the three body problem
Jan. 15th, 2019 06:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
graveexcitementtoday on a whim i reread The Three Body Problem, by Cixin Liu. it's one of my favorite works of science fiction, so if you like sci-fi, i would recommend it for sure! the original novel is in Chinese; the English translation, which i read, is quite good, from what i can tell. it's the first in a trilogy; the other books are also good (though i have not finished the third yet.)
i'm struggling to describe what i like so much about this book without getting into spoiler territory, but i find it very moving, enough to make me cry.
specifically, on this read i teared up just reading the first Trisolaran transmission, the one that begins Do not answer! Do not answer!! Do not answer!!!, so i knew i would definitely be in for it when i actually reached the chapter 'Trisolaris: The Listener,' and i was right.
"The warning you sent out may have cost Trisolaran civilization the chance at survival."
"But it gave Earth civilization such a chance."
one of the more tragic things about this book is that in both civilizations, there are people willing to act against their own interests for a shot at helping an alien race. of course, for the humans involved there are usually other motives involved, not just helping the Trisolarans find a stable home, but still: interstellar cooperation is possible, but on a large scale, war is inevitable. that's what i find tragic.
and specifically the Trisolaran Listener. as i mentioned, his desperate message begging Earth not to reply, for if they reply Trisolaris can determine how far away they are, brings tears to my eyes more or less right away. his conversation with the Trisolaran Princeps makes me tear up, too:
Listener: "If I can save a distant, beautiful world that I have fallen in love with, then my life has not been wasted."
Princeps: "You're guilty beyond doubt. You're the greatest criminal in all the cycles of Trisolaran civilization. But now we make an exception in Trisolaran law: You're free to go. (...) You're old, and you will not live to see the final destruction of Earth civilization. But I will at least make sure that you know that you cannot save her. I want to let you live until the day she loses all hope.
fuck, man. the goddamn listener only gets about 6 pages, plus his original message, but that's enough to make me weep.
from what i remember, the second book, The Dark Forest, also made me cry at some point, although i'm more fuzzy as to why. i may give that a reread soon as well.
i'm struggling to describe what i like so much about this book without getting into spoiler territory, but i find it very moving, enough to make me cry.
specifically, on this read i teared up just reading the first Trisolaran transmission, the one that begins Do not answer! Do not answer!! Do not answer!!!, so i knew i would definitely be in for it when i actually reached the chapter 'Trisolaris: The Listener,' and i was right.
"The warning you sent out may have cost Trisolaran civilization the chance at survival."
"But it gave Earth civilization such a chance."
one of the more tragic things about this book is that in both civilizations, there are people willing to act against their own interests for a shot at helping an alien race. of course, for the humans involved there are usually other motives involved, not just helping the Trisolarans find a stable home, but still: interstellar cooperation is possible, but on a large scale, war is inevitable. that's what i find tragic.
and specifically the Trisolaran Listener. as i mentioned, his desperate message begging Earth not to reply, for if they reply Trisolaris can determine how far away they are, brings tears to my eyes more or less right away. his conversation with the Trisolaran Princeps makes me tear up, too:
Listener: "If I can save a distant, beautiful world that I have fallen in love with, then my life has not been wasted."
Princeps: "You're guilty beyond doubt. You're the greatest criminal in all the cycles of Trisolaran civilization. But now we make an exception in Trisolaran law: You're free to go. (...) You're old, and you will not live to see the final destruction of Earth civilization. But I will at least make sure that you know that you cannot save her. I want to let you live until the day she loses all hope.
fuck, man. the goddamn listener only gets about 6 pages, plus his original message, but that's enough to make me weep.
from what i remember, the second book, The Dark Forest, also made me cry at some point, although i'm more fuzzy as to why. i may give that a reread soon as well.
