The Three Body Problem, Cixin Liu, 2008

Rating: 4/5

This is my first experience reading a book after watching its adaptation. I thoroughly enjoyed the Netflix TV series (released in March 2024) and the motivation to read the book was to (hopefully) understand the characters and the nuances of the story better, things that an eight-episode show (that also has some elements from the subsequent books of the trilogy) may not do enough justice to. There were also a few unanswered questions for me at the end of the show — basically some plot elements that did not make much sense — and getting the answers to those would have been a bonus.

The Three-Body Problem is the first installment in a science fiction trilogy set in China, beginning during the Cultural Revolution. One of the key protagonists is Ye Wenjie, an astrophysicist who becomes entangled in a covert military project aimed at contacting extraterrestrial life. Her actions are driven by a line from Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring": "To achieve moral awakening required a force outside the human race." The novel delves into themes of human disillusionment, diverse responses to existential threats, scientific discovery, the potentially profound impact of humanity's first contact with an alien civilization, and ultimately, the resilience of our species.

The book combines a unique plot, fascinating storytelling, and rigorous scientific details with an underlying thought-provoking theme. Despite its scientific complexity, an in-depth understanding of the science isn't necessary to follow the plot—except for the part about sophons, which I think the Netflix show handled more simply and elegantly. However, the translation from the original Chinese didn't work well for me. The translator, Ken Liu (whose short story collection, "The Paper Menagerie & Other Stories", I found excellent) has expressed his view that the best translations into English shouldn't read as if they were originally written in English. He admits to adjusting some narrative techniques to ones more familiar to American readers while retaining the original flavor in other cases. As a result, I found the translation jarring at times.

Indeed, the book provides more depth to the characters and better explains their motivations compared to the TV show. However, I found the latter more accessible and engaging. As a result, I'm likely to prefer watching the adaptation over reading the next two books in the trilogy!

Pros: Inventive plot, thought-provoking theme

Cons: The translation