Liu Cixin's Three Body-Problem

 

The Three-Body Problem took the western science fiction world by storm when it was translated from Chinese into English in 2014. Liu Cixin not only wrote an amazing science fiction [and he's the most critically acclaimed Chinese science fiction writer] novel but the novel is also the first eastern novel to earn the prized historic Hugo Award [the best award for science fiction novels], thus becoming a bridge between western and eastern science fiction. 

The Three-Body Problem challenges the western conceptions of science fiction, thus introducing us to different ways of seeing science fiction writing, and showing us how very different the idea of Chinese science fiction can be. Science fiction from different cultures are all very different. British science fiction, French, Polish, German, Russian, and American science fiction are all different, well, Chinese science fiction might even surprise us even more than all of those, simply because we, as westerners have never read any Chinese science fiction. 

Keep in mind that I'm an avid science fiction reader, having read all the golden age science fiction short stories [starting with the 1950s stuff], and all the important sf writers of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. And The Three Body Problem is much different from all of that. This book is great because it is different, it introduces us to a new cultural genre. The Three-Body Problem is just the first part of Cixin's series, there are two other books in this series after, The Dark Forest, and Death's End. 

The story begins with the Chinese Cultural Revolution and follows with protagonist Wang Miao's investigation in a list of suicides. There's this mysterious video game where you have to wear a haptic suit and its virtual reality. The game is connected to an alien civilization facing extinction. The story takes place throughout different points in space and time that keeps the readers engaged to the end. The characters in the game have to dehydrate their bodies in order to survive these great periods of draught and darkness, a unique feature of the game. 

There are a lot of hard science elements. Liu Cixin is an engineer, uses complex astrophysics in an accessible way for the modern average reader, in order to dive deep into the philosophical nature of man's place in the universe. The novel explores how first contact with aliens would go, alongside the ethical dilemmas if Earth was destroyed by the aliens or other humans. 

The story opens with the turbulent violent era of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which is much different from the western American Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. However, because of the history of America's Revolution in the 1960s, we can see/compare/contrast that with the Chinese Cultural Revolution and learn something from it. There's a deep Chinese cultural connection to this novel that transcends most Americanisms in American science fiction. Liu Cixin loves China, and its easy to see that even from the first page's violence of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which, by the way, gets you hooked right in from the get-go. We can learn from the way Cixin uses the Chinese Revolution as a way to explore deeper elements of science fiction in an emotional way. 

The book is very strong from the get-go. It keeps your curiosity high and the element of the virtual reality video game is sort of like an anime, another eastern import. The only weakness I can see here is that the English translation may or may not be as strong as how the book really is in Chinese. A lot of people have critiqued the translation and said that it feels wooden, but I think this is how Cixin actually writes and sounds. He wouldn't have wanted a wooden translation put out into the west, and The Three-Body Problem would not have earned a Hugo Award if the translation was off. 

However, I do think that because some of the elements of science fiction aren't your traditional hard American/western science fiction elements, I do think some people will simply not like it. But it's their loss, as the book shows you how different and how great Chinese science fiction can be. While Western science fiction often frames humanity as exceptional and destined for the stars, The Three Body Problem humbles us with cosmic indifference, suggesting we may be merely insignificant players in a universe governed by forces beyond our comprehension or control.

Sacramento Vacation trip

I took a my first hippie road trip in California. I took the Greyhound bus from LA all the way to Sacramento. It's a long ride, eight hours away from my house, my friends, family, and job. It was a big undertaking because it's literally eight hours of being on a bus, but hey it's nothing I can't handle. My usual work shifts are eight hours, and this is supposedly for fun!

Anyways, the first day I got home from the bus and I was pretty exhausted. We had dinner at a hip sushi place. There were these fried sushi rolls that were delicious. And the place was super hip in the main part of town in Sacramento. Lots of hot girls on dates, all young people there. 

The second day we went to Effie Yeaw Nature Center, which is a giant open land of sanctuary. We saw a lot of animals; an owl in a cage in the visitors area [my favorite, the true mvp], a coyote [which everyone went gaga over], a falcon on a trainer's arm [that scared me], a mother deer and her young, turkeys, small birds, and even the Sacramento River. We stood near the River for quite a while, I may have been mesmerized by the rushing waters. I don't usually spend much time outside in the Valley, and when I do, I'm just walking back to and from work. So to be able to enjoy nature that much was quite something indeed. Almost metaphysical, magical, in a way. Zen. 

That night we had dinner at a traditional Korean place. I got a meal my father would eat, in fact I got it because it's usually his favorite meal at the Korean place we eat at in the Valley: ginseng chicken [cooking] in hot broth. This meal was so delicious. It was the best meal I had throughout the trip. On top of that the meals came with about a dozen sides; everything from pasta, kimchi, noodles, anchovies, tiny crabs, and more. I actually don't think I could find a better or more traditional Korean restaurant in the Valley near me. On top of that, at some point while eating my meal, I looked up and the place was packed, and we were the only non-Koreans!

The third day we went to Sutter's Fort and studied up on the history there. I bought a cheap bamboo flute souvenir there at the gift shop. Hard to play but fun! We had lunch at a terrific Mexican place nearby my friend's place here. I got a carnitas burrito and it was the best carnitas burrito I've ever had. We had cheap Chinese food for dinner and I got the hot tofu with pork, not bad, but this place was Chop Suey all the way. 

On the last day, today, 7/8/21, we went to the California History Museum, which is located inside the state's main government building. We spent a lot of time there. There were many posters in which I read everything from women's rights, Japanese internment, Chinese railroad workers, natives peoples of California, the missions, Spain and Mexico's connection to California, and more. It was quite a fun learning experience and just learning from that small taste has me more interested in the history and culture of America's greatest melting pot of a city, and it really is/was/shall be!

Our final meal was at Angry Chickz Nashville Hot Chicken. This was another hip place with mostly young people eating there. The chicken was very good. I got one chicken slider mild and another medium but there was like six spice levels, and I chose the lowest for safety reasons [lol!]. I thought the chicken tenders were very tasty but as my friend said, "you can taste how unhealthy this place is," that being said, the place was probably either my second or third favorite meal of the trip. 

A healthy meal we had was lunch today. We ate at a place called Pita Q, a Mediterranean place. I got a gyro pita. Vegetables, sauce, and gyro meat. Healthiest thing we ate and also one of the best meals [yes I say that about every meal]. 

The weather throughout the trip was 100 degrees. Which made the Effie and park trips more tiring. It should me mentioned that on one of our parks visits we saw a giant group of young men [all white] larping. Perhaps their moms or grandma's were there too as we saw a lot of older women sitting with them there too. Which is kind of funny. I guess if you're larping maybe you don't have a hot girlfriend to bring with you. So you could bring your grandma instead. My friend took pictures because it's really rare to see a big group of people larping.  

On top of that we went to a used book store and I finally found a physical copy of Kant's Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic Of Morals. It's quite a hard book to find in the Valley area so it was awesome to find it and I even read the entire thing in one sitting. It's a short introduction to his categorical imperative, morality/ethics, as well as the introduction to his ideas into the critique of pure reason. Worth buying and owning, and its a small book that can easily fit into my luggage. Philosophy, even on vacation!

It's been a pleasure. My friend is happy and safe. As am I. The trip gave me a lot to think about and a lot of time to think about it. Life is good and this is probably the cheapest and also one of the best vacations I've ever been on. I didn't do anything extravagant but sometimes you just need a few days away in Sanctuary. This was it. 

Thanks for reading and if you haven't gone yet you need a vacation. Take a few days off and go somewhere nice. Treat yourself. This trip gave me the reset that I probably needed years ago. My mind is refreshed and I'm ready for work on Monday morning.  

Minor note: I listened to a ton of jazz music and some classical over the trip, everything from Telemann to Bird to Miles to Trane to Bill Evans to Monk, pure bliss. At one point I think Monk's music transported me into the heavens. The picture used is of Fort Sutter. 

Back To Reality

Hello, world. I've been on a leave of absence from work since April. Tomorrow I get back to my retail gig at the market. I thought I'd jot down some thoughts on the time I spent away from work. 

I've been in my own quarantine without having caught the virus since April. I didn't see or talk to people in person other than people at the grocery store and my family. I really started to miss those everyday actions and interactions with people. I went out on a lot of long walks on most days. Even tonight I went for a long walk. 

The time I spent away for two months was great. Time spent enjoying an interior life. This pandemic calls for the individual to have an interior life. If you don't have an interior life this pandemic is going to be very rough for you.

I caught up on a lot of reading. I read The Plague by Albert Camus, We the Russian dystopian novel, Slan the first mutant novel sort of like X-Men, The Day They H Bombed Los Angeles the first zombie novel from the 1960s, an entire Science Fiction Hall of Fame collection of short stories from the 1930s-1960s, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Marquez, The Satyricon by Petronius Nero's style expert, The Art of War, the Tao Te Ching, parts of Don Quixote, 75% of Plutarch's Lives, and parts of Zhuangzi. All of these things have merit and were well spent reading time. I was particularly impressed by Love in the Time of Cholera. How it goes to such excruciating and yet humorous details about the tribulations of undying love. 

Reading was probably the one thing that I couldn't do without during this time. I learned a lot reading Plutarch's Lives about famous men of antiquity [my favorites are Pompey, Crassus, Ceasar, Pericles, Romulus, and Nero], their virtues or lack thereof, military conquest, and the culture, history, and philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome. I plan on finishing Plutarch's Lives within the next week or so. I got into reading Plutarch because my brother turned me onto a podcast about the History of Rome, Mike Duncan's History of Rome [downloaded over 100 million times] so I supplemented that with Plutarch. The book was given to me by a customer at my work. She thought I would like it because I've told her that I've read certain things in history and philosophy.

I also spent a lot of time gaming. I played a lot of Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, and Team Fortress 2. My go-to games for the last six years. I started playing ranked Heroes of the Storm a lot more and that's been a good experience. I took a break from competitive Overwatch but still plan on playing it in the future. Likewise, I've been on a break from Team Fortress 2. So it's mostly been Heroes of the Storm ranked mode. Playing online games competitively teaches you how to be a team player and a leader. To improve and rank up in games takes determination, will, skill, and sheer luck. Although I probably played way too much I would say it was a good experience. Therapeutic even.

I also spent a lot of time reading the news, watching the news, and discussing politics with friends on social media. If you aren't following up on the news you should wise up and start paying attention. There's so much happening in a single 24-hour news cycle nowadays that not reading the news for one day will put you far behind on the issues. I read the news every night before bed and sometimes also in the morning when I wake up. It's a routine.

With the pandemic still ravaging the human population in America and the unending systemic oppression of black and brown people by police still haunting us every day, keeping up with the news will make you a smarter, more informed individual. You don't want to be an everyday low information person. Those people sound dumb when they speak before others and they speak the loudest as well. Do you want to be like them? If not, then keep up on the news. You don't have to be a news junkie but a few articles every day goes a long way.  I recommend Rachel Maddow [for a general but important view] on msnbc for TV and the Nytimes [for a national view] website for text-based news.

Lastly, I want to say that I did a lot of thinking and soul searching, without even going anywhere, doing anything in particular, or leaving my house. This is the time for us to do that; during a pandemic that's put millions of Americans out of work, during a period of civil unrest where police brutality and racism is running rampant. I thought a lot about what I want out of life. Goals, dreams, actions, near, far-term, the future, and all the metaphysical feelings associated with it. The time off really chilled me out. I see now more than ever that the world exists based on your reaction to it, as well as others'. You can only control yourself, your own actions, and your own thoughts. If you can bring people into your life and make them meaningful to it in some way then perhaps that's what we are all here for. "Love is life's sovereign goal." If more people saw life in that way, the world would be a much better place.

Fun Day During the Plague of 2020

Hello, ladies and gents. I wanted to write another post during what I will now call the Plague of 2020, aka coronavirus outbreak. To think our government knew this was coming for two months yet only 2,000 people have actually been tested for it in the United States. What the heck man! That's truly fucked right there. How is it even humanely possible to be that fucking stupid as the President of the United States? Now it's too late in a sense because 1) there aren't enough tests to test everyone 2) there's no way to tell if you actually have it, and or differentiating it from regular flu 3) it's already too late because the numbers are getting worse by the day. Thanks a lot, Trump. But this post isn't about Trump. But we can all agree that he's human scum for lying about there being enough tests when there aren't any nor nearly enough. The incompetence is through the roof here folks. 

Okay, okay. I'll settle down now. I just had to get the "partisan" outta me. Lol.

Now we have new social buzzwords like social distancing, aka "get the fuck away from me." In a way, I'm totally excited about these new exciting times. It's like living during the Plague. This virus is going to be so bad that it's going to completely change America and the world, turning them and it, into a better place. How? Through suffering and perseverance, things will go through the natural state of nature, a metamorphosis that will result in a better world, where people will care more. That's usually how these things work. Just ask the Chinese. They know all about it. 

Americans haven't really suffered like other cultures have suffered. This little taste of suffering will improve our character as a people. 

Anyways, considering the fact that perhaps soon there will come a time when there will be regional shutdowns, I went to my favorite Chinese restaurant. I had a wonderful meal and a good time with my dad. 

I got one of my favorite meals of all time. Barbequed pork with fried tofu and vegetables over rice. The only problem with this terrific dish is that they actually give you too much rice in proportion to the other stuff. The barbeque pork is real barbeque pork. None of that fake Panda Express stuff. Good texture and flavor. The fried tofu was hot and delicious. The rice soaked in the sauce was tasty.

My father ordered one of our favorite dishes. Barbequed pork wonton noodle soup. It's one of the best meals I've ever had in my life. A working man's meal. He enjoyed it. 

The restaurant didn't have too many people because of the virus scare. At one point everyone left except the workers and my dad and I had the entire restaurant to ourselves. At some point, more customers came in. All Chinese. No Americans. That's just the way it goes. 

I spent most of the day before and after reading Lee Child's The Midnight Line.

Fun day during the plague of 2020.