Perhaps in ten thousand years, the starry sky that humankind gazes upon will remain empty and silent. But perhaps tomorrow we'll wake up and find an alien spaceship the size of the Moon parked in orbit.
Liu CixinRead
I am a conventional science fiction author. But that said, once your work is published, it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the readers and they will derive all sorts of interpretations.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Once published, a work of art takes on a life of its own, belonging to its audience.
Liu Cixin highlights the transformative nature of literature and art, emphasizing that once a creator shares their work with the public, it becomes open to interpretation by others. This idea reflects the dynamic relationship between authors and readers, where the audience's perceptions may diverge significantly from the author’s original intentions.
Themes
InterpretationOwnershipScience FictionAudienceArt
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on literary interpretation, this quote could showcase the shift of ownership from writer to reader.
More from Liu Cixin
All quotes →In the century-long history of Chinese science fiction, apocalyptic themes were mostly absent. This was especially true in the period before the 1990s, when Chinese science fiction, isolated from the influence of the West, developed on its own.
Liu CixinRead
The main difficulty is finding an idea that really excites me. We live in an age when miracles are no longer miracles, and science and the future are losing their sense of mystery. For science fiction, or at least the type of science fiction I write, this development is almost fatal, but I'm still giving it all I've got.
Liu CixinRead
I'm absolutely positive about human survival. We will continue to develop our civilisation and expand not just on Earth, but also across the solar system, the galaxy, even the entire universe.
Liu CixinRead
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