Understand by Ted Chiang, 1991
The magic trick:
A thought-provoking closing paragraph about poetry vs. short stories
A weekly double of Ted Chiang from his debut collection, Stories Of Your Life. This one reminds me of “Diary Of A Madman” by Lu Xun updated as an X-Files episode.
The premise is sharp. A man receives an experimental drug to help him recover a near-drowning. The drug works so well that it repairs his brain damage and then keeps going, making the man dangerously intelligent.
The problem – much like yesterday’s Chiang feature, “Tower Of Babylon” – the writing assignment the author has given himself is incredibly daunting. The narrator’s brain has to turn into a super computer; ergo the author has to turn into a super computer to successfully create such a narrator.
And Chiang does just that!
He ups the man’s complexity of logic and ideas and sentences with every page. I didn’t really enjoy reading it. I found it to be a real slog, if we’re being honest. But what a marvel of sheer intelligence to be able to pull it off.
And that’s quite a trick on Chiang’s part.
The selection:
By the time I’m back in Boston with the ampule, the FDA has responded to the theft by removing all pertinent files from any computer accessible through the datanet: as expected.
With the ampule and my belongings, I drive to New York City.
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