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I'm happy most of the comment section is discussing Liu Cixin's works instead of this article, but having made the mistake of reading said article I have a bit

I'm happy most of the comment section is discussing Liu Cixin's works instead of this article, but having made the mistake of reading said article I have a bit of a rant. This journalist seems so intent on making everything political (from the beginning to the end of the article) that it reads like they have no interest in anything he's actually written. The author of this article never describes a single genuine question about his works that it honestly makes me a bit sick. So many quotes are taken so wildly out of context that they contain a few words placed awkwardly in the author's wall of text and opinion instead of representing genuine conversation. One of my favorite parts: "Liu’s posture slackened slightly as we ate. The drinks had warmed him, and the heat of Sichuanese peppercorns seemed to stir him from his usual reticence. I decided to inch the conversation toward politics, a topic he prefers to avoid." The author reads as genuinely manipulative, and it was clear Cixin already stated he wasn't interested in discussing politics in the authors previous attempts... Maybe have some decency and respect?

TheGRS 2y ago
Yea I can see this in the article as well. And anyone who has read the books can probably see this wasn't the authors real interest. I can see where someone with their pulse on international politics might read into Trisolaris vs Earth being some sort of a proxy for China vs USA. But my take is that the author was just writing about sci-fi ideas from their personal perspective in China. Chinese history, politics, and culture plays into how the plot unfolds. But it didn't feel to me like they're trying to say much about the international politics of the situation. Instead the plot marches ahead into speculative fiction steeped in some current-day theories about the universe. There's certainly a lot of dabbling in human emotions and conditions vs aliens who don't share those same ideals. But like "how does the USA respond vs China" is like an afterthought of the book, can't remember if that even really came up.
- luyu_wu 2y ago
  Yeah, I would agree. I think the author was trying to force a narrative too much (they were trying to compare Trisolarians coming to WHAT exactly?). To the counterpoint as well, I think much of 3-Body it was actual a motivational tale that humanity would set aside its differences and come together in times of crisis.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- hintymad 2y ago
  > I can see where someone with their pulse on international politics might read into Trisolaris vs Earth being some sort of a proxy for China vs USA. Yeah. Viewing The Three-Body Problem merely as a metaphor for China-US relations shows a limited perspective, as the novel addresses the fates of civilizations across different solar systems and the fates of the living beings in the entire universe. In such grand scheme of things, China-US relation is really nothing
  - throwbadubadu 2y ago
    Fully agreed, those books are no metaphor but exploring sci-fi ideas.. and especially because at the beginning, it imo gives a pretty realistic inside perspective from inside China. One might question "realistic" but I mean it in a way that the author also stated in the interview, staying outside of politics and not burning any bridges. Just read a bit between the lines, and accept that it is fiction. (I'm not sure why people always need to bolt on those interpretations, they are maybe eventually more true with Tolkien as he definitely took some experiences into his fantasy, but also believing him that there were not any allegoric intentions, just fantasy creation. You are always to some degree what made you...)
gs17 2y ago
Weirdly, they seemed to understand that he wouldn't talk about politics out of self-preservation: > When questioned about stories that seemed to allude to Stalinist conformism and paranoia, Lem said the same thing that Liu says about geopolitical interpretations of his trilogy—that he was not writing a veiled assessment of the present but merely making up stories.
- kawa 2y ago
  (Spoilers) I think that the part about the guy who's brain traveled to the Trisolarians and communicated back by telling a fairy-tale may be a story about the author himself: He's also in an authoritarian regime and unable to tell things face value, so he communicated by telling a "fairy-tale" (SF in his case) full of metaphors which needs to be decoded by the reader first to get the real meaning. Ok, maybe I'm reading to much into it, but if it was to obvious, Liu would get intro trouble, so plausible deniability is important. But I think that the books are much more political as many think. But you need to decipher it first...
throwaway4good 2y ago
Politics can add another layer to sci-fi. For example "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is a great sci-fi on its own. But the background of McCarthyism and the red scare of its time makes it much cooler and much more entertaining and thought provoking. I am slightly annoyed by Netflix's adaption of the book which takes the technocratic communist China out of it. I understand why it has to be like that but still we would have better TV if everything didn't have to be boiled in the same generic soup.
- luyu_wu 2y ago
  Definetly agree! Three Body has a lot of politics as an element, which makes it all the more interesting. I just didn't like the way the reporter tried to push their own narrative. About the Netflix adaptation, I'd agree. I think by stripping away all of the positive angles of China from the book and only leaving the negatives (bloody cultural revolution), it lost a lot of meaning. IMO if you're gonna make every character intensely English-born, there's no reason to leave Ye Wenjie as Chinese. Perhaps her story could've been changed to something regarding residential schools or colonialism.

TheGRS 2y ago

Yea I can see this in the article as well. And anyone who has read the books can probably see this wasn't the authors real interest. I can see where someone with their pulse on international politics might read into Trisolaris vs Earth being some sort of a proxy for China vs USA. But my take is that the author was just writing about sci-fi ideas from their personal perspective in China. Chinese history, politics, and culture plays into how the plot unfolds. But it didn't feel to me like they're trying to say much about the international politics of the situation. Instead the plot marches ahead into speculative fiction steeped in some current-day theories about the universe. There's certainly a lot of dabbling in human emotions and conditions vs aliens who don't share those same ideals. But like "how does the USA respond vs China" is like an afterthought of the book, can't remember if that even really came up.

luyu_wu 2y ago
Yeah, I would agree. I think the author was trying to force a narrative too much (they were trying to compare Trisolarians coming to WHAT exactly?). To the counterpoint as well, I think much of 3-Body it was actual a motivational tale that humanity would set aside its differences and come together in times of crisis.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
hintymad 2y ago
> I can see where someone with their pulse on international politics might read into Trisolaris vs Earth being some sort of a proxy for China vs USA. Yeah. Viewing The Three-Body Problem merely as a metaphor for China-US relations shows a limited perspective, as the novel addresses the fates of civilizations across different solar systems and the fates of the living beings in the entire universe. In such grand scheme of things, China-US relation is really nothing
- throwbadubadu 2y ago
  Fully agreed, those books are no metaphor but exploring sci-fi ideas.. and especially because at the beginning, it imo gives a pretty realistic inside perspective from inside China. One might question "realistic" but I mean it in a way that the author also stated in the interview, staying outside of politics and not burning any bridges. Just read a bit between the lines, and accept that it is fiction. (I'm not sure why people always need to bolt on those interpretations, they are maybe eventually more true with Tolkien as he definitely took some experiences into his fantasy, but also believing him that there were not any allegoric intentions, just fantasy creation. You are always to some degree what made you...)

gs17 2y ago

Weirdly, they seemed to understand that he wouldn't talk about politics out of self-preservation: > When questioned about stories that seemed to allude to Stalinist conformism and paranoia, Lem said the same thing that Liu says about geopolitical interpretations of his trilogy—that he was not writing a veiled assessment of the present but merely making up stories.

kawa 2y ago
(Spoilers) I think that the part about the guy who's brain traveled to the Trisolarians and communicated back by telling a fairy-tale may be a story about the author himself: He's also in an authoritarian regime and unable to tell things face value, so he communicated by telling a "fairy-tale" (SF in his case) full of metaphors which needs to be decoded by the reader first to get the real meaning. Ok, maybe I'm reading to much into it, but if it was to obvious, Liu would get intro trouble, so plausible deniability is important. But I think that the books are much more political as many think. But you need to decipher it first...

throwaway4good 2y ago

Politics can add another layer to sci-fi. For example "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is a great sci-fi on its own. But the background of McCarthyism and the red scare of its time makes it much cooler and much more entertaining and thought provoking. I am slightly annoyed by Netflix's adaption of the book which takes the technocratic communist China out of it. I understand why it has to be like that but still we would have better TV if everything didn't have to be boiled in the same generic soup.

luyu_wu 2y ago
Definetly agree! Three Body has a lot of politics as an element, which makes it all the more interesting. I just didn't like the way the reporter tried to push their own narrative. About the Netflix adaptation, I'd agree. I think by stripping away all of the positive angles of China from the book and only leaving the negatives (bloody cultural revolution), it lost a lot of meaning. IMO if you're gonna make every character intensely English-born, there's no reason to leave Ye Wenjie as Chinese. Perhaps her story could've been changed to something regarding residential schools or colonialism.