Bookish Thoughts

I liked Isaac Asimov's I, Robot even more than Foundation , though I'm actually less excited to read the rest of the series. I remember reading somewhere that I, Robot and Foundation actually take place in the same universe, with one set in the near future and the other in the far (very far) future. I definitely had this impression reading the books, especially by the last chapter which seemed to be putting human civilization on track to achieve the Galactic Empire that's falling at the beginning of Foundation . But that could also just be Asimov's voice shining through when creating his version of a utopian society. I, Robot is somewhere between a novel and a collection of short stories. Each individual story is self-contained, but they're tied together by the advancement of robotics through the years and Dr. Susan Calvin's own life as a robopsychologist. The stories are ordered chronologically, and I really enjoyed seeing the scientists work ...

I've been meaning to read Asimov's work for a while now. Ever since I read his autobiography a couple of years ago, I've wanted to dig in to his fiction. So when my brother got me Foundation  for Christmas and my book club chose I, Robot  for March, I had the perfect opportunity to sample some of his work. Foundation  is truly epic in nature, following a civilization across several planets and over 100 years. I wish I'd had more time with some of the characters, but overall I liked the small glimpses we got at various points in human history. It's always interesting to read older science fiction, because it's fun to see what has and hasn't come to pass. In the case of this novel, humankind has achieved interplanetary travel and has managed to both terraform and settle most of the planets in the galaxy. But they never bothered to archive their knowledge in an easily accessible and searchable place. Looking at it today, it's a bit funny tha...

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 ...