First, the lost south, the first film "Annihilation" was made into a movie. The gimmick in domestic propaganda has always been "the original work beat the three-body nominated in the same year and won the 20 14 nebula award (together with the Hugo award, it is a heavyweight award in science fiction)." -put the two together to promote!
Second, because I watched Lost South for a stunt, I feel that the two are not comparable, but I can't help but talk about it, because both of them have brought spiritual shock-let's talk about it together!
Note: Comparing the similarities and differences between them only provides you with a reference train of thought before reading. The non-professional book reviews of pseudo-science fiction fans are only based on the reading experience of ordinary readers.
1, story content
Let's talk about what kind of stories the two books tell first.
"Three-body" series, starting from the neighbor "Three-body Planet" of the earth, tells the story that an alien civilization with advanced technology is about to invade the earth, and human beings on the earth have taken various countermeasures. Through the long time line, from now to the future, arrogant, blindly optimistic, comfortable and selfish human nature is vividly portrayed. Then, through the extension of the perspective, the possibility that there is a civilization countless times higher than the earth in the universe is presented to the readers, subverting human cognition and values of the known world. It contains a lot of cutting-edge physics knowledge, such as black holes, gravitational waves and the theory of cosmic expansion ... Through the life experiences of several protagonists in the book, the "dark forest law" in the universe is gradually revealed, which can be said to be a big deal, reasonable and scary.
Law of dark forest: The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is a hunter with a gun, sneaking around the forest like a ghost, gently pushing the branches in the way, trying not to make any footsteps, and even breathing carefully: he must be careful, because there are hunters sneaking around like him in the forest. If he finds other life, there is only one thing he can do: shoot it. In this forest, others are hell and an eternal threat, and any life that exposes its existence will soon be destroyed. This is the picture of cosmic civilization, and this is the explanation of Fermi's paradox.
Then, after reading "Three-body", will you still be complacent about the development of science and technology on the earth today? And we humans always want to go out and say hello to aliens. Is it really good?
Let's start with the Lost South series. The first part is based on a small abnormal "X region" that suddenly appeared on the earth. First, an expedition went deep into it and observed it from the perspective of one of the biologists. It found all kinds of inexplicable places in X area, which made people feel creepy and supernatural, and made readers feel confused, puzzled and scared as if they had walked into a maze. The second part reveals the secret from the perspective of the director of the South Border Agency, the government agency in charge of X area. The result seems to be that the more puzzles are solved, the more puzzles are solved. And the last one didn't make it clear what was going on at last, only suggesting that advanced alien civilization had arrived on the earth more than 30 years ago, at least with the ability to change the human ecological environment and quietly changed the genes of the earth species. And humans know nothing about it, let alone how to deal with it. The problem is that the ecological environment purified by aliens is so perfect and pure, and biological species are rich and balanced. On the other hand, in the areas where human beings live, the ecological environment has been seriously damaged. So, is alien invasion good or bad for the earth itself?
The most terrible thing about this book is that when you face your opponent, you know nothing about him. Are you sure it's useful to resist when the other person exists in a way you can't understand?
2. Theme and significance
The three-body series was written by people in China. The history of China's science fiction is not long, and the success of Three-body series lies in her perspective of examining the human world. Through reading, readers gradually get rid of their identity as human beings, overlook the universe from the perspective of God, and realize the smallness of human beings, the limited intelligence of human beings and the shallowness of human nature ... The grand view of the universe depicted in it is amazing. The so-called "there is a sky outside" is no longer a proverb, but a well-founded fact. What is the fate of mankind when the strong in the universe looks at mankind like ants?
The theme of The Lost South series is rather obscure. On the surface, it describes a large number of ecological "anomalies" in X area, and mentions the word "purification" several times. But in fact, the ecological environment in area X is what the earth should have. In reality, the world we live in has been destroyed beyond recognition by human beings. Its theme is also to explore the smallness and ignorance of human beings, the abuse of the resources they have, and the narrow nature of not fearing the unknown.
3. Narrative methods and descriptive skills.
Three-body is a traditional science fiction work, which is what we call hard science fiction, and contains a lot of cutting-edge scientific knowledge. Moreover, Liu's brain hole is also extremely large. From the first part to the third part, scary concepts are constantly thrown out, and the hope of solving the problem is given at the last moment. For example, in the first film, the three-person man has locked in the basic physics research of the earth, and we thought that the earth must be finished. However, in the second part, the concept of "wall-facing man" was created, which led to the cold law of the universe, the law of the dark jungle. When the whole solar system is two-dimensional, it also leaves us with such a faint hope that the earth people wander in space.
The whole book basically tells the history of the rise and fall of mankind in a traditional way, trying to be logical, calm and unmoved. You can say that Liu is simply cold, giving up the characteristics of human beings, and even the whole human being is insignificant in front of the vast universe and the long river of time.
It can be said that the world of science fiction has always been dominated by Americans, and the appearance of Three-body has broken the world's understanding of China's science fiction. In his book, Liu wrote many plots based on China people's world outlook and values, which can be said to combine science fiction elements with China culture as seamlessly as possible. This makes our readers in China very comfortable to read. Compared with a large number of foreign hard science fiction works, cultural and historical differences hinder our understanding of the works to a certain extent, while Three-body does not have this problem.
For foreign readers, the acceptance of "Three-body" is also high, and even Obama is a loyal reader of "Three-body".
In contrast, The Lost South is another kind of science fiction with a fantastic atmosphere, which is called "Crusoe Myth" by professional critics. What is the style of Crusoe Myth? I won't elaborate here, and I believe it is not the part that most readers are interested in. As far as the reading experience is concerned, The Lost South is obscure as a whole, and there are many details that are repeated like words. Most plots are based on the psychological activities from the first perspective, and these plots often jump with the protagonist's thinking, so that readers will not know why if they are not careful.
..... The fruit will ripen in the dark water under the midnight sun, and the golden fruit in the dark will crack, revealing the deadly softness in the soil. ...
There is a kind of shellfish in the tidal pit, which is not found anywhere else. It is closely related to a fish named after its discoverer Gartner. Several different kinds of conch and anemone also live here. There is also a tenacious little squid. I don't call it by its scientific name, but I gave it a nickname, combative saint, because it is full of dangerous white fluorescence, and its outer membrane looks like a Pope's hat.
But if you calm down and read it carefully, you will fall into all kinds of horrible atmosphere, and the author's ability to create unknown fears is in place. For example, when I was a child, I was alone at home and suddenly the power went out. You hear strange sounds, but you don't know their source. It's the kind of fear from the heart, not knowing what you're facing. The whole book's description of the environment is full of a cold wind, and the description of emotions runs through, forbearing and introverted, and there is a feeling of getting frustrated, which is also in line with the story tone set in the book.
4,? Highlights and slots
Highlights of "Three-body": In addition to the scientific and academic plot with wide brain holes, the description of "big" is very prominent. For example, aliens have destroyed the solar system by dimensionality reduction, such as the sense of emptiness and helplessness in space navigation, which all correspond to human weaknesses and the instinct of needing a sense of security and have a strong psychological impact on readers.
Highlights of Lost South: Contrary to the three-body theory, the book's massive psychological description and control over the details of the natural environment are simply wonderful. If "Three-body" is a Chinese style ink painting, then "Lost South" is a cell snapshot that can be observed with a microscope.
Slots in "Three-body": The details are slightly rough, especially in the emotional life. There is a feeling of floating on the surface and being very dry.
The lost southern trough: the language is obscure, there are too many hints and many puzzles, but no answer is given in the end.
Finally, I want to say that reading is a happy thing, and reading, thinking and learning are the ways to extend and amplify happiness. I hope everyone will read more books, read good books, think seriously, take active actions and find the positive meaning of life.
Note: The pictures in this article are from the Internet.