Sci-Fi of the Day

Out of context: Reply #300

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  • Nairn1

    I dun goofed.

    Being Christmas, I tend to leave the UK for a week or two, so on a recent scan of second hand shops I was pleased to see a nice thicki-ish book by Liu Cixin for a quid, as I've been wanting to read 'The Three Body Problem' for a while now. Perfect for the holiday! I packed it along with a couple of old Lem Books I wanted to read again (Futurological Congress and Solaris) and here I am, abroad. Finished the Lem books in fucking no time because I'm an amazing reader and perhaps possibly because they're thin books with large type.

    I start the Cixin book last night with wary anticipation - sure enough it's quickly made clear that This Is A Book Written By Someone From Chinese Culture; there's a sort of fundamental difference in philosophy and density, a shift in prose style and construction, but all very enjoyably so. As soon as my tired old brain fits itself into a new regime, I get into it and find it all very enjoyable - particularly the way it reveals itself, peeling itself back post hoc, but not in too confusing a time-jumpy fashion, except.. it's not quite. At some point a chapter or so in it's clear that there's a fundamental assumption that will not be explained and - oh fuck - there's a mention of "the three body system".

    I'm reading the second part to the book I actually wanted to read, aren't I? Twat.

    Now I have nothing left to read and am only a small few days in to my fucking holiday in a foreign country where I won't be able to buy any English matter - at least, stuff I'd want.

    And I forgot the plug converter for my laptop, so unless I find one soon, I'm not even going to be able to read shit on the internet either. Goodbye.

    Nairn 1Permalink
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    • oops.
      tl;don't read.      Nairn
    • No kindle? This is the safe boat for strong readers in the xxi century mate...OBBTKN
    • Or you can read on your smartphone, no english writen book store near you?? Where are going to holidays, to Mordor??OBBTKN
    • Yyyeah, I know. I know! I've held off from the Kindle as I'd always expected there to be a load of equivalent open platforms, but eReaders never really did thatNairn
    • Perhaps this is the spur I need.

      Also - could fit a fuckload more books in my baggage!      Nairn
    • Feliz Navidad, hombre!Nairn
    • You can load your reader with tons of .mobi books, out of amazon store, np.
      Eguberri on you too man!!      OBBTKN
    • "a shift in prose style and construction" ooor its poorly written with cool ideascannonball1978
    • I think I was trying to infer that I felt it being written by someone from a culture vastly different from mine, but whatever - I'm not a writer.Nairn
    • Out of interest, have you read any of his stuff, cannonball?Nairn
    • I read three body problem. It's a translation but the exposition and dialogue was rather unsophisticated. I don't know what that says about Chinese writing.cannonball1978
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