The Three-Body Problem

The Three-Body Problem, the first volume of a science fiction trilogy by Liu Cixin, is both a strong sci-fi story and a provocative consideration of the nature of man. The books, published in 2006, were very popular in China, were translated into English in 2014 and, in 2015, the first volume won the very prestigious Hugo Award for best science fiction novel of the year.  (Thanks to Dan Lidral-Porter, via Lauren, for the recommendation!)

The book has a traditional sci-fi theme, communication and contact with an alien civilization,  but has several features that made it particularly fresh and interesting to me.   The story is set within the world of Chinese academics, especially physicists and materials scientists, starting during the Cultural Revolution and continuing into the years afterwards.  There’s a heavy dose of speculative physics, which I enjoyed, and some strong, memorable characters, including a savvy, outspoken and very funny cop.  The protagonist is Ye Wenjie, a very talented astrophysicist who sees her illustrious father beaten to death by Red Guards, and many years later happens to intercept a message from intelligent aliens, triggering much of the book’s action.  (Stephen Hawking:  “We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet”).  For me, this was an intriguing, thought-provoking and lively read. 

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UPDATE (Lauren's Additional Review):

I found The Three-Body Problem fascinating. It was recommended to me as being the most important sci-fi to come out in recent years, which seems a bit of a stretch perhaps, but it was certainly very original and thought-provoking. The theme that was most compelling to me was that of the people on Earth who had given up on their society and longed for an alien race to come take over and rule the planet instead. Some interesting connections to Childhood's End, in that respect. Like dad, I also really enjoyed the cop character, Shi Qiang (史强), nicknamed "Da Shi" (大史), ("Big Shi").

Bric-a-Brack

Darkness Visible – A memoir of madness by William Styron.  This is a frank and painful account of Styron’s sudden descent into depression.  He provides powerful insight into the depth of hopelessness experienced by those suffering from severe depression.  On one hand, he explains that those who have not suffered these ravages simply cannot comprehend how devastating they are…for example, he says that it is wrong and cruel to blame those, such as Camus, who are overwhelmed by depression and take their own lives.  In one very hopeful note, Styron does say that it’s possible to escape depression and actually become cured. 

THINKS…. by David Lodge.  Set in a small university, Lodge tells the story of the interactions and, eventually, relationship between a visiting professor of creative writing and a well-established cognitive neuroscientist who heads an impressive research center.  This was entertaining. But I enjoyed some of Lodge’s previous works in the same vein (see Changing Places!) much more.

Deruta by Elizabeth Minchilli.  This beautiful book celebrates the glorious ceramics produced in  Deruta, Italy, which are featured in gorgeous photographs by Susie Cushner and David Hamilton - just to look at these pictures is to be transported to a sunny day in Italy!  Minchilli describes the history and some of the methodology of ceramics production – this sounds as if it would be a little dry, but Manchilli’s writing is lively and absorbing. 

I recently found Venom House by Arthur Upfield, a Napoleon Bonaparte story I had never read.  Odd and intriguing characters and some unusual action.   I enjoyed it, but it's not among the better Bony mysteries.

I recently received Classic Westerns, a lovely present from Jarek.  I had been wanting to read some Zane Grey (from Zanesville, Ohio!) and enjoyed The Lone Star Ranger and, especially, The Mysterious Rider.  These were strong stories and the descriptions of life on the trail were wonderful.  In reading these books, I was once again struck by a powerful impression I first had many years ago when I read Huckleberry Finn, which is how amazingly abundant wildlife was in America in the 1800's. Hungry?  Drop a line in the Mississippi and catch your dinner in minutes.  Or shoot rabbits, deer or elk.  It is a pleasure to read of that country of abundance and opportunity - and of the men and women who could not only survive, but flourish in the wilderness.

Dear Committee Members

For academics, especially, this is a side-splittingly funny “novel” told via a year's worth of letters of reference written by Professor Fitger, Professor of Creative Writing (and, sometimes, Upholder of the Ancient Flame or Professor of the Lost Arts), in the moribund and neglected English Department of a small college in a small town in England. In his LORs, Professor Fitger, a formerly successful novelist, is insightful, acerbic, and offensive to friends, administrators and many of the recipients of his pointed, wry, sarcastic and exceptionally funny letters.  The freshness, impact and hilarity of the letters pales slightly as they accumulate, but the cantankerous Professor Fitger offers shrewd insights into people, academia and commerce.  Fleeting glimpses of humanity and vulnerability emerge occasionally, making Professor Fitger rather likable as well as vastly entertaining.

Vile Bodies - Evelyn Waugh

Vile Bodies is a delightfully written satire about the desperately frivolous goings-on of the youth in 1920s England. I have not read a gossipy novel I enjoyed so much since I read Thackeray’s Vanity Fair, or before that, the Scarlett Pimpernel. A loosely-knit band of friends veers from drunken party to drunken brunch, careening wildly toward death, disgrace, or marriage, fueled largely by money conned or borrowed from friends or relatives. A book about nothing, that still manages to excite interest and sympathy for its dissolute “heroes.”

Les Misérables

Les Misérables is a huge, powerful, magnificent, and quirky book.  It is rich in vividly portrayed human emotion: love (Marius and Cosette), pluck and humor (Gavroche), callous villainy (Thénardier) and tragedy (Fantine and Éponine). I thought I knew the main story line from the musical: the relentless pursuit of the still-wanted but reformed criminal Jean Valjean by the obsessive and righteous Javert.  But I was surprised to realize that the novel actually concentrates on the transformation and redemption of Jean Valjean.

The book which the reader has before him at this moment is, from one end to the other, in its entirety and details ... a progress from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from falsehood to truth, from night to day, from appetite to conscience, from corruption to life; from bestiality to duty, from hell to heaven, from nothingness to God. The starting point: matter, destination: the soul. The hydra at the beginning, the angel at the end.

 When Valjean spares Javert’s life, it is but one of several critical steps on his road to salvation and peace, but this act of mercy by a “hardened criminal” disrupts and devastates Javert, who is unable to understand or accept it, and ends his life.  Javert’s story is Valjean’s turned upside down:  Valjean's early encounter with a saintly bishop starts his transformation from a bitter, hate-filled man consumed with revenge, into a humble and loving human being, whereas Javert's late-life encounter with the now merciful and generous Valjean, shatters Javert’s rigid belief in The Right, and destroys his sense of himself.  Are we marked by fate or able to control our destiny?  What are we to make of the superhuman integrity and benevolence that Valjean is able to achieve versus the seemingly inescapable damnation that Javert’s life of stringent rectitude dictated for him? 

A quirky part of the book is the insertion, at intervals, of lengthy discourses on subjects with a glancing relationship, or no relationship whatsoever, to the story: a detailed analysis of the Battle of Waterloo, the different kinds of convents in 18^th century France, the history and meaning of slang, a virtual treatise on the development of the sewer system in Paris.  Some of these were pretty interesting! (But not all). 

A wonderful, compelling story line, tremendous empathy for the downtrodden, and a fiery commitment to human dignity and liberty.  An unforgettable read.

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Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates

I recently finished reading Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me.” It is a very poetic, powerful, and personal look at what it means to grow up as a Black boy and live as a Black man in America. His story is framed as a letter to his son, warning him about the dangers of living in a society run by White people, whom he terms “Dreamers.” This “Dream” is the society in which we all live, where the fantasy of White supremacy has been reified by violence. Through the Dream, Whites have access to what we commonly call “The American Dream,” while Blacks are excluded from opportunity and security - penned into ghettoes and the prison system, and terrorized and murdered by the police. Coates is full of anger at the unfair system that claims the lives of so many Black men, and the heat of his fury is palpable, but his tale also has another side, which is his pride in and love for the power of Black culture and community. Definitely a heart-wrenching book, but an important one. Would recommend to all!

The Alice Network - Kate Quinn

This intriguing novel is based on an actual spy ring that operated in World War I. The real-life Louise de Bettignies, alias Alice, was the brilliant leader of The Alice Network, a very effective group of espionage agents in France who spied on the Germans. Although Louise is an important character in the novel the central characters are the fictional Eve and Charlotte, aka Charlie. In 1947, Eve is a bitter, foul-mouthed alcoholic who had been a spy in both the WWI Alice Network and in WWII. Charlie is a 19-year-old American who is desperately trying to find her cousin Rose who went missing in 1944, presumably while working for the French Resistance. Charlie enlists Eve’s help in finding Rose. Eve’s ulterior motive is to find Rene, a French profiteer Eve spied on during the first World War. Will Charlie find Rose and fulfill their dream of owning a café together? Will Eve find Rene and seek revenge? While the readers follow the 1947 search, we are also told the story of how young, innocent Eve becomes such a wretched character while serving in The Alice Network in 1915. The story kept my interest throughout with exciting plot turns and compelling characters. I have to say that the fictional Rene is one of the creepiest, sleaziest villains I’ve read in a novel in a long time! Author Kate Quinn’s depiction of wartime deprivation and resistance reminded me of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See although Quinn’s novel is not as lyrical as Doerr’s. I appreciated Quinn’s notes at the end of the book about the real Alice Network. I recommend this very readable novel to fans of historical fiction.