(no subject)

[skygiants]

This is going to be a terrible booklog because I legitimately have nothing to say about Foundation, that Classic of American Science Fiction Etc.

Admittedly this is largely because I read it for that archiving apocalypse paper and so my experience of reading it went mostly like this:

HARI SELDON: In order to fight the coming apocalypse, I have decided to start an epic project of archiving ALL THE THINGS on a remote planet called Foundation!
BECCA: Great! This is super relevant to my thesis! Bring it on, Hari Seldon!
HARI SELDON: LOL no actually it turns out that was just my cunning scheme to get Foundation started. Nobody cares about archiving! ACTUALLY my cunning plan is to manipulate events from beyond the grave or something like that to rebuild civilization, blah blah religion as technology blah blah forces of history blah blah traders blah blah . . .
BECCA: . . . . . . oh. >.<


And then the rest of the book happened I guess and was sort of interesting as a thought experiment in historical theory if you like that kind of thing, but I was too busy being annoyed at the archiving bait-and-switch to care. So this may be a function of timing, but on the other hand, I did read Foundation once before, many years ago, and I didn't remember anything about it from that time either. Sorry, Isaac Asimov! I liked I, Robot!

Comments

[libitina]

Yes, I am reading Julia Child's My Life in France, and she talks about cataloging photographs and having to come up with her own system because there was no standard. And then she goes on to talk about cooking or something, without explaining her photograph cataloging standards.

[skygiants]

*high fives*

It's not our fault we're specialists with specialist interests!

[esmenet]

Just so you know, if I end up being an archivist it is entirely your fault.

[skygiants]

hahahaha noooooo don't tell me I'm having an effect on impressionable young minds! I WOULD HAVE TO STOP TALKING FOREVER. >.>

[esmenet]

I'm not that much younger than you! ...Okay, yes, I am, but I was probably already impressioned before you got to me. :D

[skygiants]

That is more reassuring. :D I mean what I should have said is BE AN ARCHIVIST, IT'S GREAT, which it is! Be impressioned by all the great archivists out there on the internet, because I totally am, still.

[jinian]

*falls down laughing*

[skygiants]

The sad thing is I have about four sentences to say about this classic and you know I'll have like ten pages to write on whatever terrible fantasy novel I read next.

[minkhollow]

I liked Foundation! Buuuuut more of the psychohistory stuff before the rest of it would have been good.
(Foundation and Empire gets more interesting when the plan goes completely off the rails. Er, spoilers?)

[skygiants]

Ha, no worries, I spoiled myself thoroughly after reading the first one, because I was vaguely curious about where it was going to go, but not . . . curious enough to acquire the rest of the books . . .

[batyatoon]

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA IS A LIE

[skygiants]

I would rather have had the cake ;_______;