What is human?" and contemporary issues in the novel "Variable version"

Who am I?

With Di Ban , young writer and engineer Nguyen Dinh Khoa returns to the novel genre. The book, published by Tre Publishing House, opens with a scene that is deeply imbued with the author's profession.

The character "I" - Phuc Giang - a bridge engineer, while inspecting the construction site of a cable-stayed bridge, had an accident where the scaffolding of the bridge pier collapsed. He fell into the river and fainted.

Unusual things begin to happen when Giang is saved by Frank - a genius scientist with extremist ideology.

Waking up and returning to normal life, the engineer was almost in a semi-conscious state. During that time, memories of his family and life in the countryside flooded back.

The afterimages of the past and the unanswered concerns about his loved ones made Giang yearn to find answers.

Cover of the book "Variation" (Photo: Tre Publishing House).

The truth about Giang's personality is gradually revealed and his scattered memories are pieced together when he meets EVIV - an asexually cloned individual.

From here, he enters another world - a modern and intelligent world created by Frank, to prepare a completely new team to replace humans on earth. A silent but fierce war is about to explode from here.

Variant - a story in a fantasy world that is not only about love, family and loss - inevitable things that everyone has to go through, like loneliness is the price we have to pay when we grow up.

This is also a story about the role and responsibility of humans to the world in which they live.

The author leads readers to face the challenges and consequences of the modern world such as war, environment, the development of artificial intelligence... in an emotional voice.

Humans are destroying the planet, so is "replacing humans" the solution? Once artificial intelligence can do more and more things like humans, or even better, what are the unique characteristics of humanity?

Those existential questions have been asked throughout human history, not only by philosophers, but by anyone at some point in their life.

The variant version shows Nguyen Dinh Khoa's perspective and answers to these issues.

Young author Nguyen Dinh Khoa (Photo: Tre Publishing House).

Will humans be replaced by "alien" species?

In the Different Version , the author sees human misfortunes: From the pain of a family whose young child drowned and went missing, leaving behind torment and devastation in those left behind.

The grief that drove the suicide of Du - a transgender girl. Until the greater pain, such as environmental destruction and the crisis of the definition of "what is human" when artificial intelligence develops strongly, creating a "copy" exactly like a human is no longer out of reach.

Will humans become extinct and be replaced by genetically modified "variants" that are superior and behave "perfectly"?

One of the problems that the work   This is also one of the things that affects young people today, especially the generation that has gone through the pandemic: Loneliness and lack of connection. Family members become "strangers under the same roof".

The book has a sci-fi tone, but going into detail about a future world doesn't seem to be the author's main purpose, but rather his way of stimulating the characters and readers to think:

"If humans act in ways that destroy themselves, no longer feel connected to those around them or to life; if artificial intelligence can develop its own reasoning… then what defines a human being?"

The author said that he conceived of Di Ban from a very simple idea: to write about the ultimate efforts of a person who had been mentally abused, wanting to reconnect with his loved ones.

"From the tragedy of a family, I put the character into the picture of the times: epidemics, the explosion of artificial intelligence to the prospect of human extinction.

We are losing the connection between people and people and between people and the living conditions around them. And in the midst of the world's changes, they learn lessons to survive and be understood," Dinh Khoa said.

Young literature book series of Tre Publishing House (Photo: Tre Publishing House).

Nguyen Dinh Khoa is a persistent young writer. His novel Solo Travel won the 6th Literature Award for 20-year-olds in 2018.

His works come from inner urges, bearing the mark of his own profession and knowledge, creating attraction and sympathy in readers.

Tre Publishing House publishes four titles by young domestic authors, in the direction of accompanying Vietnamese authors.

The four works include: Flying Camel by Vo Dang Khoa; Variant by Dinh Khoa; Two People in a Drawer by Phat Duong and A Place Without Snow by Huynh Trong Khang.

Source link: https://dantri.com.vn/van-hoa/the-nao-la-con-nguoi-va-nhung-van-de-thoi-dai-trong-truyen-dai-di-ban-20231218165711175.htm