Rebecca F. Kuang on National Literatures, Book Publishing, and History in Fiction | CWT
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- Rebecca F. Kuang just might change the way you think about fantasy and science fiction. Known for her best-selling books Babel and The Poppy War trilogy, Kuang combines a unique blend of historical richness and imaginative storytelling. At just 27, she’s already published five novels, and her compulsion to write has not abated even as she's pursued advanced degrees at Oxford, Cambridge, and now Yale. Her latest book, Yellowface, was one of Tyler’s favorites in 2023.
She sat down with Tyler to discuss Chinese science-fiction, which work of fantasy she hopes will still be read in fifty years, which novels use footnotes well, how she'd change book publishing, what she enjoys about book tours, what to make of which Chinese fiction is read in the West, the differences between the three volumes of The Three Body Problem, what surprised her on her recent Taiwan trip, why novels are rarely co-authored, how debate influences her writing, how she'll balance writing fiction with her academic pursuits, where she'll travel next, and more.
Recorded September 15, 2023
Transcript and links: conversationsw...
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Image credit: John Packman
Brilliant conversationalist
Re: Folding Beijing: What about China Mieville's The City & The City?
I thought City in the City too, but haven't read Folding Bejing so I wasn't sure it applied.
Spoilers starting around time 25:30 - though perhaps most people have already read this haha
Couldn't listen to this because of her voice. Sorry. May check her literature out though!
What?
One of the most disappointing MR podcasts I've listened to.
It felt like Kuang came in unprepared for Cowen's style and spent the whole interview on the defensive. Just a lot of "I don't know"'s and rote answers, if I didn't know her background I'd never guess she was an accomplished author with academic credentials.
If she doesn't know then she should say she doesn't know. It's not her job to have an interesting answer to questions she doesn't know he's going to ask her. I too answer with "I don't know" when I don't have an opinion on a thing.
I honestly had a starkly different impression, I don't know the interviewer and I thought he centered himself too much. Kuang’s calm and dignified evasion of obvious provocations such as “it’s different for a woman” and “the benefits of being colonized” impressed me. I was further surprised when Kuang didn't name dodging conflict as one of her takeaways from her debating years, so didn’t reinforce things we could observe, sharing something more personal and unique instead.
Wow that’s so weird CONCEPTUALLY that you heard her in such a way