I tried to read the books this is based on and felt like I was being punked.
The writing in the first chapter, specifically around the dialogue of the man on the stage who is telling the story about his wife’s father was so incredibly stilted that I couldn’t get through it. It was unfathomably badly written dialogue that I can only imagine it’s something lost in translation that triggers every pet peeve I have about dialogue.
And most people rave about the books. So this is probably a me problem more than anything. I just don’t understand it.
So as long as they hired some writers to do a better job at the dialogue I might be one of those people who likes the show and not the books.
That’s a common criticism of the books. They’re chock full of cool ideas but the dialogue and character building are rather limited. It’s actually the entire reason I’m looking forward to this. If they can fix that side of the equation, we’re in for a treat
It’s a common problem with lots of classic sci-fi authors. Heinlein, Asimov, Philip K Dick, Larry Niven etc. are all terrible at writing believable dialogue and compelling characters. There are some exceptions, but most of their characters are cardboard cutouts so they have a way to move along a story or give exposition about the ideas.
The Expanse did a pretty good job with characterization (in the books), and Kim Stanley Robinson is decent (but is still pretty “hit or miss,” IMHO), but in general, the weakest part of sci-fi writing is almost universally characterization and dialogue.
I always figured the dialogue was a lost in translation/ cultural disconnect thing. What I had a problem with was the way Liu writes women. The way Zhuang Yen comes into the story into the second book made me want to puke.
There was a phrase in there which suggested to me that she was somehow Da Shi’s daughter, which didn’t help, but at least explained how she was “procured” so quickly. Then later I realized she’s probably not his daughter and I don’t know how he found her.
I’m half way through The Dark Forest and while I’m really enjoying it, it’s certainly not because of the character writing. Could just be a translation issue but a native speaker would have to chime in on that. I’m still enjoying going through the trilogy though just for the concepts alone.
That’s because the book was not written in English. The translation preserves a lot of the cadence of the original Chinese writing. You may not be used to it, but that’s not uncommon for translated works in general.
You’re not alone. I tried reading them and the premise was something I could get behind but the way it was written drove me crazy. I agree that if they had a better translator to make it sound more native English, I probably would have been fine with it. Bit as it stands it sounded very Chinese still. I’m hoping the show will solve that problem for us.
I may be able to retry them knowing that they aren’t translated in a way that feels more western, but I had just come off of some cozy-fantasy and sci-fi books and it was shockingly jarring to even try to get through.
I often feel like when most people love something and I don’t, I owe it to myself to figure out why.
Yeah, the character development and dialogue is pretty bad. I rave about it for all the cool ideas it exposed me to. I value that more highly than pretty much anything else. To each their own :)
I tried to read the books this is based on and felt like I was being punked.
The writing in the first chapter, specifically around the dialogue of the man on the stage who is telling the story about his wife’s father was so incredibly stilted that I couldn’t get through it. It was unfathomably badly written dialogue that I can only imagine it’s something lost in translation that triggers every pet peeve I have about dialogue.
And most people rave about the books. So this is probably a me problem more than anything. I just don’t understand it.
So as long as they hired some writers to do a better job at the dialogue I might be one of those people who likes the show and not the books.
edit: dialogue
That’s a common criticism of the books. They’re chock full of cool ideas but the dialogue and character building are rather limited. It’s actually the entire reason I’m looking forward to this. If they can fix that side of the equation, we’re in for a treat
It’s a common problem with lots of classic sci-fi authors. Heinlein, Asimov, Philip K Dick, Larry Niven etc. are all terrible at writing believable dialogue and compelling characters. There are some exceptions, but most of their characters are cardboard cutouts so they have a way to move along a story or give exposition about the ideas.
The Expanse did a pretty good job with characterization (in the books), and Kim Stanley Robinson is decent (but is still pretty “hit or miss,” IMHO), but in general, the weakest part of sci-fi writing is almost universally characterization and dialogue.
I always figured the dialogue was a lost in translation/ cultural disconnect thing. What I had a problem with was the way Liu writes women. The way Zhuang Yen comes into the story into the second book made me want to puke.
It was so tough getting through the first half of The Dark Forest because of the women. But damn the second half is incredible
There was a phrase in there which suggested to me that she was somehow Da Shi’s daughter, which didn’t help, but at least explained how she was “procured” so quickly. Then later I realized she’s probably not his daughter and I don’t know how he found her.
I’m half way through The Dark Forest and while I’m really enjoying it, it’s certainly not because of the character writing. Could just be a translation issue but a native speaker would have to chime in on that. I’m still enjoying going through the trilogy though just for the concepts alone.
That’s because the book was not written in English. The translation preserves a lot of the cadence of the original Chinese writing. You may not be used to it, but that’s not uncommon for translated works in general.
Fwiw, usually “dialogue” is used for verbal speech. “Dialog” tends to be used for computer-related topics.
Fair correction. Thank you.
Huh, I always just assumed it was a regional thing.
It is.
This is region dependent. Whether it’s correct depends on where you come from.
You’re not alone. I tried reading them and the premise was something I could get behind but the way it was written drove me crazy. I agree that if they had a better translator to make it sound more native English, I probably would have been fine with it. Bit as it stands it sounded very Chinese still. I’m hoping the show will solve that problem for us.
I’m glad I’m not alone on this.
I may be able to retry them knowing that they aren’t translated in a way that feels more western, but I had just come off of some cozy-fantasy and sci-fi books and it was shockingly jarring to even try to get through.
I often feel like when most people love something and I don’t, I owe it to myself to figure out why.
Yeah, the character development and dialogue is pretty bad. I rave about it for all the cool ideas it exposed me to. I value that more highly than pretty much anything else. To each their own :)
Are you me?
Honestly, it’s hard to tell what with the fediverse and all that…
Removed by mod
My mom is in two book clubs and basically owns a library. I got us each a copy and neither of us could read it.