'm pretty well disconnected from mass media, but was Arrival really more hyped than Dr. Strange? I hadn't even heard of Arrival until it, well, arrived. Anyway, speaking as someone who saw it for $5, I'd pay thrice that to see it again (and probably will). I found it much more compelling than Dr. Strange, which I might watch again someday on Netflix.

Considering Arrival only got something like half as many screens no it was not nearly as hyped. Frankly I don't think the distributor understood what they had their hands on.

Re: Interview with Ted Chiang

#57

Post by sandworm101 »

macintux wrote: post #45
sandworm101 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> You're trying awfully hard to dislike a movie you haven't seen. I am. I do try hard. I've been burnt by too many movies. If am only going to see one in a given month (at the theatre) I don't want to waste that opportunity. I don't think I am alone in heavily criticizing how a movie is promoted as part of the decision. One of the reasons I went to DrStrange was that the movie had not been so heavily promoted. It's…

I'm pretty well disconnected from mass media, but was Arrival really more hyped than Dr. Strange? I hadn't even heard of Arrival until it, well, arrived. Anyway, speaking as someone who saw it for $5, I'd pay thrice that to see it again (and probably will). I found it much more compelling than Dr. Strange, which I might watch again someday on Netflix.

Different areas, different media roll outs. DrStrange was barely mentioned on TV in my area. I think I saw one commercial. But Arrival seemed to have a spot during every break last night.

Re: Interview with Ted Chiang

#58

Post by geden »

sandworm101 wrote: post #3

The greater the marketing hype before a film arrives in my town, the greater the inevitable disappointment. Perhaps Arrival is great, but imho the truly great ones don't invest in such a hype machine. The "100% at rotten tomatoes" line in the commercials give me pause. I checked. It's at 95, not 100. I can see why. Scores do change, but it's just more evidence of heavy marketing. The best scifi, the really good stuff…

I'm very curious about what you consider to be "the best scifi, the really good stuff". Could you name some examples?

Very few decent SF scripts go into production, even fewer with such amazing talent on board (Villeneuve, Johannsson, Adams) etc.

Arrival is not just one of the best SF films this year, it's one of the best films this year.

Villeneuve and Johannsson weren't handed Bladerunner 2 for no good reason :)

Re: Interview with Ted Chiang

#59

Post by sandworm101 »

geden wrote: post #58
sandworm101 wrote: post #3

The greater the marketing hype before a film arrives in my town, the greater the inevitable disappointment. Perhaps Arrival is great, but imho the truly great ones don't invest in such a hype machine. The "100% at rotten tomatoes" line in the commercials give me pause. I checked. It's at 95, not 100. I can see why. Scores do change, but it's just more evidence of heavy marketing. The best scifi, the really good stuff…

I'm very curious about what you consider to be "the best scifi, the really good stuff". Could you name some examples? Very few decent SF scripts go into production, even fewer with such amazing talent on board (Villeneuve, Johannsson, Adams) etc. Arrival is not just one of the best SF films this year, it's one of the best films this year. Villeneuve and Johannsson weren't handed Bladerunner 2 for no good reason :)

I'd draw a line between the good scifi and the good theatre movies. There is some great scifi out there that isn't for general consumption in theatres. I'd call Akira (1988) one of the greats, but not the sort of thing I would see in a theater with a mixed group of friends.

On the other hand, I didn;t like the Matrix movies much but would have to agree that were fun in theatres. Some people found them great, but they haven't aged well imho. I saw the original Jurassic Park probably 10 times in theatres. That was a great scifi theatre movie. If it came out today I would recommend it to my friends.

Re: Interview with Ted Chiang

#60

Post by r00fus »

daemonk wrote: post #2

A great short story Ted Chiang wrote that have some themes similar to Arrival (free will) is the one he wrote for Nature Futures: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v436/n7047/full/436150a...

This is an awesomely elegant little short story.
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