It's Been a Good Life
In preparation for my vacation in the Adirondacks, Boyfriend had me read Isaac Asimov's (abridged) autobiography, It's Been a Good Life.
Apparently the owner of the house we stayed at actually knew Asimov,
though I didn't end up getting a chance to talk with him about how
awesome that must have been. So I read this book, which was edited down
by Asimov's second wife, Janet Jeppson.
Boyfriend had told me that it was a bit like Surely You Must Be Joking, Mr. Feynman, but with less science. And I did find that to be the case. It was a bunch of vignette's placed in loosely chronological order. Asimov discusses his atheism and humanism, which are points of view I agree with. He talks about how much he writes, which just blew me away. There's a line towards the end where says, "In those six years [since his heart attack], I had published about ninety books." The man wrote constantly, and he wrote everything. Wikipedia mentions that his work spans the entire Dewey Decimal Classification, with the exception of philosophy (though his writings on humanism probably qualify him for that category as well)
I mean, prolific is really the only word. The man wrote. And wrote. And wrote. Anything and everything. He has a lengthy mystery series, more non fiction than I can comprehend, and a stunning amount of short stories.
His style is pretty simple, too. The book itself was a pretty quick read, as was (Isaac's Favorite Essay) "The Last Question", which was included in the appendix. The essay was a fun look at the future. It begins shortly after humanity has harnessed the power of the sun and has abandoned fossil fuels and uranium. But even the sun won't last forever, so they set a computer to figure out what to do after all the stars have died. (Think Deep Thought, from Hitchhiker's Guide, only the answer isn't 42). Personally I don't think humanity will outlive the stars, even if we outlive Planet Earth, and I don't think we'll make it to other galaxies without finding some other form of life, like this story posits. But it was an fun little read with an interesting twist at the end.
Really, though, this man has blown me away. He's plain spoken and passionate, driven and knowledgeable. I really want to dive into some of his other work now. Of course, since there was a picture of him with a "partial selection of his published works" that was larger than my personal library, I can never hope to read all of them. But maybe I'll get around to the robot books or the Foundation series at some point. Or maybe I'll just track down a collection of essays.
Boyfriend had told me that it was a bit like Surely You Must Be Joking, Mr. Feynman, but with less science. And I did find that to be the case. It was a bunch of vignette's placed in loosely chronological order. Asimov discusses his atheism and humanism, which are points of view I agree with. He talks about how much he writes, which just blew me away. There's a line towards the end where says, "In those six years [since his heart attack], I had published about ninety books." The man wrote constantly, and he wrote everything. Wikipedia mentions that his work spans the entire Dewey Decimal Classification, with the exception of philosophy (though his writings on humanism probably qualify him for that category as well)
I mean, prolific is really the only word. The man wrote. And wrote. And wrote. Anything and everything. He has a lengthy mystery series, more non fiction than I can comprehend, and a stunning amount of short stories.
His style is pretty simple, too. The book itself was a pretty quick read, as was (Isaac's Favorite Essay) "The Last Question", which was included in the appendix. The essay was a fun look at the future. It begins shortly after humanity has harnessed the power of the sun and has abandoned fossil fuels and uranium. But even the sun won't last forever, so they set a computer to figure out what to do after all the stars have died. (Think Deep Thought, from Hitchhiker's Guide, only the answer isn't 42). Personally I don't think humanity will outlive the stars, even if we outlive Planet Earth, and I don't think we'll make it to other galaxies without finding some other form of life, like this story posits. But it was an fun little read with an interesting twist at the end.
Really, though, this man has blown me away. He's plain spoken and passionate, driven and knowledgeable. I really want to dive into some of his other work now. Of course, since there was a picture of him with a "partial selection of his published works" that was larger than my personal library, I can never hope to read all of them. But maybe I'll get around to the robot books or the Foundation series at some point. Or maybe I'll just track down a collection of essays.
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