"Three-Body Problem" Book Review 1: Shi Qiang (with table of contents and preface)

Liu Cixin and his "Three-Body Problem": the coexistence of pollution of conscience and grandeur and profoundness 1

(1) Shi Qiang 2

(2) Cultural Revolution 4

(3) Ye Wenjie, Shao Lin and the Red Guards 5

(4) Netizen Gathering of Three-Body Problem 6

(5) Evans 7

(6) Dark Forest 8

(7) After the Great Trough to the destruction of Starfleet and the late period of Deterrence Era 9

(8) Thomas Vader 11

(9) Cheng Xin 14

(10) Controversy over gender bias 16

(11) Image of the public 18

(12) The grand epic of social Darwinism 19

(13) "What to do" after "What"? twenty one

(14) About Liu Cixin 22

In the past ten years, the science fiction novel "Three-Body Problem" has become popular in China and spread all over the world. Its success lies not only in the fact that Chinese works have historically won the Hugo Award, the highest award in the world of science fiction, but also in reflecting, inspiring and declaring a generation of Chinese people (or at least a certain group of Chinese people of a certain type on a large scale) The value orientation of a certain period of time) has achieved a broad and deep resonance among Chinese people, especially young people. And the author Liu Cixin has also become the super idol of the fans of "The Three-Body Problem", and their worship and maintenance have reached a level that any other contemporary writer can hardly match.

I have read "The Three-Body Problem" many times by myself, and I can basically finish it without missing a single sentence, without ignoring any plot, and left a deep impression on it. I also had a limited but relatively sufficient understanding of the author Liu Cixin's background, remarks, and values. The relevant conclusions should have been mentioned at the end of this article, but I don’t know when this article will be completed, and I need to give a general evaluation first. Therefore, I will make an overall evaluation of "The Three-Body Problem" and Liu Cixin at the beginning of this article.

The book "The Three-Body Problem" is a story about the struggle between human beings and alien civilizations in a sci-fi nature, reflecting some essential characteristics of human nature and human society, as well as reflections on the history and reality of human beings and the universe, and predictions on the future. , scientific and philosophical thinking, which shows the author's deep insight, imagination, and powerful ability to construct, represent and express what he reveals in a sci-fi way. However, the emotional tendency and implied value orientation of the works and the author are generally social Darwinism, non-sympathetic, inhumane, and non-fraternal, deprecating progressivism and social justice, and the author's personal character and moral integrity are also very problematic. The level of this work can be ranked among the thousands of literary works of great value, inspiration and influence in the world from ancient times to the present, but its implied and guided values, moral values and humanistic spirit are completely incomparable with those It is even said that it is a negative and harmful moral and humanistic value. This is my rough evaluation, and more specific evaluations will be written in the text and at the end of the text.

"The Three-Body Problem" is so vast and densely detailed that I cannot, of course, repeat it here. Therefore, I am writing this book review on the assumption that the reviewers of this book have read "Three-Body" thoroughly. However, I will still include some background and plot introductions in the comments, such as citing the original text of "The Three-Body Problem", so that this article can be understood by those who have not read (at least not carefully read) "Three-Body Problem". For the convenience of writing, I will take the order in which the characters and events of "Three-Body" are mentioned in the book, discuss and analyze these characters and events as units, and make appropriate conclusions and overviews.

In the article, I will make a lot of judgments on the emotion and motivation of Liu Cixin's writing content. Of course, this kind of judgment cannot have "conclusive" evidence in the legal sense, but relies heavily on speculation and association. Moreover, this kind of judgment cannot be 100% consistent with Liu Cixin's original intention, and no one has such ability, unless someone can detect what Liu Cixin's brain is thinking. There are also many judgments based on the objective influence of Liu Cixin and his "Three-Body Problem" and the reader's response. What meaning a work expresses depends to a large extent on the meaning considered by the mainstream among readers who have the right of free expression (especially when the author has the ability to deny but does not deny, and denies but is illogical). The relationship between author and reader, work and response is an interactive relationship, rather than a one-way imbued meaning. The author should also consider what impact it will have when writing, including what he thinks is "misunderstood". Therefore, I will infer Liu Cixin's content and emotion in "The Three-Body Problem" through its perception and influence among readers. This is not intentional to wrong him.

Also, as a review article, this article is of course mainly critical. Even if I agree with some of Liu Cixin's views, I will not mention them in a large space. For Liu Cixin's less controversial characters (or at least I don't think there is anything to criticize), such as Zhang Beihai, Luo Ji, etc., as well as some events and plots that have no special metaphorical meaning, it will not cost much. pen and ink. Most of the content I write is the part that has objections. On the whole, as mentioned earlier, I praised his "ability" and criticized his "virtue".

(1) Shi Qiang

The first character to appear in "The Three-Body Problem" is the scientist Wang Miao, but the first character to be portrayed in detail is the policeman Shi Qiang who came to interview Wang Miao. In just a few pages, a brutish, invasive character is portrayed. Fans who are familiar with "The Three-Body Problem" certainly know that the description of Shi Qiang in the opening chapter and similar descriptions in the following are all foreshadowing the contrast of Shi Qiang's shrewdness, courage and sense of responsibility.

Or to be more precise, Liu Cixin deliberately associates cunning and stubbornness with competence and responsibility, implying that characters with hooligan tendencies are often "cold on the outside and hot on the inside", and are essentially good people.

Let's intercept the description of Shi Qiang in the novel, so we can see what kind of values Liu Cixin wants to express and try to instill.

At the beginning of "The Three-Body Problem", when Shi Qiang meets Wang Miao:

(Wang Miao said) "'Boundary of Science' is a very influential academic organization in the international academic circle, and its members are all famous scholars. Why can't I get in touch with such a legitimate academic organization?"

"Look at you!" Shi Qiang said loudly, "Did we say it's illegal? Did we say we won't let you touch it?" As he spoke, the smoke he inhaled just now sprayed onto Wang Miao's face superior.

...

"I have the right not to answer, please go ahead." Wang Miao said and turned to go back to the room.

"Wait!" Shi Qiang said sharply, and at the same time waved his hand at the young police officer next to him, "Give him the address and phone number, and go for a walk in the afternoon."

And it was just such a person, when Wang Miao was hit by the phantom created by the Trisolarans and almost committed suicide later, Wang Miao summoned up the courage to live in a clever way, and cheered up to participate in cracking the Earth Trisolarans organization. (ETO) conspiracy. Afterwards, Shi Qiang also came up with an ingenious strategy (namely "Operation Guzheng") to ambush Ivans and the "Judgment Day", and rescued and protected another scientist Luo Ji many times. In addition, Liu Cixin also described the profound friendship between Shi Qiang, Wang Miao and Luo Ji. It was with Shi Qiang's encouragement that Wang Miao regained the courage to live, and helped the government and military police solve a series of crimes committed by the "Three-Body Organization"; Luo Ji, and made him unrestrained enough to take up the responsibility of defending mankind.

We first saw the image of Shi Qiang, very similar to the evil police who abused police power and oppressed the people in reality. The book does list his bad deeds: disregarding the safety of the hostages when handling hostage-taking incidents, instigating gangsters to eat gangsters, extorting confessions by torture... Such a "evil policeman" saved an important scientist, and then saved the fate of mankind.

Liu Cixin's implication here is that virtue is not important, talent is the first; abuse of power, violation of law and discipline does not matter, the most important thing is "usefulness". Moreover, although such a person is cruel to strangers and enemies, he can still treat his friends with sincerity. Furthermore, Liu's Spring and Autumn style of writing implies that it is precisely wicked people like Shi Qiang who have the cunning, courage, and talent that ordinary people don't have, and people who are polite and law-abiding can't do it. It is easy to draw an inference: people should tolerate the wicked, the police, and their illegal behavior, because only such people who have experienced ugliness and are full of gangsters have the ability to protect us. Perhaps this is what Liu Cixin wants to convey to us. This is not an isolated case in "The Three-Body Problem", and there are some characters behind, such as Thomas Vader, who can prove Liu's faint hint.

Throughout the book, there are many positive descriptions of Shi Qiang, such as the aforementioned friendship between him, Wang Miao and Luo Ji, which is very touching. Liu Cixin tried to strengthen Shi Qiang's hooliganism and chivalrous heart, so that people can form an impression that this kind of person who looks bad (and actually has a clearly bad side) is inherently good, and people should understand, Tolerate, appreciate and praise them. This is a bit like the description in "Water Margin" of those heroes who are both chivalrous and righteous. However, the "heroes" in the Water Margin are people who are against the system and power, while Shi Qiang and Thomas Vader in Liu Cixin's works are both the ruling class who wear official clothes and maintain order, and are also part of the violent machine. "Water Margin" extols the spirit of resistance, while "Three-Body Problem" praises the "spirit of oppression." And no matter what Liu Cixin's subjective intentions are, it is a fact that objectively he has wiped out the people of the country's powerful departments. Most literary writers will condemn the brutality of violent machines and the filth of the ruling class in between the lines (including the gangster novel "Once Upon a Time in the Northeast", which is not very high-style, it also first talks about the corruption of the cadre class and the suppression of democratic protests by the regime, and then Talking about gang violence in civil society), only Liu Cixin who can play tricks sing praises for the system and its attachments.

Another description of Shi Qiang not only enriches the image of Shi Qiang as a "rogue police hero", but also reveals Liu Cixin's stigma and resentment towards the relatively marginalized and unfortunate family victims in society. In the book, there is a scene when Shi Qiang and the military police raided the ETO meeting and encountered a young girl threatening with a bomb:

"Stop." The nuclear bomb girl gave Da Shi a warning wink, her right thumb was firmly pressing on the detonation switch, and her nail polish was shining in the light of the flashlight.

"Take it easy girl, there is something you want to know." Da Shi stood seven or eight meters away from the girl, and took out an envelope from his pocket, "Your mother found it."

The girl's radiant eyes dimmed immediately, but at this moment, these eyes really led to her heart.

Da Shi took the opportunity to take another two steps forward, shortening the distance between himself and the girl to about five meters. The girl vigilantly threw a nuke and stopped him with her eyes, but her attention had been greatly distracted. One of the two who had thrown away the fake nuclear bomb just now walked towards Da Shi and reached for the envelope he was holding. Da Shi drew out his pistol like lightning. His action of drawing the gun was just blocked by the person who took the letter. The girl didn't see it. She only saw a flash of light in the ear of the letter taker, and the nuclear bomb in her arms was hit and exploded.

...

"Who is that girl?" Wang Miao asked.

Da Shi grinned, "How the hell do I know? I'm just guessing. Most of the girls like this have never met their mother. I have been in this business for more than 20 years, and I have learned to read people."

In Liu Cixin's writing, those who try to destroy the existing order and use extreme means to fight against the mainstream society are often victims and marginalized groups of society (of course, this is true objectively). Moreover, from the evaluation and tone of the girl that Shi Qiang said above, it can be seen that Liu Cixin does not have sympathy for her but contempt and disgust. This tone is like that of women who have been sexually assaulted in conservative societies. Instead of expressing deep sympathy, they feel that the victims are "dirty". In the eyes of Liu Cixin, those who go to extremes, make trouble, and rebel against order are pitiful and hateful "motherless" bugs who have been abandoned by their families.

And this is in line with the values under the wave of social Darwinism in China today. Whenever an extreme event occurs in society, the Internet is full of voices saying "I don't want to know what he went through, I just want him to be executed", as if the guilty person is not Cai Jing Gaoqiu, but Yang Zhilin Chong (of course strictly speaking Yang Zhi and Lin Chong are indeed guilty). And for those poor people who take peaceful protests and formal channels to petition, people all look on and even gloat. It is not that they are ignorant of the sufferings of these victims, but they despise and reject them from above. Not only do they not feel that they have to bear certain responsibilities and participate in some necessary changes in society, but they also feel that these vulnerable people are in the way of their own eyesight and affect them. own mood. The fire of Liu Cixin's "Three-Body Problem" is resonating between the lines and the self-interested mentality of the middle and upper class. (Of course, I don’t agree with hurting innocent people, and I think that once such a thing is done, no matter what the reason is, you need to bear the responsibility and cannot escape the crime, but it is necessary to discuss the reasons and solve the problem, even to ease the contradiction, not just rely on Violent coercion, killing rebound)

Characters like Shi Qiang in "The Three-Body Problem" also have many god-like images in European, American, Japanese and Korean literature and film and television works. At the critical moment, he showed extraordinary courage and sense of responsibility to reflect the complexity and brilliance of human nature. But after careful analysis and feeling, you will find that the images and purposes of Shi Qiang, Thomas Vader, Luo Ji, etc. in "The Three-Body Problem" are actually different from most European, American, Japanese and Korean works. The latter (such as the seemingly similar characters depicted in Chekhov, Maupassant, Hugo, and Balzac’s novels) is to reflect the complexity of human nature and the brilliance of justice, while the former is more like whitewashing the powerful and the wicked. To subsidize oppressors and vested interests. This can be reasonably analyzed and speculated through the emotional tendency between the lines, detailed descriptions, the overall environment, and even the author's creative background and possible purpose. Of course, readers' own values and experiences will also cause different feelings. At least some people who have read Chinese and foreign literature and film and television works should have this resonance.

For example, Hugo's most famous book "Les Miserables" portrays the role of Jean Valjean as a "criminal". But Hugo did not describe Jean Valjean as disgusting as "Bomb Girl", on the contrary, he portrayed it quite sympathetically. Sergeant Javert, who enforces the law and arrests Jean Valjean, is not as "cool" and admirable as Shi Qiang because of his badness. Instead, he is portrayed by Hugo and makes readers feel hated. In the end, Sergeant Javert also regained his conscience, and completed the redemption together with Jean Valjean. In "Les Miserables", everyone has a conscience, and it is precisely because they all keep the bottom line, and even deliberately "let the water go (such as Javert let go of Jean Valjean)" when the goal can be achieved, so that "Les Miserables" can be described as "Les Miserables". End towards the light (rather than turning France and the world into a "dark forest").

Maupassant's "Ball of Fat", Chekhov's "Wanka", and Lu Xun's "Blessing" all take the portrayal of a vulnerable victim as the theme of their novels, expressing deep sympathy for the person concerned and describing her / Their experiences are attributed to the ruthlessness of others, and they castigate the ugliness of society. More works of these three writers also have such emotional tendencies and moral positions. This is completely opposite to Liu Cixin's attitude of contempt and even mocking the weak and praising the wicked.

This is not only the case with these masterpieces, but even some not-so-great literary and artistic works will retain many basic "human flavors". For example, in the criminal investigation drama "Six Serious Cases", which was once popular in China, the policemen in it also have different personalities, but they all retain a minimum of human conscience. Perhaps the image of Shi Qiang in The Three-Body Problem is more in line with the real face of some police officers, but obviously it should not be portrayed with praise and encouragement. The police in "Serious Cases Group Six" may be idealized, but such propaganda can also form a useful guide to the police force, rather than an evil hint.