Customer Reviews

Her Smoke Rose Up Forever

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In 508 pages we get 18 short stories by James Tiptree, Jr. Original publication dates range from 1969 to 1981. Time has overtaken many of the tales in a strange way, that makes one wish Tiptree were still around to appreciate developments. For instance, in "The Girl Who Was Plugged In," the world breathlessly watches the real-time antics of young, beautiful wealthy girls... who are actually brainless synthetic creations animated by what amount to brains in jars in an underground lab. What would Tiptree make of the Parises, Nicoles, Lindsays and Brittanies of our own day, who appear to have no brains located anywhere?

Tiptree really got rolling in 1973, when she published her three best-known stories, "The Girl...," along with "Love is the plan the plan is death," and "The Women Men Don't See." Along with 1976's "Houston, Houston, do you read?" these are the quintessential Tiptree tales. "Love is the plan..." is my favorite science fiction short story, and one of the best short stories of any kind ever written. It has not a single human character, and depicts the unbearably touching efforts of a gigantic, heavily-armored, multi-limbed alien to tackle and solve three deadly problems faced by his species, two internal--- stemming from instinctively programmed behavior--- and one external, a global climate change. That he will fail, and why he will fail, is evident early on from many clues fairly planted within the narrative. But he does his level best, which is indeed far better than you and I could hope to do, and like most Tiptree aliens, he is totally charming and lovable throughout his hopeless task. Our own species is currently failing completely to deal with a global climate change, and we are neither charming nor lovable in our miserably conflicted efforts.

"A Momentary Taste of Being" is another quintessential Tiptree story; an expedition of interstellar exploration inadvertently discovers the true purpose of human existence... a purpose which reveals all human effort, achievement and aspiration to be utterly pointless and futile. "With Delicate Mad Hands" is a key story, from 1981, that catches Tiptree in transition from symbolic War of the Sexes tales to space-operatic adventure. Almost all her stories from 1981 to her death in 1987 were space adventures set in the distant future.

Several tales here were completely new to me, particularly "Slow Music," from 1980, in which a chance (?) encounter of the earth with some alien stream of disembodied consciousness has made suicide so irresistibly attractive that there are only a handful of living humans. This story seems to contain a sly self-portrait of Tiptree herself, as the dying ancient human wreck that the two main characters discover on their way to see "The River," as the stream is called.

There's not a bad or mediocre story in the volume. And, alas, this is probably the only collection of Tiptree fiction currently in print in the US. Get it while it's still available.

James Tiptree, Jr. (the pen name for Alice Sheldon) excelled at imaginative plots, intriguing science, and most of all, lyrical writing. Her explorations of gender, biology and science were vivid and controversial, and she won all of science fiction's major awards. This short story collection was out of print for many years, and has now been revised with the author's original notes. It is a must-have for science fiction fans, feminists, anthroplogists, and, well, everyone. This is one of my favorite authors, and I truly love this book.

Some of the blurbs about Alice Sheldon, writing as James Tiptree, Jr., indicate that her real gender was a mystery and, in fact, some commented that `he had to be a man' because of the writing. I have a hard time, in retrospect, seeing that. All of these stories seem to me to have easily been seen as a woman writing, if you were so inclined to think about those things. The other thing is that Alice Sheldon is described as an `ardent' feminist. Again I don't see that, but I do see a somewhat clinical misanthrope. The men in these stories tend to be ineffectual neuters or sexual-sociopaths. The women tend to be background or professional victims (with the exception of `Slow Music,' probably the best story in the collection).

Having said that I did find the stories very well written and I can well understand the awards and critical acclaim at the time. However they do tend to take on a rather common theme of hopelessness and profound melancholy at the future aspects of humans. One or two of the stories made a passing attempt at uplifting the future of humans, but mostly these are, to me, the writings of a deeply depressed person. I found it no surprise to learn that Ms Sheldon died at her own hand after killing her husband, probably as a suicide pact.

I do recommend these, especially if you are a fan of the SciFi short story. All are well written but the best way to appreciate them is to read one story at a time over a long interval. These have such a common `feel' to them that if you read them one after another you start to get the feeling that you've been there, done that.

* viii * Introduction (Her Smoke Rose Up Forever) * essay by Michael Swanwick
* 1 * The Last Flight of Dr. Ain * (1969) * shortstory by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 9 * The Screwfly Solution * (1977) * shortstory by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 33 * And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side * (1972) * shortstory by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 43 * The Girl Who Was Plugged In * (1973) * novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 79 * The Man Who Walked Home * (1972) * shortstory by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 95 * And I Have Come Upon This Place by Lost Ways * (1972) * novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 115 * The Women Men Don't See * (1973) * novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 145 * Your Faces, O My Sisters! Your Faces Filled of Light! * (1976) * shortstory by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 163 * Houston, Houston, Do You Read? * (1976) * novella by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 217 * With Delicate Mad Hands * (1981) * novella by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 275 * A Momentary Taste of Being * (1975) * novella by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 361 * We Who Stole the Dream * (1978) * novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 385 * Her Smoke Rose Up Forever * (1974) * novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 403 * Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death * (1973) * shortstory by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 421 * On the Last Afternoon * (1972) * novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 445 * She Waits for All Men Born * (1976) * shortstory by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 459 * Slow Music * (1980) * novella by James Tiptree, Jr.
* 505 * And So On, and So On * (1971) * shortstory by James Tiptree, Jr.

I'm an unsure how James Tiptree/Alice Bradley's work hasn't appeared in more of the feminist/women's studies courses I took in either undergrad or graduate school. Her perspective on the future of humanity and the exploration of science has a viewpoint I have never read in science fiction up to this point and I'm glad a book review in a different source led me to reading these stories - in particular The Screwfly Solution, Houston, Houston Do You Read? and a Momentary Taste of Being. Both provocative and incredibly disturbing, I have already recommended this book to other female sci-fi aficionados.

Alice Sheldon was the best female SF writer, and one of the best of either gender. This collection shows why. "Houston", "Women Men Don't See" et al. are original, and tightly, well-constructed narrations, without invoking improbable technological developments.
Jeffrey Smith has done a first rate job, and is editing her other stories for upcoming publications. Don't miss this collection if you're an SF fan or just appreciate wildly immaginative stories.

the short storys that she ( yes SHE , tiptree was not a man but a woman whose real name was alice sheldon) wrote are some of the most thought provoking ,incredible fiction ever written by anyone. most of these tales included in this book are from the original collection released in 1973 under the title of 10,000 LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME. if you are lucky enough to find it do get it. i did find it through amazon, but if you cant HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER is the next best choice

The first thing that struck me about this collection was the quality of the writing. Sheldon has absolute mastery over the English language, and she displays it at every turn. Her descriptions are incredibly rich and detailed, and yet I didn't feel like the story was being bogged down. She somehow fit lush worlds full of sights and sounds right into the plot, never slowing down or forgetting her purpose. Her characters were mostly well rounded, with a few one-dimensional or token characters spread throughout the collection as a reminder that it was in fact written by a human being. Her plots were beautiful, nuanced, and often unexpected, though many shared a sense of despair or hopelessness. Though some of her stories were kind of long for a short story, all in all I'd say that her writing is absolutely top-notch.

All that said, I had some problems with Sheldon, and I'm not the only one. See, the problem with Sheldon is that she is often writing satirically. Well, that itself isn't really the problem, but that's where my problems with her start. Back when Sheldon was alive and before anyone knew that she was a woman rather than being James Tiptree Jr, many people criticized her stories for being incredibly sexist. Now she is known as a great feminist icon, so I always wondered how this mistake came about. Well, after reading her stories, I think I understand. Even knowing that she was a woman who was writing satirically, some of the people in stories still made me sick. There are some serious portrayals of sexism and general misogyny, and even for a satire it was a bit much for me. If I hadn't been told, I would have thought that she meant everything she said, and it honestly made me uncomfortable.

All in all, I don't really know what to make of this collection. The writing is excellent, but the subject matter is often very difficult, and nearly all the stories end in tragedy. Even though the writing was good, I still had a lot of trouble just getting through it. I think I would recommend this book, but I would suggest that you read it one story at a time with breaks in between, rather than trying to read straight through like I did. The stories are good, and the writing, while very dense, is rewarding. Sheldon is a complicated writer, and this collection is definitely something that will leave you thinking long after you've finished.

Rating: ?
I recommend this book, but suggest that it be read one story at a time rather than straight through.

Excellent collection of stories. "Houston, Houston, Do you read" was my favorite of the bunch. Tiptree's stories are truly original and leave you with the sense of wonder and the what if factor, that I find lacking in so many other books in the genre. I could not put this book down.

Tiptree's classic work "Her Smoke Rose Up Forever" is remarkably applicable to today. The stories are not only an exciting read but in a time when the welfare of women and children the world over is threatened more than ever, Tiptree's stories remind us that the struggle for human dignity has never ended. The bizarre story behind Tiptree's life is also amazing.