Short story up on a tower

January 12, 2011 12:33 AM

Another short story where people live on a tower...

I just finished Ted Chiang's Tower of Babylon from the wonderful Chiang Mefi post from a few days ago.

This reminded me of another story that I can't quite place... I could swear I've read something recently in the same vein: people living and dying on a tower...

This one, I believe, had different classes of people, and went into that structure more than Chiang's. Some people were born up the tower with no point of reference for the ground and would never visit.

I thought it might have been included in Clive Barker's Books of Blood, which I thumbed through when I was intrigued by a reference to In the Hills, the Cities on Mefi, but I can't find it in the description of any of the stories there...

This would likely be something I'd read online and possibly even through Mefi, since I haven't been reading too much outside of here... could also possibly be McSweeney's (doubtful) or some other collection of stories or tales, but I can't place it...

Any thoughts?

posted by disillusioned to Writing & Language (8 answers total)

I remember a story of people living in a tower in McSweeney's Quarterly! Unfortunately, I do not have my books with me, so I can not look up which one. The story explained how people began building a tower to the heavens, but it took so long that people lived there their entire live, and eventually it became impossible to visit either the top or the bottom for the majority of people... yes?
posted by Peter Petridish at 2:13 AM on January 12, 2011

Not it, I'm sure, but Oath of Fealty, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, has residents of an "arcology" based (I think I read somewhere) on Kowloon Walled City (razed in the mid-1990s; see also City of Darkness) who don't need to leave for anything. More city block than tower, though.
posted by manyon at 2:25 AM on January 12, 2011

Peter Petridish: I remember a story of people living in a tower in McSweeney's Quarterly!

I remember this as well. I think it was the Millhauser story doublehappy mentions, though I don't have my books with me to check either.
posted by Life at Boulton Wynfevers at 3:21 AM on January 12, 2011

Ah, The Tower by Steven Millhauser is in Mcsweeney's Quarterly 25, according to the internets:

"Stephen Millhauser – The Tower -- During the course of many generations the Tower grew higher and higher until one day it pierced the floor of heaven."
posted by Peter Petridish at 4:21 AM on January 12, 2011

The World Inside, by Robert Silverberg?
posted by flexiblefine at 8:19 AM on January 12, 2011

For some reason I remember there being a small sequence about humans living in big towers that went from ground level to space in Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama - though not central to the plot.
posted by TravellingDen at 9:36 AM on January 12, 2011

KW Jeter wrote a book called Farewell Horizontal about people who live in a tower, but most of the book concerns itself with people living on the vertical sides of the tower, as opposed to the top or inside.
posted by lekvar at 11:09 AM on January 12, 2011

Response by poster: I definitely own McSweeney's 25... so there's a good chance it's in there. Thanks, all!
posted by disillusioned at 12:13 PM on January 12, 2011