Tag: The Three-Body Problem

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Five books that may make you question reality

We are not entering spooky season, as we get close to Halloween and immerse ourselves in the fall spirit. In honour of spooky season, I’ll be sharing a variety of books that could be considered “spooky” either by having supernatural elements or having thriller/horror elements. Enjoy!

For this week, I wanted to share some fiction books that may make you question reality.

Most of these books deal with some aspect of society and paints it in a new light. I find they make you question reality because the books shift the way you think about societal norms.

I believe that some of the best books are the ones that leave you thinking about them for long after you’ve finished them. If a book has made a big impression on you, then it has accomplished a lot.

Each of these books lingered in my mind and made me re-evaluate something significant. Maybe you’ll have a similar experience.

I’ve included a range of books, most of them translated. Also, three of them would be considered novellas, so there’s some shorter options if that’s what you’re looking for.

Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash

Five books that may make you question reality

Here’s a list of five books that may make you question reality. I’ve listed them in order of when they’ve been published.

  1. The Outsider/The Stranger by Albert Camus (1942)
  2. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (2006)
  3. Confessions by Kanae Minato (2006)
  4. Earthlings by Sayaka Murata (2018)
  5. The Test by Sylvain Neuvel (2019)

Keep reading to find out more about each one.

The Outsider/The Stranger (1942)

by Albert Camus Translated by Joseph Laredo

  • Year Published: 1942
    English version published in 1946
  • Storygraph Categories:
    fiction, classics, literary, dark, reflective, medium-paced

Published in 1942 by French author Albert Camus, The Stranger has long been considered a classic of twentieth-century literature. Le Monde ranks it as number one on its “100 Books of the Century” list. Through this story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on a sundrenched Algerian beach, Camus explores what he termed “the nakedness of man faced with the absurd.”

Links:

The Three-Body Problem (2006)

by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu

  • Year Published: 2006
    English version published in 2014
  • Storygraph Categories:
    fiction, science fiction, adventurous, challenging, mysterious, slow-paced
  • Hugo Award winner & best selling Chinese Science Fiction

The Three-Body Problem is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience the Hugo Award-winning phenomenon from China’s most beloved science fiction author, Cixin Liu .

Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.

Links:

Confessions (2008)

by Kanae Minato Translated by Stephen Snyder

  • Year Published: 2008
    English version published in 2014
  • Storygraph Categories:
    fiction, crime, mystery, thriller, dark, mysterious, fast-paced
  • It won both the Hanya Taisho Award and the Alex Award.

Her pupils killed her daughter.Now, she will have her revenge.

After calling off her engagement in wake of a tragic revelation, Yuko Moriguchi had nothing to live for except her only child, four-year-old Manami. Now, following an accident on the grounds of the middle school where she teaches, Yuko has given up and tendered her resignation.

But first she has one last lecture to deliver. She tells a story that upends everything her students ever thought they knew about two of their peers, and sets in motion a maniacal plot for revenge.

Narrated in alternating voices, with twists you’ll never see coming, Confessions explores the limits of punishment, despair, and tragic love, culminating in a harrowing confrontation between teacher and student that will place the occupants of an entire school in danger. You’ll never look at a classroom the same way again.

Links:

Earthlings (2018)

by Sayaka Murata Translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori

  • Year Published: 2018
    English version in 2020
  • Storygraph Categories:
    fiction, horror, literary, magical realism, challenging, dark, medium-paced
  • Note, this novel deals with many difficult themes, I would recommend checking content warnings before reading if there are any subjects you want to avoid.

Natsuki isn’t like the other girls. She has a wand and a transformation mirror. She might be a witch, or an alien from another planet. Together with her cousin Yuu, Natsuki spends her summers in the wild mountains of Nagano, dreaming of other worlds. When a terrible sequence of events threatens to part the two children forever, they make a promise: survive, no matter what.

Now Natsuki is grown. She lives a quiet life with her asexual husband, surviving as best she can by pretending to be normal. But the demands of Natsuki’s family are increasing, her friends wonder why she’s still not pregnant, and dark shadows from Natsuki’s childhood are pursuing her. Fleeing the suburbs for the mountains of her childhood, Natsuki prepares herself with a reunion with Yuu. Will he still remember their promise? And will he help her keep it?

Links:

The Test (2019)

by Sylvain Neuvel

  • Year Published: 2019
  • Storygraph Categories:
    fiction, dystopian, challenging, dark, emotional, fast-paced

Award-winning author Sylvain Neuvel explores an immigration dystopia in The Test

Britain, the not-too-distant future.

Idir is sitting the British Citizenship Test.

He wants his family to belong.

Twenty-five questions to determine their fate. Twenty-five chances to impress.

When the test takes an unexpected and tragic turn, Idir is handed the power of life and death.

How do you value a life when all you have is multiple choice?

Links:

Final thoughts

I hope you found something of interest in this list of books.

I’m always looking for more suggestions of books to read. I’d love to know which books you love or that you would recommend. Let me know in a comment below!

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below.

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Peerless splendor

This is a quote from the book The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu.

Quote by Cixin Liu, “That flower may be delicate, but it possesses peerless splendor. She enjoys freedom and beauty in the ease of paradise.”

Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

If you’re interested, you can read an excerpt from the book here.

The Three-Body Problem – Summary

Here is the book summary:

Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion.

Copyright © 2006 by Cixin Liu.

Translated by: Ken Liu

You can find more details here on Goodreads and on StoryGraph.

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Strange things have been happening

Excerpt from The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

Photo by Michael on Unsplash

This is an excerpt from the book The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu.

“Fine. I’ll tell you what little I know.” Da Shi pointed to the shore of the moat around the Forbidden City. The two found a spot and sat down.

It was not night, and traffic flowed ceaselessly behind them like a rive. They watched their shadows lengthening and shortening over the moat.

“In my line of work, it’s all about putting together many apparently unconnected things. When you piece them together the right way, you get the truth. For a while now, strange things have been happening.

“For example, there’s been an unprecedented wave of crimes against academia and science research institutions. Of course you know about the explosion at the Liangxiang accelerator construction site. There was also the murder of that Nobel laureate…the crimes were all unusual: not for money, not for revenge. No political background, just pure destruction.”

“Other strange things didn’t involve crimes. For example, the Frontiers of Science and the suicides of those academics. Environmental activists have also become extra bold: protest mobs at construction sites to stop nuclear power plants and hydroelectric dams, experimental communities ‘returning to nature,’ and other apparently trivial matters…Do you go to the movies?

“No, not really.”

“Recent big-budget films all have rustic themes. The setting is always green mountains and clear water, with handsome men and pretty women of some indeterminate era living in harmony with nature. To use the words of the directors, they ‘represent the beautiful life before science spoiled nature.’ Take Peach Blossom Spring: it’s clearly the sort of film that no one wants to see. But they spent hundreds of millions to make it. There was also this science fiction contest with a top reward of five million for the person who imagined the most disgusting possible future. They spent another few hundred million to turn the winning stories into movies. And then you’ve got all these strange cults popping up everywhere, where every cult leader seems to have a lot of money…”

“What does that last bit have to do with everything you mentioned before?”

“You have to connect all the dots. Of course I didn’t need to busy myself with such concerns before, but after I was transferred from the crime unit to the Battle Command Center, it became part of my job. Even General Chang is impressed by my talent for connecting the dots.”

“And your conclusion?”

“Everything that’s happening is coordinated by someone behind the scenes with one goal: to completely ruin scientific research.”

“Who?”

“I have no idea. But I can sense the plan, a very comprehensive, intricate plan: damage scientific research installations, kill scientists, drive scientists like you crazy and make you commit suicide—but the main goal is to misdirect your thoughts until you’re even more foolish than ordinary people.”

“Your last statement is really perceptive.”

“At the same time, they want to ruin science’s reputation in society. Of course some people have always engaged in anti-science activities, but now it’s coordinated.”

“I believe it.”

“Now you believe me. So many of you scientific elites couldn’t figure it out, and I, having gone only to vocational school, had the answer? Ha! After I explained my theory, the scholars and my bosses all ridiculed it.”

“If you had told me your theory back then, I’m sure I wouldn’t have laughed at you. Take those frauds who practice pseudoscience—do you know who they’re most afraid of?”

“Scientists, of course.”

“No. Many of the best scientists can be fooled by pseudoscience and sometimes devote their lives to it. But pseudoscience is afraid of one particular type of people who are very hard to fool: stage magicians. In fact, many pseudoscientific hoaxes were exposed by stage magicians. Compared to the bookworms of the scientific world, your experience as a cop makes you far more likely to perceive such a large-scale conspiracy.”

“Well, there’re plenty of people smarter than me. People in positions of power are well aware of the plot. When they ridiculed me at first, it was only because I wasn’t explaining my theory to the right people. Later on, my old company commander—General Chang—had me transferred. But I’m still not doing anything other than running errands…That’s it. Now you know as much as I do.”

Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

The Three-Body Problem – Summary

Here is the book summary from Goodreads:

Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion.

Copyright © 2006 by Cixin Liu.

Translated by: Ken Liu

You can find more details here on Goodreads and on StoryGraph.

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