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The Shape of My Name
The Shape of My Name by Nino Cipri is a time travel story about what it means to truly claim yourself.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
22 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 4, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
October 22, 2019
Two small words could never encompass everything you have to apologize for.
this is a lovely piece, strong and sad, about time travel, the difficulties of obtaining a stubborn mother's acceptance, and the coming-of-age/coming-into-oneself of a character.
this is a story where the sci-fi aspect of it - the time travel - is just a flourish. the story would be just as lovely without it, but it allows for certain scenes to exist, and it provides an additional layer of dislocation, of severance. i only mention it so that people who don't ordinarily enjoy time-travel stories (like me) understand that it isn't necessarily a deal-breaker.
it's mostly a story about family love and the various ways a family can hurt. the unnamed (until the end) narrator is speaking from a far future as she remembers her childhood, specifically her relationship with her mother, and the closeness they once enjoyed. generations of her mother's family have been in possession of a time machine, and when she was a little girl this secret was entrusted to her, and they travelled into the future together, bonded by this power.
however, as the narrator grew older and started facing some difficult realizations about herself, their relationship changed and they became parted by more than time.
it's a little heartbreaker of a story, for something so short, and i think it does a really good job describing all the feels of family - the frustration and love all balled up with disappointment and wounded trust. it's a sensitive treatment of what is a gutting reality for many.
definitely worth reading even if you can't deal with time travel.
there's some weird editing though - words crossed out and replaced with other words, but not in a way that seems intentional. just read around that and you'll be fine.
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/2015/03/04/the-sha...
come to my blog!
this is a lovely piece, strong and sad, about time travel, the difficulties of obtaining a stubborn mother's acceptance, and the coming-of-age/coming-into-oneself of a character.
this is a story where the sci-fi aspect of it - the time travel - is just a flourish. the story would be just as lovely without it, but it allows for certain scenes to exist, and it provides an additional layer of dislocation, of severance. i only mention it so that people who don't ordinarily enjoy time-travel stories (like me) understand that it isn't necessarily a deal-breaker.
it's mostly a story about family love and the various ways a family can hurt. the unnamed (until the end) narrator is speaking from a far future as she remembers her childhood, specifically her relationship with her mother, and the closeness they once enjoyed. generations of her mother's family have been in possession of a time machine, and when she was a little girl this secret was entrusted to her, and they travelled into the future together, bonded by this power.
however, as the narrator grew older and started facing some difficult realizations about herself, their relationship changed and they became parted by more than time.
it's a little heartbreaker of a story, for something so short, and i think it does a really good job describing all the feels of family - the frustration and love all balled up with disappointment and wounded trust. it's a sensitive treatment of what is a gutting reality for many.
definitely worth reading even if you can't deal with time travel.
there's some weird editing though - words crossed out and replaced with other words, but not in a way that seems intentional. just read around that and you'll be fine.
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/2015/03/04/the-sha...
come to my blog!
July 16, 2015
"The future feels lighter than the past."
Oh lawd that ending!
Remarkably written sci-fi/self-discovery short with a fascinating denouement.
May 13, 2015
The future feels lighter than the past. I think I know why you chose it over me
A very cool and interesting short story about time traveling and feeling caught in the possibilities...among other really mature topics, which are very well developed for a short story.
And it has a cool ending :D
It is free in tor.com
April 26, 2020
I really liked this story about a trans time traveller, family and forgiveness
August 6, 2015
Ah, just how I like my time travel stories: powerful, interesting, and mind-bending. With subtle characterisation, a fascinating premise, and a great twist, this is all anyone can ask for in a short story. Very reminiscent of All You Zombies, albeit less weird and more thought out. No matter how many times I see it, the old time travel story tactic of never ceases to amaze. Read it here.
Fun fact: there's also a reference here to el anacronópete (pictured below), the time machine introduced by Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau which actually predates any of Wells' time travel stories- think of it as a cast-iron TARDIS that looks a bit like an ornate shed, except not bigger on the inside.
P.S. I just realised this is my hundredth review! I've officially been on Goodreads for two years and written 100 reviews- not bad, but I'm going to try and step it up in the future.
Fun fact: there's also a reference here to el anacronópete (pictured below), the time machine introduced by Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau which actually predates any of Wells' time travel stories- think of it as a cast-iron TARDIS that looks a bit like an ornate shed, except not bigger on the inside.
P.S. I just realised this is my hundredth review! I've officially been on Goodreads for two years and written 100 reviews- not bad, but I'm going to try and step it up in the future.
May 15, 2023
literally crying, trans sff short what did you do to me
April 17, 2015
Such a beautifully, complicated, different story for something so short. Anything I could say about it wouldn't do it justice.
January 1, 2024
Nineteen eighty-one is colored silver, beige, bright orange, deep brown. It feels like the afghan blanket Dara kept on my bed while I recovered from my first jump, some kind of cheap fake wool. It tastes like chicken soup and weak tea with honey and lime Jell-O.I loved this short story so much I read it twice. Perfect New Year’s story, sad and moving and hopeful. The time travel aspect was fairly straightforward and easy to keep track of, and the story spiralled back on itself in a surprising way. I loved how the crossed-out words and phrases echoed the main character’s crossed-out original name and sexual identity: their details were changed but the meaning and value of the sentences were preserved. Happy, hopeful New Year! 5 stars.
March 30, 2015
Wow, that was fantastic. Wow, again. I think this one will stay with me for a while...
March 24, 2017
3.5 stars. A sad lil story about family, identity, and time travel.
June 26, 2019
A confusing time-travel fantasy. To me it read like one of the many New Yorker stories I've abandoned: well-written, depressing stories about characters I don't care about. Oh, well.
June 14, 2021
Not a huge fan of time travel as a subgenre but this was very well done.
January 21, 2024
"Do you have another name? That you want me to call you instead?" When I shrugged, she said, "It doesn't have to be a forever name. just one for the day. You can pick a new one tomorrow, if you like. You can introduce yourself differently every time you see me."
This is a story about time travelling family and as such, I couldn't help but be reminded of my teen-years favourite Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier, although this is literally all they have in common. Time travelling is essential to the story, but truly it's about family relationships. It's about a crooked relationship between mother and a child she doesn't accept for what he truly is. About a father who gets crunched by the capitalist society. About finding allies in perhaps unexpected spaces. This story is bit of a mess in the beginning, but stick up with it and let it reward you at the end. It is an intricate painful story, but at the same time, it's not dark, because there is still quite a bit of love present. Will definitely read more by Nino Cipri in the future!
Read here: https://www.tor.com/2015/03/04/the-sh...
March 15, 2015
This was very good. I loved the writing. The story was, unlike some other tor shorts that I've read, well-suited for the short format and neither lacking anything nor stuffed with too much superfluous detail. Some beautiful moments in the prose. My favorite was the narrator's grandmother's description of how time travel feels: "She said it felt like being a button squeezed through a too-narrow slit in a piece of fabric".
July 1, 2020
Other books I have read that involve trans people and time travel:
1) 'All You Zombies' by Robert A. Heinlein
2) 'The Peripheral' by William Gibson
3) 'Agency' by William Gibson
The question here—due to how short this is: is this primarily a sci-fi short story with minor trans elements or primarily a trans short story with minor sci-fi elements? It was well accomplished, but I think that, due to the prominence of the themes vs. how much of a background issue they are, this is primarily an appeal for the acceptance of trans people rather than about time travel per se.
The question that I had which the author chose to leave entirely unaddressed/unarticulated, but which I was searching for: why would someone who not only could but has visited the years 2100, 2200, 2300... even 2321, still harbour some kind of resentment/transphobia? Wouldn't visiting the future enlarge anyone's mind in a way which would make such issues appear quaint, especially given the future ubiquity of trans surgery to a much greater realistic degree than is available now? It seems like, even though the mother could journey through centuries—and did—she still had the mindset of someone in the 1950's. Why would this be? Who knows.
1) 'All You Zombies' by Robert A. Heinlein
2) 'The Peripheral' by William Gibson
3) 'Agency' by William Gibson
The question here—due to how short this is: is this primarily a sci-fi short story with minor trans elements or primarily a trans short story with minor sci-fi elements? It was well accomplished, but I think that, due to the prominence of the themes vs. how much of a background issue they are, this is primarily an appeal for the acceptance of trans people rather than about time travel per se.
The question that I had which the author chose to leave entirely unaddressed/unarticulated, but which I was searching for: why would someone who not only could but has visited the years 2100, 2200, 2300... even 2321, still harbour some kind of resentment/transphobia? Wouldn't visiting the future enlarge anyone's mind in a way which would make such issues appear quaint, especially given the future ubiquity of trans surgery to a much greater realistic degree than is available now? It seems like, even though the mother could journey through centuries—and did—she still had the mindset of someone in the 1950's. Why would this be? Who knows.
December 26, 2019
Muy bueno! Es muy atrapante, la historia personal de quien protagoniza me gustó mucho (con la actitud de Dara sobre todo ), pero creo que lo más destacable es la estructura: lo bien armado y lo bien que cierra.
Es interesante ver un elemento de ciencia ficción que en la práctica sólo está ahí para darle fuerza a los personajes.
Me gustaría saber un poco más sobre qué fue de , pero aún así con ese misterio me quedo conforme.
Muy buena historia, muy humana.
Se lee gratis en Tor.com
Es interesante ver un elemento de ciencia ficción que en la práctica sólo está ahí para darle fuerza a los personajes.
Me gustaría saber un poco más sobre qué fue de , pero aún así con ese misterio me quedo conforme.
Muy buena historia, muy humana.
Se lee gratis en Tor.com
September 8, 2020
Fascinating short story about time travel and gender identity and loss. The non-linear way it's written fits the theme very well, and I love the way other senses are included in the snapshot of each year.
April 15, 2015
Mmmmm.
Emotional and beautiful.
Emotional and beautiful.
February 3, 2021
ahhh wow this was so interesting and so well written ;-;
How can I ever make you understand how much I disliked that name? It felt like it belonged to a sister whom I was constantly being compared to, whose legacy I could never fulfill or surpass or even forget.
July 18, 2025
A young time traveller finds that time travel obscures more often than it reveals as they come to terms with their abandonment by their mother.
Cipri writes sensitively and this is a story of pain, of pride and of overcoming adversity.
Cipri writes sensitively and this is a story of pain, of pride and of overcoming adversity.
October 19, 2018
;_; time travel and trans identity
December 18, 2024
You loved Dad, but your love kept you hostage. You loved me, but you knew that someday, I’d transform myself into someone you didn’t recognize.
September 19, 2021
I saw a good GR friend reading this. Then, I saw a review that gave the on-line site to read this. https://www.tor.com/2015/03/04/the-sh... So that made the choice easy.
I think the story is more like 3.5 among my reads, but I rounded down as I thought the story really could have been longer. I felt like I was reading an early draft. (Maybe I just don't read enough short-stories)
The use of time-travel was interesting and quite important/necessary. I like SciFi with strong science, but this story did not use/need the pure-science of the traveling, rather it was the choices in time that lets the reader see the choices and wishes of each of the characters.
I've read books with Trans characters, but not as the main character. So I greatly liked seeing the focus by this author on the complex and very real feelings of this person.
I think the story is more like 3.5 among my reads, but I rounded down as I thought the story really could have been longer. I felt like I was reading an early draft. (Maybe I just don't read enough short-stories)
The use of time-travel was interesting and quite important/necessary. I like SciFi with strong science, but this story did not use/need the pure-science of the traveling, rather it was the choices in time that lets the reader see the choices and wishes of each of the characters.
I've read books with Trans characters, but not as the main character. So I greatly liked seeing the focus by this author on the complex and very real feelings of this person.
March 9, 2015
Good.
Goodnight.
Goodnight.
November 2, 2019
rep: trans mc, side wlw relationship
(november book club choice for reads rainbow) RTC
(november book club choice for reads rainbow) RTC
August 15, 2022
The Shape of My Name is one of the best short stories I've ever read. Nino Cipri captures the nostalgia and familial trauma hauntingly. The way they render crisp images of the past and future is so evocative. And how they utilize time travel to engage with this story's themes is just brilliant.
This story is perfect in its simplicity. Cipri presents time travel in such a matter-of-fact way. They gracefully brush aside questions of paradoxes and the like that often trip me up in these types of stories. In doing so the heart of the story is allowed to shine.
The slow unravelling of its mystery and the careful construction of both the protagonist's relationship with their mother and their own trans identity was so deftly constructed. I don't know how to describe it other than reading this story feels like breathing.
I absolutely adore everything about The Shape of My Name. If you have a spare 20 minutes please read it. You can find it for free on Tor's website .
This story is perfect in its simplicity. Cipri presents time travel in such a matter-of-fact way. They gracefully brush aside questions of paradoxes and the like that often trip me up in these types of stories. In doing so the heart of the story is allowed to shine.
The slow unravelling of its mystery and the careful construction of both the protagonist's relationship with their mother and their own trans identity was so deftly constructed. I don't know how to describe it other than reading this story feels like breathing.
I absolutely adore everything about The Shape of My Name. If you have a spare 20 minutes please read it. You can find it for free on Tor's website .
December 21, 2020
wtf. why did that hurt so much.
Anyways, A+ short story. Really great worldbuilding and characterization considering its length. A+ time travel twist, too. Plus, I mean. Trans time traveler, you know? Gave me vague This Is How You Lose the Time War vibes except easier to know wtf is going on.
Anyways, A+ short story. Really great worldbuilding and characterization considering its length. A+ time travel twist, too. Plus, I mean. Trans time traveler, you know? Gave me vague This Is How You Lose the Time War vibes except easier to know wtf is going on.
November 24, 2021
A time-travel story told linearly from the point of view of the first-person narrator, who grows up hating the name (not said in the story) given to her by her mother. Then she learns of the time-travel machine maintained by her family for generations (and its limitations) and goes on a journey to discover herself and the reason her mother eventually leaves her.
As in most time-travel stories, it all comes back full circle once the narrator realizes what she wants and is willing to reconcile with her mother.
As in most time-travel stories, it all comes back full circle once the narrator realizes what she wants and is willing to reconcile with her mother.
May 1, 2020
2.5/5
It was okay. The story raised some important questions like gender and forgiveness, but the plot wasn't too exciting.
It was okay. The story raised some important questions like gender and forgiveness, but the plot wasn't too exciting.
January 8, 2021
Beautifully written. Cipri's writing is magical, truly.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews