The Three-Body Problem

i can't say i agree with the low reviewers here, but i'm also not in with the 5 star reviewers.

it's a good book.

there are certainly a fair number of truly unique ideas on display. there are also a fair number of cultural differences that i think are maybe a little distracting to non-chinese readers. i think if your an american or european without something like the cultural revolution woven into the fabric of your society, it would be hard to experience a true flow. “wooden characters” have been blamed on translation but i feel sure it is a cultural difference instead. beauty and complexity are there when describing the environment, there just isn't a lot of what (especially) americans would expect in terms of description of people's inner lives.

i'm not a physicist, so i cannot really speak to the veracity of the sci in the sci fi, but it seemed pretty sturdy, and i dare say i learned some things. i did stop to look several things up, and i appreciate being challenged by difficult or unfamiliar concepts.

i cannot exactly pinpoint why this isn't a better book. it's a good book, but it took me two months to read, which is entirely unheard of. the story was original and compelling, but also kind of anti-climactic. the writing was well done, but not un-put-downable. i will undoubtedly come back to it, maybe i'll change my mind.