I Bitch Nicely France
by wjw on October 10, 2023
When I mentioned in the last post that The Green Leopard Plague was reviewed in Le Monde, loyal reader Guillaume Jay retrieved the (rather short) review from the Bibliotek National, along with another, more comprehensive review from Liberátion, a translation of which I append below.
I used Google Translate, which broke the text into about 100 paragraphs, mostly sentence fragments, which I have tried to edit in HTML into something resembling the product of something other than a deranged mind. The result has a kind of surreal charm, and constitutes nearly-conclusive evidence that we writers need not fear artificial intelligence in the near future. Google’s AI seems to be a stoner.
Of the text’s many infelicities, grammatical atrocities, confusions of gender, and interjections of alien thought drawn from another universe, I’d like to correct only one. Google picked the wrong translation of “chef,” which would have you wondering why Michelle took a cook with her to the island.
Also: the “Rider’s Shot?”
Buckle in, it’s a bumpy ride. Here goes:
Find every Tuesday a
column, an interview or
a portrait linked to a text by
science fiction that makes the news. Today,
an American novella
Walter Jon Williams, who talks about love
and transgenic viruses.
Her name is Michelle, she works at height
hidden on a tree in the archipelago
of the Chelbacheb, to the east of the Philippines,
in a coral and tropical forest setting
and lakes. Mermaid today (with
wings), monkey Siamang yesterday, he is here
banal to offer new bodies.
Michelle plays investigator, snooping
in electronic archives using
of crawling spiders and software
recognition of people. “A
astonishing amount of this data had
survived the Light War – this
were not priority targets and,
if they had been affected, we had
put backup copies online.”
She is supplied by a chef
customary over 200 years old. Her
in love, dead, comes back regularly
harass her with her assiduities, after having
resurrected every time thanks to storage
of its data. Here, humans continue.
Formerly, in what corresponds
in our time, we would die, period. This is what we call a “real death”,
and when Michelle talks about it, we perceive it
all the value lost. And it’s reversal
of values – death, work,
famine – which the Plague also speaks of
green leopard.
Michelle’s sponsor, who works
to a biography of Jonathan
Terzian who designed the foundation
theory of their civilization, asked him
to investigate the period when he
disappeared for three weeks. When
he reappeared in Venice, rather than the
planned speech, the philosopher presented
the first version of its revolutionary
Cornucopia Theory.
What happened in the meantime? In a
beautifully exotic universe, centuries
of ours, Walter Jon Williams (Wired,
Plasma, the fall of the Shaa empire, the
Rider’s Shot), packed a thriller
quite classic: the murder of a
biochemist at Place Dauphine in Paris who
inaugurates a chase with
stupid thugs from
Transnistria, unrecognized microstate
after seceding from Moldova.
Terzian flees with Stephanie Pais,
the accomplice of the murdered biochemist,
Paris in Provence to Italy, accompanied by a mysterious sports bag black.
“Is this a weapon?” asked
he. She didn’t seem surprised at all.
“No, exactly the opposite.” She pulled
on his cigarette and exhaled a cloud of
smoke. “It’s an antidote. An antidote to
human madness.”
We learn that Moldova has worked on
a project entitled “Green Goret”, an attempt
to make pigs plump
parking them in the sun, inspired by autonomy
plantar. The bag actually contains
a biotech, solution to hunger in
the world, genetically modified virus
capable of allowing humans to
photosynthesize their food.
There novella oscillates between searches for
the mermaid and the story of Terzian and these
three blank weeks in his life which
changed the world… After a start
slow, it gains momentum, fomenting
a revolution thanks to an encounter which
will be the trigger. Michelle the Mermaid would explain it
by love.
Good novelist,
Walter Jon Williams won the Nebula
2005 for this text which is not missing
no humor either and who bitches nicely
France. “In France,” says Terzian, “
“intellectual” is a profession. He
it is not necessary to have a diploma,
It’s just an activity.”
Hmm. I took the review from here: and pasted it into Google Translate. My result was much better than yours:
After being a monkey, Michelle is now a mermaid hovering over the Micronesian corals. Because here, in this distant future where work, famine and death are nothing more than obscure relics, recombining one’s genome to adopt the most diverse appearance and abilities is commonplace. Long retractable wings and gills, therefore, for Michelle, who leads a peaceful existence in the Chelbacheb Islands. Until she began biographical research about a certain Jonathan Terzian, philosopher and author of the revolutionary Cornucopia Theory. A man who has been missing for centuries, but whose destiny seems linked to the first transgenic epidemic – the famous Green Leopard Plague having paved the way for this incredible future… What happened to Terzian and the woman who seemed to be his companion ? What does her theory posit, and how has her legacy shaped Michelle’s world? The price of knowledge is sometimes drastic. There is no doubt that the mermaid will have to do it… “Williams knows how science fiction can bring language to life. » New York Times Book Review The Plague of the Green Leopard, finalist for the 2004 Hugo Prize, is winner of the 2005 Nebula Prize
And here’s the first part of the Libération review https://www.liberation.fr/culture/livres/la-peste-du-leopard-vert-trois-semaines-qui-changerent-le-monde-20230919_PX6KKPXQVBEYLKLABRK7G4ZGD4/ (the rest is behind a paywall):
Every Tuesday, find a column, an interview or a portrait linked to a science fiction text that is in the news. Today, a novella by the American Walter Jon Williams, which talks about love and transgenic viruses.
Her name is Michelle, she works hidden high up on a tree in the Chelbacheb archipelago, in the east of the Philippines, in a setting of coral, tropical forest and lakes. Mermaid today (with wings), Siamang monkey yesterday, it is commonplace here to treat yourself to new bodies. Michelle plays investigator, snooping through electronic archives using spiders and people recognition software. “A surprising amount of this data had survived the Light War – they were not priority targets and, if they had been affected, backup copies had been put back online.” It is supplied by a traditional chief who is over 200 years old. Her dead lover comes back regularly to harass her with his attentions, after having been resurrected each time thanks to the storage of his data. Here, humans continue. In the past, in what corresponds to our time, we would die, period. This is what we call a “real death,” and when Michelle talks about it, we see all the lost value. And it is the reversal of values – death, work, famine – that the Plague of the Green Leopard also speaks of.
A mysterious black sports bag
Michelle’s sponsor, who is working on a biography of Jonathan Terzian who designed the theoretical foundation of their civilization, asked her to investigate the period when he disappeared for three weeks.
[Apparently submitting two comments in a row results in the disappearance of the first? Let me try again, combining both into one…]
Google Translate is doing a better job for me than it did for you. Here’s the Bibliotek review, followed by the first part of the Libération review (the rest is behind a paywall):
https://nouveautes-editeurs.bnf.fr/accueil?id_declaration=10000000903062&titre_livre=La_Peste_du_léopard_vert
After being a monkey, Michelle is now a mermaid hovering over the Micronesian corals. Because here, in this distant future where work, famine and death are nothing more than obscure relics, recombining one’s genome to adopt the most diverse appearance and abilities is commonplace. Long retractable wings and gills, therefore, for Michelle, who leads a peaceful existence in the Chelbacheb Islands. Until she began biographical research about a certain Jonathan Terzian, philosopher and author of the revolutionary Cornucopia Theory. A man who has been missing for centuries, but whose destiny seems linked to the first transgenic epidemic – the famous Green Leopard Plague having paved the way for this incredible future… What happened to Terzian and the woman who seemed to be his companion ? What does her theory posit, and how has her legacy shaped Michelle’s world? The price of knowledge is sometimes drastic. There is no doubt that the mermaid will have to do it… “Williams knows how science fiction can bring language to life. » New York Times Book Review The Plague of the Green Leopard, finalist for the 2004 Hugo Prize, is winner of the 2005 Nebula Prize
https://www.liberation.fr/culture/livres/la-peste-du-leopard-vert-trois-semaines-qui-changerent-le-monde-20230919_PX6KKPXQVBEYLKLABRK7G4ZGD4/
Every Tuesday, find a column, an interview or a portrait linked to a science fiction text that is in the news. Today, a novella by the American Walter Jon Williams, which talks about love and transgenic viruses.
Her name is Michelle, she works hidden high up on a tree in the Chelbacheb archipelago, in the east of the Philippines, in a setting of coral, tropical forest and lakes. Mermaid today (with wings), Siamang monkey yesterday, it is commonplace here to treat yourself to new bodies. Michelle plays investigator, snooping through electronic archives using spiders and people recognition software. “A surprising amount of this data had survived the Light War – they were not priority targets and, if they had been affected, backup copies had been put back online.” It is supplied by a traditional chief who is over 200 years old. Her dead lover comes back regularly to harass her with his attentions, after having been resurrected each time thanks to the storage of his data. Here, humans continue. In the past, in what corresponds to our time, we would die, period. This is what we call a “real death,” and when Michelle talks about it, we see all the lost value. And it is the reversal of values – death, work, famine – that the Plague of the Green Leopard also speaks of.
A mysterious black sports bag
Michelle’s sponsor, who is working on a biography of Jonathan Terzian who designed the theoretical foundation of their civilization, asked her to investigate the period when he disappeared for three weeks.
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