Her Smoke Rose Up Forever in Beyond Reality

Mar 10, 2012 mark monday rated it it was amazing

Shelves: new-dimensions, alpha-team, new-wave, scifi-60s-70s-80s

"Ahead lies only the irreversible long decline. For the first time we know there is nothing beyond ourselves."

when do you know that the book you've just read is one of your favorite books? that an author you've been reading is one of your favorite authors? probably a variety of factors come into play. for me, the love affair often begins when i realize that the author or book has a few specific attributes: genuine compassion and empathy for human beings combined with a dark and despairing view o ...more

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Aug 16, 2011 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: speculative-fiction, short-stories

Not a light read. In story after story the author shows she is willing to put humankind up to the most unflattering of mirrors. If beauty or joy is found, it is fleeting. Still, it's easy to see why James Tiptree Jr. was so exciting to the SF establishment when "he" burst on the scene. There's something dangerous and intense about the prose, and a sort of gathering of confidence if you look at the stories in a roughly chronological order, from "The Last Flight of Dr. Ain" to "With Delicate Mad H ...more

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Jan 28, 2015 Lulu rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, favourites, books-read-in-2015

Many more good than bad. The bad are only classed as such because they were too bizarre for my sensibilities, or I failed to understand the ideas or themes Tiptree was driving at. A phenomenal science fiction author, with an incredibly interesting life. I think it's an important read, especially for anyone interested in feminist science fiction of the 70s.

Particularly highlights for me were "The Screwfly Solution", "The Girl Who Was Plugged In", "A Momentary Taste of Being", "Your Faces, O My Si ...more

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Jan 24, 2011 Kerry rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, 2016, sf, 8-out-of-10, anthology, 2012

COMPLETED 5 March 2016

After listening to the ladies on the Galactic Suburbia podcast talking about a number of Tiptree stories, I was minded to buy the ebook version of this and slowly get it finished. Tiptree wrote some amazing stories, but they tend to be so depressing and there's an entrenched misogyny (that she is clearly writing against) that is hard to read - and makes one sadder to realise still exists all these years later. I hope, and generally believe, we've come some distance since th COMPLETED 5 March 2016

After listening to the ladies on the Galactic Suburbia podcast talking about a number of Tiptree stories, I was minded to buy the ebook version of this and slowly get it finished. Tiptree wrote some amazing stories, but they tend to be so depressing and there's an entrenched misogyny (that she is clearly writing against) that is hard to read - and makes one sadder to realise still exists all these years later. I hope, and generally believe, we've come some distance since these stories were written, but we've still got a long way to go.

And did I say depressing?

ORIGINAL READ: 25 January 2011 - 10 September 2012 (DNF)

I'm reading this a story or two a month as part of the Women of SF 2011 Book Club, so it'll be sitting here in "currently reading" for most of the year. I'll try to add a few comments on the stories as I read them, but I can't make any promises.

10 September, 2012: I’m officially giving up on James Tiptree Jr’s Her Smoke Rose Up Forever. This is not because it’s a bad book, but because at this point in my life I simply can’t take the depressing-ness of it. I’m going to put it away on the bookcase, but leave a bookmark in that, so that when I (hopefully) go back to it in the future I’ll know what I’ve read and what I haven’t.
I’m very glad to have read some Tiptree, but the book is just taunting me from my bedroom bookshelf at the moment. “Ha! You’re scared of me and I’m still here with a bookmark in me, which means you should finish me!”.

Maybe one day, but this is just not the right point in my life.

CONTINUING TO READ: 28 August 2015 -

The Galactic Suburbia podcast has been discussing Tiptree this month and their enthusiasm combined with their discussion of some of the stories in this book, make me want to pick it up again. Unfortunately, the book is backed away in a box in our storage unit. Fortunately (or also unfortunately depending on whether you ask me or my bank balance) it has since been released as an ebook. Yes, dear reader, I bought it.

So far, I've only reread or skimmed the ones I'd read before to be able to remember the stories before listening to the podcast. But having spent my money on it, my goal is finish it this time. ...more

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Nov 13, 2018 Deedee rated it really liked it

Shelves: sf-short-stories-anthologies, beyond-reality-science-fiction, read-2018, read-2018-fsf-and-horror, read-2018short-stories, beyond-reality-2018-read, challenge-2018-fall, sf-masterworks

"The Last Flight of Dr. Ain" (1969) Short Story
Nominated 1970 Best Short Story Nebula

"The Screwfly Solution" (1977) Short Story
Nominated 1978 Best Novelette Hugo
Winner 1978 Best Novelette Nebula

"And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side" (1979) Short Story
Nominated 1973 Best Short Story Hugo
Nominated 1973 Best Short Story Nebula

"The Girl Who Was Plugged In" (1973) Novelette
Winner 1974 Best Novella Hugo
Nominated 1974 Best Novelette Nebula

"The Man Who Walked Home" (1972) Short Story
"An ...more

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