Book Review: Ball Lightning by Cixin Liu

Chinese author Cixin Liu wrote a trilogy of science fiction novels called, Remembrance of Earth's Past. The trilogy showed up on Barrack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg's list of worthwhile books, and it is also hands down my favorite science fiction story of all time.

Cixin Liu's trilogy is a cerebral, scientific mystery, and it covered a lot of scientific and philosophical grounds. In 2018, a prequel to the trilogy, titled, Ball Lightning, was translated and made available to the English speaking world. Ball Lightning is a stand-alone story, but this time around Cixin Liu explored a different set of questions; the questions about the values of pure theoretical versus practical research, and more importantly, the ethical question - should scientific research advance at the cost of everything else?

The book is an atmospheric mystery, based on a real but unexplained phenomenon called ball lightning. This phenomenon is usually associated with thunderstorms and it is potentially dangerous.

The story began when a teenage boy, Chen, witnessed a horrific incident, where ball lightning reduced his parents to ashes. The accident took place at Chen's 14^th birthday party,  and it deeply affected Chen. He developed an obsession with the phenomenon, dedicating his life and career researching these curious balls of electricity. Early in Chen's career, his ball lightning research was going no where, mostly because it was expensive and often deemed impractical. However, later on Chen met an young army major, Lin Yun, who was toying with the idea of weaponizing ball lightning. Chen and Lin, an inquisitive scientist and a goal-drive army officer, teamed up to solve the mystery of ball lightning, with the end goal of turning it into a weapon. But the duo's differing natures soon caused tensions in their partnerships, but they made progress nevertheless, especially with an international war breeding in the background.

To write this book review I did some additional readings about ball lightning. It turned out, in comparison to the 1960s, today ball lightning is a widely accepted phenomenon by the scientific community even though it remains unexplained. There is even a photo from 2014, showing the light spectrum of ball lightning, captured by a high speed camera in Lanzhou. I thought it was astounding a mystery which was almost deemed paranormal half a century ago is now a confirmed phenomenon and under investigation in the scientific field; it reminds me of a quote from Arthur C. Clarke - "Magic is just science that we don't understand yet".

Ball Lightning is a prequel to Liu's beloved trilogy. While the trilogy was ambitious and the scope was immense, encompassing the past, the present, and the future, Ball Lightning is set in the present day only and it iis much smaller in scope. However, this book is as suspenseful and brilliant as ever. The most dramatic moments in the book are all about scientific discoveries, but Cixin Liu still build tension and instilled suspense into these moments, because the story has a philosophical backdrop, one that centred on the reckless pursuit of knowledge, and how these characters' indifference to real life consequences which ultimately lead to something that threatened to destroy the world.

The story in Liu's novel is about solving the riddle of ball lightning, and the phenomenon itself is also the story's antagonist. This is a very interesting choice for the plotting, considering it is rare to find a science fiction story where the climax is about a discovery of science itself. Furthermore, I also appreciated Cixin Liu's prospective manner in exploring the interface between science and philosophy, it offers the western readers a different angle to examine these topics and it is refreshing.

Ball Lightning also explores the origin story for Professor Ding Yi, who is a key character from the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. Ding Yi's origin story gave us some insights into his character. Without spoiling the story too much, there is a very big discovery at end of the book, and it sets up the stage for the first book in the trilogy, The Three Body Problem.

This book touched on interesting philosophies, and although the book is speculative fiction, but the author did offer a very interesting solution to the mystery of ball lightning. I will not spoil what this solution entails, but let me just say it involves thinking outside the box, beyond the traditional thinking pattern of "cause and effect". In the book's afterwords Cixin Liu said the solution is purely his own extrapolations (and he is writing speculative fictions after all), so if one day scientists do manage to answer the mystery of ball lightning, then the solution is unlikely to resemble the one from his book. But hey, the stuff about ball lightning is cutting edge, and it would be kind of cool if his "speculations" turn out to be true, and so quoting from Cixin Liu's afterword: "It's the seemingly unlikeliest of possibilities in science fiction stories that tend to become reality, so in the end, who knows?

Ball Lightning is a great science-fiction novel. If you like Arthur C. Clarke or movies like 2001 Space Odyssey, then do yourself a favor and check out this book.

A Book Review: Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth

A couple of days ago I visited the local library, and a little white book grabbed my attention; in the middle of its front cover was an eye staring at me. The title read, Black Klansman.

"What is this?" I picked up the book and started examining it. My interest piqued as I laid my eyes on the synopsis:

"The incredible true story of a black detective at the center of an undercover investigation to infiltrate the KKK...."

A black detective who went undercover and infiltrated the KKK? How is this possible? How did he do it? I immediately borrowed the book, because I needed to sate my curiosity.

The book is a memoir of one Ron Stallworth, a detective from Intelligence Unit based in the Colorado Springs Police Department. He was the first black detective in the history of the department. Ron's undercover investigations into the KKK began in 1978, when he responded to an ad which read:

Ku Klux Klan

For Information Contact

P.O. Box 4771

Security, Colorado

80230

The book is quite small and I finished it in 2 days. The subject matter is fascinating, I particularly enjoyed reading the bits, about how Ron ran his undercover investigations by duping the KKK Grand Wizard and his cohorts, and they never knew he was a black man. Those bits were comedic and I thought Ron was very smart. I also found Ron's experiences, about the racial tension at the time, interesting and thought provoking. I mean, it is not like racism is no longer a problem in 2018, so what he experienced and witnessed in the past are still relevant today. In fact, the author mentioned in the foreword, that the current political climate in the US prompted his decision to come out and write this book.

However, despite the interesting topic, I thought Black Klansman is not well written. For the most part the book is very dry. The book is only 180 pages, but it is slow moving. The middle section, in particular, was such a slog that I contemplated giving up the book. I think the author was trying not to embellish his accounts so he could accurately depict the past. While his efforts to stay faithful to the true event are commendable, but why must the narratives be so dull?

When I finished this book, my feeling about it was mixed. On the one hand, Black Klansman is worth reading for the subject matter alone. However on the other hand, this book is not a good read because the narratives are monotonous. I guess if you find the topic compelling, then Black Klansman might worth your while. However, if you are the sort of reader who needs a book to be engaging, then you probably want to skip this one. Apparently there is a movie adaptation for the book, but I have not seen the movie so I cannot comment on the movie or how it may differ from the book. But if you are interested in Ron's story and want a faithful retelling of it, then the book might be the way to go, provided you don't mind the dry narratives.

My top 20 favorite horror movies of all time - Part II: 10-1

October = horror movie time. Let me continue the list for my top 20 favorite horror movies of all time. In Part I of the list, I talked about number 20 to 11. In Part II, I will be discussing my top 10. So hang on tight, for we are about to descend even deeper into the world of high strangeness.

Number 10: Psycho (1960)

Alfred Hitchcock is an iconic director, and Psycho is among his finest works, where he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. These days there are a lot of movies about psychotic killers, but Psycho is arguably the grandfather of the genre, and it is often considered one of the greatest films ever made. Psycho is shot in black and white. The story has tension and suspense, and it is a fascinating journey into the mind of a psychotic killer. You cannot call yourself a movie buff until you have seen this one. I mean, what sort of movie buff hasn't seen the iconic "shower scene" from Psycho?

P.S. Psycho is also the first American movie to show a flushing toilet on screen.

Number 9: Hereditary (2018)

I love A24 movies, their films often feel a bit Indie and arthouse, but still mainstream enough to keep the audiences entertained and grounded. While A24 is also famous for movies such as Room, Ex Machina, and The Disaster Artist, but I think they do horror movies especially well.

Indeed, horror, oh horror! Hereditary sent a shiver down my neck. The director of this film has a very good understanding of fear and what it means to be terrified. This movie doesn't use jump scares, instead it uses the psychological effects of "seen" and "unseen" to terrify the audience. Often it is not what you can see that terrifies you, but it is when you are unsure if you just saw what you think you saw, that terrifies you. So many scenes in this movie made me wonder if I saw something at the corner of the screen, or if my eyes were playing tricks on me. And it was a scary experience! The acting in Hereditary is superb, and the story is very clever. This movie has a very strong opening chapter, but it is not ranked higher on my list because I think the cleverness of the first half forced the 2^nd half into answering too many questions. In other words, Hereditary is a horror masterpiece, but it is a bit too clever for its own good. Some critics compare this movie to The Exorcist, and I think this is a bad comparison, because Hereditary is NOTHING like The Exorcist. So you are bound to disappointment if you walk into this movie and expecting to see something like The Exorcist. No, instead just watch Hereditary for what it is, don't even watch the trailers, and I promise it will terrify and surprise you for two hours.

Number 8: The Shining (1980)

At my number 8 is another Stephen King adaptation, The Shining. This movie is directed by the famous Stanley Kubrick, and it has had an enormous influence on pop and movie culture. But this movie is even more controversial since Stephen King famously hated the movie adaptation; "a creator who hated his own creation" (quoting Ready Player One). I haven't read the novel, so I can't comment on the difference between the book and the film, but I have seen this film a couple of times and I love it because it is unsettling and disturbing. The horror in The Shining is strangely effective, because it makes you wonder whose perception of the events you should trust. One cannot help but walk away from this film with a sense of uncertainty, about what is real and what is not.

Number 7: Jaws (1975)

Sharks probably don't act like they do in Jaws, but the movie is a symbol of the cinematic history nevertheless. Steven Spielberg directed Jaws, and he build tension and suspense into the film by famously refraining from showing the whole shark until the very end. Many monster movies have since borrowed from this method, but none are as effective at producing this sort of elevated horror. This movie is very, very, re-watchable, and more than 40 years after its release, the special effects, especially the shark, still looks great, and at time it looks even more realistic than modern-day CGI. But the strengths in Jaws is not just the shark, but it is also the characters. The audiences will root for the characters because they are very well-written, and this makes the final showdown, between the shark and the three heroes, really intense. Jaws is not just a great horror movie, but it is an all-round great movie.

Number 6: The Exorcist (1973)

Almost every religion in the world has stories about demonic possessions and exorcisms. When you read the religious texts, you get the feeling in the old days the strange and the macabre were the daily norm. However, if you talk to modern-day religious folks, the chances you will find them believing in the supernatural activities in the scriptures, without applying scientific skepticism. However, you will also find them disbelieving a present day supernatural claim when they encounter one, because they will suddenly examine the modern-day claims with scientific skepticism. It is easy to see the inconsistency there; it is almost as if modern-day religious people are finding it hard to reconcile their faith with reason, or, just how far, they should trust reason. Some religious people would even assert that believe in a god makes reason more accountable, without realizing they are shooting themselves in the foot because the supernatural activities, residing at the core of their beliefs, are not necessarily explainable by reason.

It looks like some modern-day religious people would love think their beliefs can be completely rationalized, such that their belief can appear more acceptable and up-to-date in the age of science and technology. But is that attainable? Well, William Blatty's best-selling novel, The Exorcist, explores this question. Blatty is a Catholic, and he wrote the novel with the intention to "bring people back to the church". It suffices to say the novel was great, and its movie adaptation became so famous it is almost synonymous to the horror genre itself. The story in The Exorcist presents an ironic situation, where an atheist was ready to believe and seeking out a priest's help because she experienced demonic activities, but the church priest, highly attuned to scientific skepticism, palmed her back to the doctors instead because he was skeptical about her experiences. Ha! What has the world come to! So if the devil is real, and his power is deception, then I wonder who was deceived by the devil? And may I suggest that is the real horror in The Exorcist. Anyway, I am a skeptic of religion and paranormal activities, but I wholeheartedly agree with what William Blatty was saying in The Exorcist. What a thought-provoking story!

Number 5: The Devil's Backbone (2001)

Guillermo del Toro is most famous for movies like Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, and The Shape of Water. But my favorite movie from him is a Spanish language horror film called The Devil's Backbone. This movie is a real gem and I am surprised it is not more widely known. The story took place during the Spanish Civil War, in an orphanage. The protagonists in this movie are the orphans, and the movie itself is as much a period drama as a horror film. This is a ghost movie, but unlike the many ghost movies out there, the ghost here is a metaphor to emotions and memories of people and places. There is a quiet beauty and a profound sadness about this movie. I have re-watched this movie many times and I never get tired of it. 

Number 4: A Quiet Place (2018)

A Quiet Place treads a fine line between horror and thriller, and it is currently my favorite movie of 2018. This movie, as its name suggests, is almost a silent film. It has a simple premise about a family trying to survive a monster apocalypse. A Quiet Place is the most action-packed movie on this list, but it is more of a family drama than a monster flick. This movie also explores how "making sound" is essential to our humanity; in our daily lives we make sounds to express ourselves and our range of emotions, and this movie investigates an interest concept, of how, the inability to make sound can affect our very being. This movie has an original story and it provides movie goers with a breath of fresh air from movie franchises and cinematic universes.

Number 3: Let the Right One In (2008)

What do you get when you mix vampires with romance? I can see raised eyebrows already because you are thinking of Twilight. Well, unfortunately the cheese known as Twilight has become the symbol for vampire romance movies, but there are some excellent romantic horror movies if you know where to look. Take, Let the Right One In, for example. This movie is number 3 on my list. This is a Swedish movie and it is critically acclaimed. The story's premise involves a teenage boy falling in love with a vampire girl, but the movie was really about dealing with bullies, exclusion, and isolation, as an outsider. This movie is slow moving, and it is more arthouse than mainstream, but it is beautiful rendition of story, sound, and cinematography.

P.S. I heard there is an American remake of the film. I haven't seen the remake yet but I am skeptical of movie remakes. So I am sticking to the original.

Number 2: The Thing (1982)

The Thing, directed by John Carpenter, is in my opinion the most suspenseful horror movie of all time. This is because even when the credit rolls you are still wondering who was the "thing". I believe this movie took some inspirations from H.P. Lovecraft's horror novella, "At the Mountain of Madness", and the story is set in the frozen tundra of Antarctica, where an unknown organism, one capable of absorbing another's DNA and then replicating its appearance, threatened to replace the entire research crew with itself. This movie will keep you guessing at who is "the thing" for 2 hours, and it is a fun ride. Out of all horror movies on this list I rewatch The Thing the most, and every time I watch it I get the same thrill and suspense. This one is a timeless classic.

Number 1: The Witch (2015)

At the very top of my list is The Witch, and it is also the least mainstream horror movie out of the lots. This movie is arthouse horror, and it is (again) distributed by A24. The Witch is a slow burn and it does not employ jump scare tactics. Instead, the horror resides in the mounting dread and tension. The story is set in New England, and the year was 1630. A very religious family, who were in exile, found a new land and they settled on it. However, strange happenings led them to believe the devil was at works. Everything in this movie feels real; the characters spoke like from the King James bible, the huts were built with real mud and bricks, and the costumes were hand-woven. The authenticity is in the details. The feature has a humble runtime of 90 minutes. The movie briefly showed one or two scenes of supernatural stuff, but the atmosphere became more suspenseful and dreadful as the movie went on. It kept me guessing if the family's ordeals were from the external or self-inflicted.

However, the most horrifying aspect in The Witch isn't the witch. No, the horror is where the audience, watching on in shock and horror, at this family's tragic descent into madness and despair because of their obsession with the idea of sin, which caused them to unleash this religious terror upon themselves. This is even more horrifying considering the sort of belief shown in the film is an accurate depiction of the deeply Calvinistic belief at the time. This is a multi-layered, and powerful story, unsettling and dreadful. Furthermore, this movie is shot in a very interesting aspect ration at 1.66:1, where most images are greyish or with strong contrasts between black and white. The movie sets a dreadful and hopeless tone and the cinematography enhances it. The Witch may not be everyone's cup of tea because it is arthouse and not action packed, but I love it for the eerie atmosphere, realism, and the thought-provoking story. This is why The Witch grabs the top spot as my favorite horror movie of all time.

This brings me to the conclusion of the list. Thank you for reading. I hope you discovered some new movies. What are your favorite horrors? You are welcomed to comment below and let me know.

My top 20 favorite horror movies of all time - Part I: 20-11

October is the time to watch horror movies, so prepare yourself for a descent into the world of high strangeness! What are your favorite horror movies? Some people like horror movies with zombies and maniacs running around with murderous chainsaws, you know, the sort of stuff that use jump scares, blood, and gore to make people scream. But I prefer psychological horrors and macabre stories, the sort of movies which will make you think. I have compiled a list for the 20 horror movies I like the most. 

The list consists of two parts, and the ranking is in ascending order. Part I is from 20 to 11, where Part II will be the top 10. The list is a reflection of my personal preference for the genre. Perhaps from my list you will find a few movies to intrigue you on a rainy night.

Number 20: Attack the Block (2011)

Who knew, a story about aliens invading a block of units could be so entertaining! Attack the Block is a small budget horror movie with a splash of comedy in it. This movie is a cult classic, and it is the kind of movie I would watch on a late Friday night. The story follows a gang of hoodlums, as they struggled to survive an alien invasion in the apartment complex they live in. Attack the Block is a genre-bending film with a fun story, and the special effects are pretty great too, which is even more impressive considering the small budget.

Number 19: IT (2017)

A number of Stephen King's novels have seen movie adaptations, and IT is one of my favorites. There are two motion picture adaptations for IT; a TV series from 1990, and a recent movie in 2017. I think the 2017 movie is better than the TV series. The story is about a bunch of kids growing up and facing their deepest fears, where the monster, Pennywise, is a physical manifestation of all their fears. However, the best thing about this movie is not the scary clown, but the kids themselves. I mean, even if Pennywise was removed from this movie, leaving a story only about the kids, it would still be just as good.

Number 18: The Wicker Man (1973)

The Wicker Man? The one starring Nicholas Cage? No no, I am not talking about the disastrous 2006 remake which starred Nicholas Cage. I am talking about the original from 1973, a British horror/mystery movie inspired by a novel called "Ritual". The Wicker Man takes an interesting peek into cults and belief systems. There is no supernatural element in this movie, but it is terrifying nevertheless because it uses paranoia so well. The Wicker Man is one of the finest horror movies I have ever seen.

Number 17: The Conjuring (2013)

The recent years brought us a movie franchise, based on the (allegedly true) stories of Ed and Lorraine Warren, who were paranormal investigators and Christian exorcists. There are now 5 or 6 movies in this franchise, but I like The Conjuring the most. I remain skeptical of the paranormal and supernatural activities, but The Conjuring is genuinely terrifying and suspenseful. This movie may have dramatized the effects of demonic activities and Christian exorcisms, but what surprised me is that many religious people are also skeptical of Ed and Lorraine Warren's stories. I mean, only a few hundred years ago this stuff was the fabric in the everyday life of religious people, and these things were also recorded in their holy scriptures. However, nowadays when religious people encounter modern-day possession and exorcism stories they don't believe it, instead they usually examine the modern-day claims through the lens of scientific skepticism. This made me wonder, why aren't present-day religious people applying the same scientific skepticism they used on the modern-day claims, to also examine the claims in their holy scriptures? Their positions seem inconsistent to me. I mean, if they don't believe in the present day stories then they have even less reason to believe in the ones from antiquities.  

Number 16: Alien (1979)

The best movies in the Alien franchise, are the first two movies. But the first one, Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, is a sci-fi/horror masterpiece. But where, or who, is the horror in Alien? Is it the Xenomorph? Well, if you think about it, being locked up in a spaceship with a Xenomorph is no more terrifying than being locked up in a cage with a lion or a pack of wolves. But that is not "horror". So where is the horror? I believe, Alien is influenced by the philosophy of Cosmicism. This is a literary philosophy invented by author H.P. Lovecraft and it is the very heart for the famous Cthulhu mythos. I was not a big Alien fan until I discovered the philosophical connection between the movie and the Lovecraftian horrors, then suddenly I saw Alien in a new light, with a newfound sense of appreciation.

Number 15: The Gift (2015)

Are the things we say to each other just words? Take a look at a movie called The Gift. This is a psychological horror movie made with a very small budget. If I tell you anything more about the movie then I will spoil it, so let me just say The Gift is a damn good movie. There is no supernatural element in this movie, and there is no blood and no gore. This movie has a very clever story. Don't watch any trailers for The Gift, just pick up this movie and watch it, and it will surprise you, with two hours of suspense and mystery.

Number 14: The Babadoook (2014)

The Babadook is an Australian psychological horror movie. This movie was made with a very small budget. The Babadook feels a bit Indie and arthouse. It is quite scary and I love it. The first time I watched The Babadook I was cowering behind a blanket and a cushion. The story follows a widowed mother, who was raising her 6 year old son alone. Her son began to display strange behaviors and it drove her to the brink of exhaustion. This movie successfully made the audience wonder if the characters were experiencing an imagined event or a genuine supernatural episode, and it was intense and suspenseful. The Babadook is a prime example of good Australian film making, and it also showcases what good acting and a good story can achieve with a small budget.

Number 13: Get Out (2017)

Get Out is a psychological horror movie, but it is also a little bit comedic because it is a satire and a social commentary. This movie received the Oscar award for the best original screenplay, which is extraordinary for a horror movie! I mean, how often do we see the judges on Oscar handing out an award to a horror movie? Not very often, right? I think this movie deserves the critical acclaims, because it is very clever, and it offers a thought provoking story, one you have never seen before.

Number 12: The Mist (2007)

At number 12 is another adaptation of Stephen King's novel. I believe there is a more recent TV series adaptation for The Mist but it is poorly received. Anyway, I am not talking about the TV series, I am talking about the 2007 movie adaptation, The Mist. 

The premise of the story is quite simple, a mist of unknown origin suddenly invaded a small town, and the residents found themselves besieged by mysterious assailants in the mist. This movie has multiple interpretations, and its ending will punch you in the gut, for it has the most horrifying conclusion to a movie I have ever seen. However, I think the ending also sends a powerful message, and although it deviates from the novel, but even Stephen King himself said he wished he could have come up with that ending. Does this sound interesting to you? Make sure you check out The Mist.

Number 11: Rosemary's Baby (1967)

Rosemary's Baby, directed by Roman Polanski, is an adaptation of a novel of the same name. I like both the movie and the novel, and it is also worth mentioning the movie is a very faithful adaptation of the book. The story follows a young woman, Rosemary, who, together with her husband, just moved into a posh apartment in New York. The young couple encountered very friendly neighbors, but soon Rosemary discovered something is amiss about their new friends. The horror in Rosemary's Baby is the sense of paranoia. The movie keeps the audience guessing if Rosemary's ordeals were real or the products of her own imaginations. The story is also a commentary about control and women's health. Rosemary's Baby is an icon in the horror genre, and it is worth checking out if you haven't seen it yet.

This covers number 20 to 11. But what about the top 10? Gentle readers, stay tuned for Part II, where I will continue and list my top 10 favorite horror movies of all time.

Until then, happy haunting!