charlene ([info]charlie_ego) wrote,
@ 2009-02-20 07:58:00
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NPQiYBM/Asimov
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 ([info]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*



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[info]ase
2009-02-26 04:34 am UTC (link)
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.

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