A review of the science fiction novel “The Dark Forest” by Cixin Liu
May 23rd, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Following “The Three-Body Problem”, this is the second novel in the ‘Remembrance of Earth’s Past’ trilogy by the noted Chinese science fiction writer. It was first published in Chinese in 2008 and then in English in 2015.
While most of the first novel was set in the near future and concerned the threat of an invasion of Earth by a Trisolar civilisation in four centuries time, most of the first two-thirds of “The Dark Forest” is set in the first 20 years of the so-called Crisis Era and focuses on the Wallfacer programme, which is intended to devise a method of combating this invasion, while the last third is set some two centuries on and describes an encounter between Earth’s new, massive star fleet and an advance probe from the Trisolarians.
It is a wonderful read, characterised by a rapidly-shifting narrative with plenty of surprises. The story is illuminated by lots of Liu’s innovative thinking on radically different strategies for reacting to an invasion by more technologically advanced aliens and on what Earth in 200+ years might look like technologically, socially and politically. A dazzling array of ideas stretches from new forms of clothing, housing, transport and information displays to a plan for the destruction of the entire solar system.
The ‘forest’ of the title is based on the theory that, in the vastness of the universe, there are countless other civilisations. The ‘dark’ of the title rests on the notion that no advanced civilisation would want to reveal itself for fear of invasion and annihilation. It is one way of responding to the Fermi Paradox: that is, why – after long and hard searching – have we not found any evidence for any other life in the infinite space that we call the universe?
“The Three-Body Problem” is long (424 pages); “The Dark Forest” is is even longer (550 pages); and the third novel in the trilogy, “Death’s End”, is longer still (721 pages) – so I’m going to pause my reading for a while.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Learning lessons from the Post Office scandal
May 22nd, 2024 by Roger Darlington
For 23 years, I was a national official with a trade union which represented the staff in the small number of main post offices actually owned by Post Office Limited (POL). Then, for 17 years, I sat on bodies representing customers of post offices.
On one occasion (an awards ceremony), I spent the evening sitting next to Paula Vennells, then CEO of the Post Office. At the time, I thought the business was in good hands. How wrong I was. This week, Vennells appears before the enquiry into the Post Office scandal and rightly her role will be in the spotlight.
But we already know that many individuals and organisations let down those post office owners who were falsely prosecuted: many other managers in POL, members of the Board, POL’s legal advisers, its auditors, Government Ministers and civil servants responsible for Post Office affairs, of course many managers in Fujitsu that supplied the Horizon system, even sections of the media which gave too little attention to the scandal until quite recently, and crucially the Federation (NFSP) that was supposed to represent sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses.
Yet we also know that, huge though this scandal is, there have been many more in a similar vein. Only this week, we have had the report on the scandal of contaminated blood used by the NHS. Time and time again, individuals and organisations are too defensive when challenged and too concerned with neglecting critical evidence and blaming others for institutional mistakes.
We have to learn the lessons. All individuals and organisations with power can misuse or abuse that power and we should not wait until that happens. All organisations – political, public, private, third sector – need to establish proper levels of openness and accountability, systems for internal and external challenge, and independent monitoring and checking, while the Government needs to ensure protection for whistleblowers and enforcement of relevant laws. Sadly this will not happen until there are some cases of corporate fines, docking of bonuses and even individual imprisonment.
I think that sensitive use of artificial intelligence (AI) also has a role to play. AI could have highlighted connections between bugs in the Horizon software and failures to reconcile the accounts of individual post offices. AI might have linked use of specific batches of blood with particular instances of ill-health. We should should use every tool we can find to arrest such scandals.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (1)
My Thought For The Week is now 25 years old – have you signed up for it?
May 22nd, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Twenty five years ago this month, I saw a quote in a newspaper, liked it, and sent it in an e-mail to the 12 people who worked with me in the Research Department of the Communication Workers Union. Every week since then, I’ve circulated a new thought and last weekend the number reached the milestone of 1,234. I know: life isn’t a matter of milestones ….
The circulation list has grown and grown and now exceeds 1,500, reaching all around the world. If you’d like to see what you’ve missed, you can access all the thoughts here. If you would like to be on the circulation list, e-mail me at: rogerdarlington48@gmail.com
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
A review the 1953 classic film “Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday”
May 17th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
In only his second film as a director, Jacques Tati introduced us to the character with whom he was to become synonymous. M. Hulot is the shy, gentle, unassuming, but constantly bumbling, Frenchman who is immediately recognisable with his long-stemmed pipe, his leaning forward awkwardly, and elbows pointing out with hands in the small of his back. As well as directing and starring Tati co-wrote the screenplay, making him something of an auteur. Never has a trip to the seaside been so funny.
However, this charming, black & white comedy is something of an oddity, since it is is essentially plotless and wordless, comprising a sequence of visual and aural jokes with minimal and almost meaningless dialogue. Sound is really important here: it is laid on the picture and forefronts any dialogue, whether it is the ambiance of birdsong or sea waves or the comic device of a car with a problematic engine or a restaurant door endlessly emitting a double squeak. In the end, we have a riot of noise with an unintended firework display.
Some viewers will find the mêlée of mishaps too slow, too repetitive and as light and fluffy as a soufflé but, in its own way, it is a classic.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the new movie “Challengers”
May 16th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
I have a much younger female friend who is a great tennis enthusiast and, when we saw the tennis movie “King Richard” (2021) together, she really enjoyed it. So I felt on firm ground when I suggested that we see “Challengers” – it features a considerable amount of tennis and has been both a critical and commercial success.
But I was so wrong – Gemma thought it was “awful” and that the tennis was unconvincing.
The film is centred on three young tennis players portrayed by bright young actors – Art (Mike Faist), Patrick (Josh O’Connor) and Tashi (singer Zendaya who has now starred in three “Spider-Man” and two “Dune” movies) – with the boys competing both sportingly and amorously in a shifting triangle of affections.
All three did three months training with pro tennis player-turned-coach, Brad Gilbert.
Visually the film is arresting with lots of smashing of balls and running around courts. Aurally the film is gripping with a pounding soundtrack. And it’s rather sexy with lingering shots of the beautiful Zendaya, some serious kissing, and even a brief scene of full frontal male nudity.
Italian director Luca Guadagnino has form for erotic tension and “Challengers” confirms his style.
I enjoyed the film much more than Gemma. But I didn’t always understand what was going on because there are so many flash-backs and I know nothing about tennis. Also It was impossible to like any of the characters because each is so ultra-competitive, egotistical and manipulative. For them, sex is like tennis and tennis is like sex.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
My next book is on its way
May 15th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Over the last year, I’ve interviewed 42 people – all staff or residents in my block of flats – for a series of personal profiles which I’ve drawn together for a book to be launched on 19 June 2024. Everyone has a story and each of these is fascinating in its own way.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
A review of the 2022 movie “Jurassic World Dominion”
May 11th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
After the “Jurassic Park” trilogy, we now have the third (and final?) segment of the “Jurassic World” three-hander. Unlike all the other movies in this franchise, none of the action is on the island of Isla Nublar. Now all the dinosaurs are running round continental America and Europe and the genetic playing of the wicked corporation is producing new creatures such as giant locusts.
Such a challenge, it seems, can only be met by bringing together all the heroes of the franchise, a bit like a Marvel movie.
So, as well as Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) from the previous episodes of “Jurassic World” and a return by Ian Malcom (the scene-stealing Jeff Goldblum) who was brought back for the last movie, we have both Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) whom we haven’t seen for more than 20 years. And, to balance all these older and white characters, we have the addition of some young and ethnic players.
Indeed the whole narraive is opened up with action scenes on Malta and in markets and aircraft that remind one sometimes of “Star Wars” and “Raiders Of The Lost Ark”.
So, there’s a lot going on here and some of it is fun but, at almost two and a half hours, it is way too long and the concluding shots – of prehistoric and contemporary wildlife gambolling together – rather defeats the overall theme that dinosaurs are, well, scary.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the novel “The Three-Body Problem” by Cixin Liu
May 11th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
This is the first novel in the ‘Remembrance of Earth’s Past’ trilogy by the noted Chinese science fiction writer. It was first published as a book in 2008 and, when translated into English, won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, the first work by an Asian writer to win this award. It achieved even more widespread fame as the inspiration for the 2024 Netflix series of the same name.
As a sci-fi novel, this work has two very distinctive features.
First, reflecting its authorship, it includes lots of references to Chinese characters and history, stretching from the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who was born in 259 BC, to the Cultural Revolution, which lasted from 1966 to 1976. Many Western scientists and thinkers also make appearances in a fantastical online virtual reality game called Three-Body.
Second, the narrative raises a huge range of scientific issues, starting with the three-body problem in orbital mechanics and running through the development of atomic-level nano-materials and the eleven dimensional space-time of fundamental particles. One chapter has the wonderful title ‘Three Body: Newton, Von Neumann, The First Emperor And The Tri-Solar Syzygy’.
Fundamentally this enormously inventive work is asking some existential questions: If there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, how would we know? If we could, should we communicate with such an alien civilisation? If we did, what would be the consequences?
A major problem for writers addressing such questions is the almost infinite distances that would be involved. How could one communication, still less travel, across such vastness of space? Cixin Liu has some inventive solutions which means that, by the end of the novel, the very existence of humankind is threatened – but apparently not for some 450 years.
This first novel in the trilogy runs to 424 pages, but I devoured them, and now I need to move on the next book.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the classic 1946 movie “Notorious”
May 10th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
The first film to be produced as well as directed by Alfred Hitchcock, this is striking for being both a taut espionage thriller and a moving romance. It has a wonderful cast, led by Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Raine in a triangular relationship in which each is both a spy and a lover. The film is black and white but the characterisations are far from it. The clever script was by Ben Hecht (who received an Academy Award nomination) and includes some sharp one-liners.
Set just after the Second World War, it was contemporary in depicting a German spy ring in Rio de Janeiro (although almost all the shooting was in studios) and featuring uranium (used in the the recent two atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese). This was the time of the restrictive Hays Code (1934-1968) and there is a wonderful scene in which Hitchcock overcomes the three-second limit on kissing with a clever series of cuts that enables a two-and-a-half-minute smooch.
As always with Hitchcock movies, there is some memorable cinematography and here one of the smartest sequences starts with a high and wide shot of a party in a mansion and then tracks down and in on a hand holding a key. The final shot of the film is neat and dramatic.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the new film “The Fall Guy”
May 7th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
This action comedy is a kind of homage to stunt performers, the unseen and unsung heroes of so many movies. It is very loosely based on the 1980s television series of the same name (the lead actor from that series, Lee majors, makes a cameo appearance in a mid-credits sequence) and the director David Leitch started his career in the business as a stunt performer. A fun fact is that the work features a Guinness World Record stunt for the most cannon rolls (eight and a half) performed in a car.
What attracted me to the film – and what will ensure it does well at the box office – is the casting of two of my favourite actors: Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. He is Colt Seavers, a seasoned stuntman who works as a stunt double for a famous action star, and she is Jody Moreno, a camerawoman who later obtains a debut directing role on an over-the-top movie called ‘Metalstorm’.
The script is rather silly, but there’s lots of action and humour and, of course, some romance plus a supportive dog and a lively soundtrack. It’s designed as a summer crowd-pleaser and it all makes for a popcorn movie – but I don’t eat popcorn.
I preferred the 1980 film “The Stuntman”.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)