Yes, please! I would love to hear detailed pushback! I had several Chinese people read the book before publication, and they seemed to feel that it was broadly authentic. For instance, Alexis Wu (historical linguist and translator) wrote “The scene-setting portions of every chapter taking place in China reveals an intimate familiarity with the cultures, habits, and tastes of the country in which I was raised, all displayed without the common pitfall that is the tendency to exoticize.”
Another of my early Chinese readers accused me of having a secret Chinese co-author, and described the book as “A strikingly authentic portrayal of AI in modern China — both visionary and grounded in cultural truth.”
That’s not to say I got everything right! You’re probably tracking things that I’m not. I just want to flag that I’m not just blindly guessing—I’m also checking with people who were born, raised, and live in China. Please help me understand what I and the other readers missed.
Talking about moral philosophy with your CCP boss in a genuine heart-to-heart, philosophical way is like, actually insane. Imagine reading a book where an American protagonist grabs a police officer’s gun from behind and the officer laughing and saying “ahh, that’s good old American CQB, my friend stranger, you won’t get me next time!” and then the two becoming fast friends after shouting racial slurs at each other in a McDonald’s for 20 minutes.
I would at least use after-work binge drinking to make it a bit more plausible.
Well, for one thing, your portrayal of China is inside a book. But the real China is much larger, perhaps several times physically larger than your book.
I would quibble and say that this is very much not an accurate depiction of China.
Yes, please! I would love to hear detailed pushback! I had several Chinese people read the book before publication, and they seemed to feel that it was broadly authentic. For instance, Alexis Wu (historical linguist and translator) wrote “The scene-setting portions of every chapter taking place in China reveals an intimate familiarity with the cultures, habits, and tastes of the country in which I was raised, all displayed without the common pitfall that is the tendency to exoticize.” Another of my early Chinese readers accused me of having a secret Chinese co-author, and described the book as “A strikingly authentic portrayal of AI in modern China — both visionary and grounded in cultural truth.”
That’s not to say I got everything right! You’re probably tracking things that I’m not. I just want to flag that I’m not just blindly guessing—I’m also checking with people who were born, raised, and live in China. Please help me understand what I and the other readers missed.
Talking about moral philosophy with your CCP boss in a genuine heart-to-heart, philosophical way is like, actually insane. Imagine reading a book where an American protagonist grabs a police officer’s gun from behind and the officer laughing and saying “ahh, that’s good old American CQB, my friend stranger, you won’t get me next time!” and then the two becoming fast friends after shouting racial slurs at each other in a McDonald’s for 20 minutes.
I would at least use after-work binge drinking to make it a bit more plausible.
Well, for one thing, your portrayal of China is inside a book. But the real China is much larger, perhaps several times physically larger than your book.
I would like to hear why you think so. Italics alone won’t convince me :)