4 ms·

I didn't really enjoy the three body problem. While the science part was nice, the characters were just plain out boring and forgettable. In those aspects it's

by esarbe 5y ago

I didn't really enjoy the three body problem. While the science part was nice, the characters were just plain out boring and forgettable. In those aspects it's very similar to The Foundation trilogy. Didn't enjoy that one either. From the interview: > But now, many of the most famous male stars here embrace their feminine qualities. I guess that interview was done before the current cultural purge started.

Fellshard 5y ago
That's a pretty current view of Chinese national policy, actually, so it doesn't come as a surprise at all. From what I recall, Liu takes a party line; I believe he defended their treatment of Uyghurs in recent interviews, for example.
- EdwardDiego 5y ago
  Well, at the risk of sounding like a coward, I would toe the party line also if I lived in China and had any public presence. The price of publicly opposing Xi Jinping's policies is disappearing for a year or so then making a scripted subdued apology on CCTV.
  - esarbe 5y ago
    Coward here, too. The perfidious thing is that even emigrating doesn't put you out of Xi Jinping's grasp. It's well documented how pressure is applied to vocal opponents of the new Leaders policies by going after their families in China.
    - EdwardDiego 5y ago
      Yep, happens in New Zealand on the regular. It's well known that all the local Chinese language newspapers toe the party line, and Chinese community groups (especially Skykiwi) are infiltrated by the CCP to a rather large extent, and if you're overly critical, well, hopefully you managed to get residence visas for 奶奶 / nǎi nai and 姥姥 / lǎo lao beforehand. Also, expect to be ostracised by the emigrant Chinese community. Oh, and even if you're not Chinese, but you're critical of China, well... https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/the-curious-case-of-the-burgled-professor/LIFRYA3UBZNGCZPT45NB77KCY4/ https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/the-curious-case-of-the-burgle...
      - Borrible 5y ago
        Didn't heard of any widespread anti-chinese progroms in Germany in early pandemic times, but I know a lot about German servility towards potential new masters. And their markets, of course. It's always a good idea to pull the racism card in Germany, especially against the truth. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3124849/childrens-book-pulped-over-claim-covid-19-originated-china https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3124849/ch... https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/covid-kids-book-pulped-after-china-complains https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/covid-kids-book-pulped-a... This example looks cute, but people can't even imagine what the propagandistic future of this cold war will look like.
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - worrycue 5y ago
        China’s reach extends into the Chinese emigrant communities in foreign lands. Some believe it’s because they are afraid of dissent organising abroad. https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/08/the-chinese-communist-party-is-still-afraid-of-sun-yat-sens-shadow/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/08/the-chinese-communist-p...
  - BlackjackCF 5y ago
    You're not a coward, just a human being. If you're a Chinese national, speaking out publicly against the CCP affects your family too. Even if you were out of reach of the CCP, there's nothing preventing them from disappearing your relatives.
  - chaostheory 5y ago
    You have a good point, but based on his pre anti-corruption (political purge) writing, Liu Cixin agrees with the party line.
- dirtyid 5y ago
  Yeah, the politics and concepts in Liu's writing is pretty typical of realist CCP/Chinese thinking. People will make excuses that everyone toes the party line if they're smart, which while true, also overlooks that common Chinese views (IMO) does substantively diverge from western views, especially in IR theory which influences overton window of policies etc. Liberalism is a luxury for Liu's generation.
EdwardDiego 5y ago
Well, Three Body Problem was written for a Chinese audience, by a Chinese author, so I suspect the characters would be more relatable to a Chinese audience.
- jaqalopes 5y ago
  This 1000%. I am a white American, but I read the book while living in China and working with Chinese people every day. The portrayals are not flat, they are spot-on. Many Western readers just don't realize there are other ways for a person to be besides the Western way.
me_me_me 5y ago
It was most uneven book I have ever read. It has extreme high and lows. Its like a roller-coaster ride. Great ideas, plot-twists but characters and their arcs are sometimes boring sometimes bizarre. Overall I would recommend it for his thought provoking ideas.
GordonS 5y ago
I didn't enjoy it much either, and also thought the characters were lifeless. Beyond that, it so read "weirdly" - it really felt like a direct translation from Chinese.
mabub24 5y ago
The Foundation series is a fascinating thought experiment stretched over an extremely barebones story with some very 1-dimensional characters. The recent TV adaptation is pretty interesting, though. It's more of a loose adaptation and I think they've done a good job with adding more dimension to some of the characters.

by esarbe 5y ago

Fellshard 5y ago

That's a pretty current view of Chinese national policy, actually, so it doesn't come as a surprise at all. From what I recall, Liu takes a party line; I believe he defended their treatment of Uyghurs in recent interviews, for example.

EdwardDiego 5y ago
Well, at the risk of sounding like a coward, I would toe the party line also if I lived in China and had any public presence. The price of publicly opposing Xi Jinping's policies is disappearing for a year or so then making a scripted subdued apology on CCTV.
- esarbe 5y ago
  Coward here, too. The perfidious thing is that even emigrating doesn't put you out of Xi Jinping's grasp. It's well documented how pressure is applied to vocal opponents of the new Leaders policies by going after their families in China.
  - EdwardDiego 5y ago
    Yep, happens in New Zealand on the regular. It's well known that all the local Chinese language newspapers toe the party line, and Chinese community groups (especially Skykiwi) are infiltrated by the CCP to a rather large extent, and if you're overly critical, well, hopefully you managed to get residence visas for 奶奶 / nǎi nai and 姥姥 / lǎo lao beforehand. Also, expect to be ostracised by the emigrant Chinese community. Oh, and even if you're not Chinese, but you're critical of China, well... https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/the-curious-case-of-the-burgled-professor/LIFRYA3UBZNGCZPT45NB77KCY4/ https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/the-curious-case-of-the-burgle...
    - Borrible 5y ago
      Didn't heard of any widespread anti-chinese progroms in Germany in early pandemic times, but I know a lot about German servility towards potential new masters. And their markets, of course. It's always a good idea to pull the racism card in Germany, especially against the truth. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3124849/childrens-book-pulped-over-claim-covid-19-originated-china https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3124849/ch... https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/covid-kids-book-pulped-after-china-complains https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/covid-kids-book-pulped-a... This example looks cute, but people can't even imagine what the propagandistic future of this cold war will look like.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
    - worrycue 5y ago
      China’s reach extends into the Chinese emigrant communities in foreign lands. Some believe it’s because they are afraid of dissent organising abroad. https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/08/the-chinese-communist-party-is-still-afraid-of-sun-yat-sens-shadow/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/08/the-chinese-communist-p...
- BlackjackCF 5y ago
  You're not a coward, just a human being. If you're a Chinese national, speaking out publicly against the CCP affects your family too. Even if you were out of reach of the CCP, there's nothing preventing them from disappearing your relatives.
- chaostheory 5y ago
  You have a good point, but based on his pre anti-corruption (political purge) writing, Liu Cixin agrees with the party line.
dirtyid 5y ago
Yeah, the politics and concepts in Liu's writing is pretty typical of realist CCP/Chinese thinking. People will make excuses that everyone toes the party line if they're smart, which while true, also overlooks that common Chinese views (IMO) does substantively diverge from western views, especially in IR theory which influences overton window of policies etc. Liberalism is a luxury for Liu's generation.

EdwardDiego 5y ago

Well, Three Body Problem was written for a Chinese audience, by a Chinese author, so I suspect the characters would be more relatable to a Chinese audience.

jaqalopes 5y ago
This 1000%. I am a white American, but I read the book while living in China and working with Chinese people every day. The portrayals are not flat, they are spot-on. Many Western readers just don't realize there are other ways for a person to be besides the Western way.

me_me_me 5y ago

It was most uneven book I have ever read. It has extreme high and lows. Its like a roller-coaster ride. Great ideas, plot-twists but characters and their arcs are sometimes boring sometimes bizarre. Overall I would recommend it for his thought provoking ideas.

GordonS 5y ago

I didn't enjoy it much either, and also thought the characters were lifeless. Beyond that, it so read "weirdly" - it really felt like a direct translation from Chinese.

mabub24 5y ago

The Foundation series is a fascinating thought experiment stretched over an extremely barebones story with some very 1-dimensional characters. The recent TV adaptation is pretty interesting, though. It's more of a loose adaptation and I think they've done a good job with adding more dimension to some of the characters.