Impossible Things
123. Connie Willis, Impossible Things
In this collection of short stories, mostly published in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, Connie Willis showcases her remarkable imagination, humor, love of literature, and knowledge of quantum physics. I’ve really enjoyed all of her books that I’ve read so far, and this anthology is no exception. Though I enjoyed some stories more than others, they’re all interesting and unique - no clunkers! Here are my thoughts on the individual stories:
.....“The Last of the Winnebagos” - Sometime in the near future, it’s a felony to kill animals, and the Humane Society has become a totalitarian secret police. I found this story a bit hard to follow at first, but it all came together in the end.
.....“Even the Queen” - After a radically egalitarian revolution called the Liberation, women no longer have to experience menstruation. This was a very funny story about the far-reaching implications that such a development might have.
.....“Schwarzschild Radius” - A young scientist’s thesis about black holes becomes tied to a German soldier’s horrific experiences in World War I. One of the darker stories in this collection, it’s also one of the least emotionally impactful, in my opinion.
.....“Ado” - A college professor tries to teach Shakespeare without offending anyone. This is a lightweight but extremely funny satire about what would happen if political correctness were taken to its logical extreme.
.....“Spice Pogrom” - A woman on a space colony desperately attempts to communicate with the local aliens, but she is frequently hindered by overcrowding, language barriers, and two insufferable little girls. I absolutely loved this homage to the great Hollywood screwball comedies - definitely one of my favorites in the bunch!
.....“Winter’s Tale” - Willis takes on the question of Who Was Shakespeare, Really from a unique perspective. I disagree with her ultimate theory but thought the story was extremely interesting.
.....“Chance” - An unhappily married woman, having just moved back to her college town, relives a tragic incident from her past. This is a great but ultimately heartbreaking story.
.....“In the Late Cretaceous” - A university’s paleontology department must face radical reorganization and budget cuts; the professors are trapped in this madness until one of them decides she’s had enough. I enjoyed this satire about academia, especially the jokes about the parking Nazis (it’s not every day you read a story where a character is described as “an adolescent Himmler”!).
.....“Time Out” - A science experiment intended to prove that time travel is possible wreaks havoc on a small Midwestern town. I really liked this story, which had an interesting balance of humor and psychological insight.
.....“Jack” - In World War II-era London, a group of air raid wardens struggles to survive the war while rescuing people who have been trapped beneath piles of rubble. At first this story seems like an average horros-of-war story, but it soon takes a really cool turn!
.....“At the Rialto” - Confronted with the chaos of a physics convention being hosted in a Hollywood hotel, a scientist begins to draw parallels between the insanity around her and quantum physics. This comic story is another one of my favorites in the collection.