:eye:I have mixed feelings about this first chapter. As a reader of the book, I'm not sure if that has worked against me. Let me explain.:eye:
While we find many similarities between this chapter and the book, such as the Cultural Revolution:red_circle: , which is vital to understanding Ye Wenjie, the sense of conspiracy surrounding the scientific deaths, and the protagonist's countdown, for some reason it feels rushed.
From my perspective, as I've mentioned, things happen too quickly. In the book, there comes a point where the author provides us with a lot of information through details, dialogues, and descriptions, but also makes us feel paranoid and tense in a certain way. :eyes:This is something I didn't experience while watching the series. The direction and pace, as well as the dialogue, don't convey much to me.
For example, when Ye Wenjie is imprisoned, in the book, we see how she suffers and is 'tortured' to some extent in her confinement. We witness her anger and also how she gives in, how much is taken from her. This is somewhat alleviated when she sees the government agent who seems kind, regaining hope, but she loses it again when she is tortured again with ice water.
There's a subtext, there's something more, that the series and those involved in it fail to capture, and I don't mean just how simplified it feels for people who are not part of the academic-scientific or science fiction world to understand.
Another thing that strikes me as strange is that most of the important characters who are obviously of Chinese origin become people of color or Latinx. I don't understand how they're going to resolve this, considering that in the novel, this is really important, as they even gave us the part about the Cultural Revolution. It's not bothersome, but it's weird.
Not seeing a character like Wang Miao, who is central to most of the book, or not feeling the despicable Da Shi, given how quickly everything happens, and the revelation of the flickering universe, feels even stranger.
As I mentioned, I have mixed feelings, but it's only the first chapter. We'll see if it picks up...
