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I blame Netflix. In late March it released a series called 3 Body Problem and I've been obsessed ever since. Not with the series, though.
It was a visually captivating, well cast and expensive production, which was engrossing and over way too soon.
A Chinese astrophysicist makes the fateful decision to reply to a signal sent by a distant alien civilisation, which then makes plans to invade the solar system. Humanity then has four centuries - the time it will take the aliens to arrive - to thwart the invasion.
But the Netflix series doesn't hold a candle to the trilogy of books written by Chinese science fiction author Cixin Liu.
Having found the first book, The Three-Body Problem, in the local Kmart book section soon after the Netflix series was streamed, I sought out the second, The Dark Forest, in a Sydney bookshop.
And it was only last week, in an unpromising looking store in an airport in southern Thailand, that I found the third, Death's End. After months of hunting, it felt like striking gold. Reading it now feels like being reunited with an old friend.
The odd thing is I'd never heard of Cixin Liu or his books until Netflix adapted the story. No surprise really because science fiction isn't really my thing. Or hadn't been.
In adapting the story, Netflix decided to internationalise the characters and base much of it in Europe rather than China, to give it more appeal to a wider international audience. But, reading the books, it's the Chinese-ness of the story that really makes it sing.
![The book of the Three Body Problem is better than the TV show. Picture Shutterstock The book of the Three Body Problem is better than the TV show. Picture Shutterstock](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/3BUUzmFAhrhLyX9rFCubPq5/240bdd53-9ebe-4997-89c1-02751a39087c.jpg/r32_0_4721_2640_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
While a couple of the main characters stayed true to their Chinese origins in the Netflix series, too many others were portrayed as Westerners, losing something along the way. This caused resentment in China in much the same way the overdubbing with American accents of Mad Max characters did in Australia. And it caused a political fuss as well, with its flashbacks to the intellectual insanity of Mao's Cultural Revolution, a subject still taboo in communist China.
As is so often the case, the books win out over the screen adaptation because they are more detailed and possess cultural and philosophical dimensions diluted in Netflix's pursuit of international appeal.
It's understandable the streaming giant would want to get as many eyeballs as possible on its ambitious project. At US$160 million for the first series, the total cost of adapting the entire trilogy will exceed half a billion dollars. That's expensive television. And, don't get me wrong, it is worth watching if you haven't done so already.
But you'll shortchange yourself if you don't read the books as well.
And you sci-fi nerds chuckling at my late coming to the Cixin Liu party - the trilogy was translated into English a decade ago to much acclaim - can also thank Netflix. If it wasn't for the series, the books would have remained undiscovered treasures not just for me but many others too.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do screen adaptations ever do justice to the books they've come from? Are some adaptations even better than the books? Have you liked a movie so much you've sought out the book on which it was based? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- The federal government will move to appoint an independent administrator to take over the embattled Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union. Damning allegations about the union were made this week and the CFMEU's Victorian branch was placed into administration on Monday.
- Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw has paid tribute to the 500 members who responded to the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 a decade ago. Speaking at a memorial service in Parliament House to mark the 10-year anniversary of the tragedy on Wednesday, Mr Kershaw recounted the horror of the disaster that met AFP officers deployed to Donetsk, Ukraine.
- There is no end in sight to record olive oil prices with Australia's poor harvest adding to global shortages. Spain, the world's largest olive oil producer, has drastically cut production due to successive droughts, pushing global prices to historic levels.
THEY SAID IT: "Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones." - Stephen King
YOU SAID IT: Donald Trump's inflammatory rhetoric was bound to be turned back on him. The real surprise was how long it took for someone to make an attempt on his life, Violence, even if rhetorical, begets violence.
David writes: "Nick Bryant's book, The Forever War, clearly underlines your assertions, John. And it's fascinating that Trump's god saved him, apparently, while showing no concern whatever for the victims in the crowd who are either dead or critically injured."
"Agree entirely with your article," writes Paul. "As a very elderly citizen, Trump's rhetoric reminds me of Munich, 1933."
Kristine writes: "Couldn't agree more - hypocrisy rampant. His poor, deluded, deplorable devotees will regard his survival as evidence that he is the messiah. God save America."
"I think you nailed it, JH," writes Tom. "I can't believe it took so long for some nutcase to have a go at one of them. I say nutcase, but with the division and tribalism that is American politics it may not be that simple."
Jennifer writes: "No shock. So many had expressed a belief that assassination would solve America's problem but we know that's not true. Trump is a symptom of a much bigger problem, the anger in America from those who need help and are being ignored or blamed for their own disadvantage. Inequality and unfairness leads directly to backlash, anger, violence and often to revolution."
"Will this help Trump's campaign?" writes Murray. "Let's ask the professionals, those whose business it is to forecast winners. The bookies have wound Trump in to $1.30 while Joe, write your own ticket. Failed impeachments, a show trial, fines, now trying to shoot him, the Dems have done everything imaginable, except try to win the election. By rights, Donald Trump should be in the wilderness. Totally unelectable. And yet, here we are. Trump will win. Quite extraordinary."
Jan writes: "The irony is that if Trump had been in prison where, as a convicted felon, he ought to have been, he would not have been shot at all."
"No shock at all," writes John. "A perfect reflection of what Trump had been calling onto the heads of others for years. Then the hypocrisy-meter went off the scale. The god who everybody was praising for saving this appalling tyrant obviously did not care about the poor dead fireman. A capricious being indeed."
Sue writes: "When I first heard of the assassination attempt on Trump, I thought it was a publicity stunt to raise more money from the public to pay his legal bills. Then when reality set in, I wondered how we had gone this long without this happening. He will capitalise this event to maximum advantage. It looks like he will again be the president of America and there's nothing Americans can do about that unless they actually vote."