[Book Review] The Three Body Problem (Cixin Liu)
- Tom Quach
- Jun 29, 2020
- 7 min read
What are humans, compared to the size and scope of our solar system, galaxy, and infinite universe? This is the final question that immediately came to my mind the moment I put down this mind-blowing 390 page novel written by Cixin Liu, translated to English by Ken Liu.
(Section A provides a summary of the book.
If you would like, please skip ahead to Section B read my analysis and review of the book.)
SECTION A
Intersecting the lives of multiple main characters, Liu expertly details the journeys that Ye Wenjie, a Chinese astrophysicist and Wang Miao, a nano-materials researcher, undergo while attempting to uncover the true purpose of our world and the validate the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life in our galaxy or nearby galaxies.
Beginning against the backdrop of the 1960s Chinese Cultural Revolution, Liu dives straight into the action and chronicles the death of Ye's father Ye Zhetai (a physicist and professor at Tsinghua University), who was labeled as a "counter-revolutionary," by the hands of those who were pro-revolution. Ye Wenjie spends the next few years haunted by the death, and she contemplates the downfall of humanity, a species that no longer focuses on progress and love -- rather, she believes that humans now only possess betrayal, hatred, and destruction of civilization.
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"To achieve moral awakening required a force outside the human race" - Ye Wenjie
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During her time serving on the Construction Corps, she runs into Bai Mulin, a reporter for the Great Production News, who hands her Silent Spring, an English book by Rachael Carson that explores humanity's use of pesticides on crops, which harms all types of wildlife and damaged ecosystems across America and ultimately the globe. This interaction with Bai, someone who also criticizes humanity's role in Earth's rapid destruction, serves as one of
the main catalysts for Ye Wenjie's anger toward humanity (alongside her father's death and mother's betrayal, of course). One day after reading Silent Spring, Ye gets tangled in a crime web (as she is caught reading a banned literary work) but is "rescued" when she is offered a job to work at the RED COAST Base, a secretive base that officials describe as a scientific research center investigating solar radiation and EM waves.
Liu fast forwards forty years and introduces Wang Miao. Wang is met with four soldiers/government officials who invite him to an urgent meeting at the Battle Command Center. Although he initially refuses, Wang becomes intrigued by the purpose of said meeting and attends. There, he is introduced to multiple international government security officials, some of whom are Shi Qiang, a local police detective, Colonel Stanton, a commander from the US Marine Corps, and Chang Weisi, a Major-general of the PLA. They vaguely explain to Wang the intention of this International coalition, and implore him to join the secretive Frontiers of Science organization as a spy for reconnaissance. Wang doesn't agree or object to joining -- he simply chooses to remain neutral. Soon after the meeting, Wang experiences a strange phenomenon: a live countdown that appears in film that he takes with his camera. No matter what he shoots, the countdown is present. Second by second, this countdown decreases from its starting point -- 1,200 hours.
Deeply perturbed by the sight, Wang visits Shen Yufei, a Japanese physicist and member of the Frontiers of Science. Shen analyzes Wang's issue and recommends that he do something at his Research Center. While in her house, Wang remembers the advice he heard during the previous meeting: be observant of his surroundings. Heeding these words, he notices that Shen interacted with a site called www.3body.net. Intrigued by this website, Wang logs on after he leaves Shen's residence, and he discovers that this website hosts a virtual reality type game simulation. Over the course of the book, Wang experiences multiple interactions with civilizations throughout historical time periods (the ancient Chinese Dynasties, the Stone Era, the Romantic Era, Information Era) that struggled to solve "The Three Body Problem," the theory that attempted to predict the orbits of three suns on this planet of Trisolaris that switched the planet between the devastating Chaotic Eras and Stable Eras.
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"Which is more real? The world inside or outside these walls?" - Wang Miao
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During the years leading up to Wang's introduction in the novel, Ye slowly begins to find out the true purpose of the RED COAST base. It isn't simply used for EM and solar radiation detection, it is in fact used to detect possible intelligent life in other parts of the galaxy using microwave signals and frequencies!
One day, while Ye watches the panels displaying the frequencies that the base's satellite detects, she notices a small quirk that stands out from the rest. Something artificial, not originating from objects in the universe. It had to be created from a life source.
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"The thin curve, rising and falling, seemed to possess a soul. She was certain that the radio signal before her had been modulated by intelligence." (Page 272)
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Captivated by the unknown frequency, Ye decodes the message and discovers that it originated from an interstellar civilization around four light years away in a planet called Trisolaris. Within this planet, the Trisolarians desperately search for a second planet to which
they can escape their current situation suffering under the unpredictable orbits of the three hovering suns -- the Three Body Problem. The initial message warns that Ye not return anymore messages, unless she and the entire Earth want the Trisolarians to invade and decimate the human population. Nevertheless, Ye -- focused on inviting another species to rule over humanity and change the human mindset of destruction -- sends another message back. This message allows for the Trisolarians to locate the exact origin of Earth and its location within the solar system.
Soon, Ye Weijin meets Mike Evans, a Canadian environmentalist and son of an oil magnate, who explains his reasons for moving to China. His goal is to save a certain bird from extinction caused by humans. Together, Evans and Ye create the Earth-Trisolaris Organization (ETO), a group that collects people from around the world who believe in humanity's doom and awaited the coming of the Trisolarians, who had begun their 400 year journey to Earth on the Trisolarian Interstellar Fleet.
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"Human civilization is no longer capable of improving by its own strength." - Ye Weijin
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The ETO grows in number and splits into three internal factions: the Adventists, the Redemptionists, and the Survivors. The Adventists is the most fundamental of the three, and believe that hope for humanity is lost. They base their hatred for humans on issues such as animal extinction, environment, and warfare. The Redemptionists focus on religion -- worshipping the Trisolarians as gods and spiritual saviors. Lastly, the Survivors intend on surviving the future war between the Trisolarians and Humans by becoming slaves to the attacking extraterrestrial species. The Adventists and Redemptionists consist of upper class citizens, while the Survivors are mainly occupied by the lower classes such as peasants.
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"In the universe, an important mark of a civilization's technological advancement is its ability to control and make use of micro-dimensions" - Ding Yi
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Eventually the International Coalition, thanks to the help of Wang, discovers the secrets that the ETO held within their ship base. Without the knowledge of national governments, the ETO had stashed multiple messages from the Trisolarians informing humans of their incoming arrival. With the information obtained, the global council, led by Captain Chang and Colonel Stanton, races to dismantle the ETO and prepare for a interstellar war against the Trisolarians -- four hundred years from now.
To the Trisolarians, humans are nothing but lowly bugs, unimportant and insignificant. However, filled with courage and grit, Shi Qiang reminds Wang Miao that even bugs shouldn't be taken lightly.
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"The Trisolarians who deemed the human bugs seemed to have forgotten one fact: The bugs have never been truly defeated." (Page 388)
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SECTION B
Quick background: The first moment I caught a glance of the novel's cover was in the stall of my high school bathroom. Our library often posts posters of various books around the school -- I happen to read up on Liu's "The Three Body Problem." :)
The level of details in translating within this book is utterly astounding and poignant. Ken Liu masterfully merges the originally-Chinese novel into a captivating English edition that still captures every essence of this sci-fi journey. In the postscript, Liu describes his thought process while experiencing the translating process. Scattered around the book, several footnotes are included by Ken Liu to "[fill] in the necessary knowledge for non-Chinese readers by the judicious addition of a free informational phrases in the text." However, that wasn't the most difficult aspect; the most arduous facet was maintaining the original meaning of the Chinese literary devices and narrative techniques and avoiding "shading Western interpretation into those passages dealing with Chinese history and politics." Thanks to his mindset, Ken Liu truly accomplishes these goals and allows for readers to make their own assumptions regarding the plot and future character development. In essence, Liu's translation matches -- possibly even surpassing -- the amount of translating work done by Lisa Dillman for Yuri Herrera's Signs Preceding The End of the World.
I can't exactly pinpoint the specific genre of Cixin Liu's novel. It's definitely a merge between science fiction, politics, philosophy, history, astrology, and conspiracy -- all rolled into one. George R.R. Martin and The Washington Post would agree with me (check the back cover for their review quotes). Liu not only concentrates on the historical enigma of the Three Body Problem, but also poses the central question of life in our universe. According to Wikipedia, the Three Body Problem is "the problem in physics of computing the trajectory of three bodies interacting with one another." Dabbling in possible theories of intelligent life on other planets in our universe, Liu asks us whether or not we think humans are the pinnacle of intelligence, and whether or not humans have already doomed our planet and need saving from something -- or someone. Seemingly outlandish thoughts, I know, but they are still important ones to discuss and consider.
I enjoyed Liu's method of alternating between the narratives of Ye Weijin and Wang Miao. Even though the bulk of Ye's life experiences and actions occur forty years before Wang's initial meeting with the Battle Command Center, Liu perfectly switches back and forth between the two lives while providing enough information about the actions and decisions that shape both of these lives. I love Liu's technique and appreciate how she structures the novel. Readers may feel that they have so much substance to absorb in the beginning, but somehow, Liu presents much more new intel toward the end of her book in the forms of reflections and interrogations (I'll keep it a secret on who is being interrogated).
Bottom line is: GO GIVE THIS BOOK A READ!
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Now, for the part that most of you have been waiting for... RATINGS!
OVERALL: 4.7 out of 5
THEME: 4.4 out of 5
PLOT: 4.8 out of 5
SOPHISTICATION: 4.7 out of 5
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 4.5 out of 5
FINAL THOUGHTS: A thrilling science-fiction masterpiece that challenges us humans to question the purpose of our humanity while addressing our instinctual hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence life's presence in our universe. For those who are interested in genres of science-fiction, human development, and a modern dystopian struggle, I definitely recommend this phenomenal novel!
PHOTO SOURCES:
[A] : https://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-amp-space/article/2009-04/top-10-telescopes-all-time/
© 2020 Tom Quach
Edited by Jack (06/28/2020)
Wow! This was great