NPQiYBM/Asimov

[cahn]

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

Anyone who does not know that this quotation is from Isaac Asimov should go and read a book of his in penance. I've been rereading a bunch of his stuff lately, mostly because I had a cold and was not feeling up to anything less readable, and whatever else you might say about him Asimov is very easy to read.

I had never actually read his robot mystery novels before (though I've read every single one of the robot stories), and the first two are really quite good (in, of course, a Golden Age sort of way-- don't expect psychodrama), though I figured out the killer in the first book after the first third of the book. I have always loved the Black Widower mystery short stories (joyce, you might like these -- they are short and sweet and usually pretty upbeat), though they vary widely in quality. I love them honestly for the afterwords more than anything else. Which realization started me on reading his autobiography (I, Asimov, though there are three others), which is just really charming. Asimov sounds like he was a delightful person, and I am annoyed that he left us after only 300 (!) books.

Off to Yosemite for this weekend, yay! hope the weather is nice *crosses fingers*

Comments

[julianyap.livejournal.com]

Actually, more like 500. Back in high school till just after college I did my level best to collect all the Asimov I could. I ended up with all his fiction (over 100 books) and a lot of non-fiction and tapped out at about 170.

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

Ah, I was misled by the appearance of "Opus 300" in his book collection. But that was back in 1984!

I think I might have to expand our Asimov collection now, although I am unfortunately a little old for some of the science nonfiction.

[ase.livejournal.com]

I was surprised to find that, after slogging through the Foundation trilogy because it's a classic of the genre, I actually liked The Caves of Steel on its own merits

I, Asimov is charming. If I were reading it today, I'd go out and get other, overlapping biographies of different people for the parallax view, but it's certainly entertaining. Asimov was lucky enough to what he wanted to do with his life: write.

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I also found the Foundation books much more of a slog than the robot novels (Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw are just much more engaging characters!) -- I did like the first book quite a lot, since it was about a lot of different ideas, but the next ones seemed to be based on one or two different ideas, which didn't work as well for me.

Hmm. That's a good idea, about the overlapping biographies. I constantly have to remind myself when reading autobiographies (and to some extent with biographies) that the author has his own set of biases and preconceptions that aren't necessarily true.

[ase.livejournal.com]

I really liked The Caves of Steel, sort of liked the sequel, and don't remember a thing about the third other than the cover. So it was likely very forgettable.

I constantly have to remind myself when reading autobiographies (and to some extent with biographies) that the author has his own set of biases and preconceptions that aren't necessarily true.

You and me both. It's why I would like to blitz areas of interest: get as many sides to the story as possible, to build the most rigorous picture of events. Unfortunately, finding multiple high-quality sources covering something is hard, and the less quality nonfiction gets boring fast. Bringing this back to Asimov, one reads his autobiography I, Asimov where he talks about his feelings about dying without ever mentioning he was dying from AIDS-related complications. That came out about a decade after his death, and I think it changes one's perspective a bit. (And in my case, it's a very different experience reading Asimov on death at 17, when death is mostly an abstract, and getting more information at 25, when one has more life experience.)

Anyway. I blather on in comments.

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

I blather on in comments.

And I never do that! :)

I remember when it came out about Asimov having had AIDS, and I don't think it changed my view of Asimov particularly (though it does inform my reading of the last bit of I, Asimov), but I remember it dramatically changing my view of AIDS (with the arrogance of youth, before that I had always thought of it as "something you can avoid with sufficient forethought" - but sometimes forethought isn't enough).

I liked the first two robot novels quite a lot. The third was admittedly a great deal more forgettable. The robots in Robots and Empire were still really cute and so I like that one too.

[ase.livejournal.com]

with the arrogance of youth, before that I had always thought of it as "something you can avoid with sufficient forethought" - but sometimes forethought isn't enough

I think there's a generation gap there. By the time I was bringing home parental permission forms for sex ed, HIV was part of the cultural background. Rent opened when I was in middle school. We have always had AZT. Antibiotics were never guaranteed to cure your infection. Anyway. I read And the Band Played On recently, and it was very affecting, especially because I made a point of googling Asimov right after I finished it. I've spent seven years hanging out with SF fans and no one bothered to mention this to me? I remain more upset than warranted.

I don't remember a thing about Robots and Empire except maybe the cover? I liked mid-Asimov more than the later books, where all series were tied into one universe. At some point I need to find some of his nonfiction and see if it's aged well.