Foundation (Foundation, #1) in Reading the Classics

May 11, 2018 Ahtims rated it did not like it

Shelves: series-part-of-a, paperback-hardback, scifi-utopia-dystopia

Finished my most boring book so far in 2018..and I wonder whether my brain lacks SF processing cells.
The only thing I loved in the book was the intergalactic travel in the beginning and a few pages describing novel types of clothing and household equipment.
Am totally confused about Hari Seldon, Saldon Hardin and many others who graced the pages of this book.

Gist is that humanity has exploded and invaded all galaxies with a core government and Hari Saldon the psycho historian ( whatever that mea ...more

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Sep 11, 2012 Jlawrence rated it really liked it

Shelves: sword-and-laser

What's remarkable about Foundation is how captivating it is despite all the things it's got stacked against it, for example:

- Almost entirely consisting of people sitting in rooms talking
- Tinges of imperialist apologia
- Apparently no women of real import in the galactic future
- Thin characterization
- Various anachronisms

It's a novel of ideas, sure, but Asimov is more interested in seeing how the ideas play out in various situations than he is in the ideas themselves (it's noteworthy that the no ...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Angie Palau rated it liked it

I've heard about this book since I was young (and since it was written in the 50s it is older than I) And I've been a scientific admirer of Asimov for many years. AND I love science fiction as a general rule - at least the more modern stuff (and by modern I mean 90s and on).

At any rate, knowing my appreciation for SciFi, I was pretty sure I'd love this book when it was selected for book club, but I really didn't. It was very interesting to be sure, in a (future) history-text kind of way. But do I've heard about this book since I was young (and since it was written in the 50s it is older than I) And I've been a scientific admirer of Asimov for many years. AND I love science fiction as a general rule - at least the more modern stuff (and by modern I mean 90s and on).

At any rate, knowing my appreciation for SciFi, I was pretty sure I'd love this book when it was selected for book club, but I really didn't. It was very interesting to be sure, in a (future) history-text kind of way. But don't go in expecting to "get-to-know" any of the characters. Reading this book, I realized that I have a very strong personal preference for books that are character driven. I want to spend time with SOMEBODY, not just the events that shape a path. I read the events of the tale and found them interesting, but I was really craving a relationship the whole time. And there aren't any to be had.

The plot was certainly clever and well-thought-out and plausible, excluding certain anachronisms - such as a complete absence of a computer-driven economy and a clear reliance on paper centuries in the future. But I really thought his idea of psychohistory was brilliant. And I found the first "book" especially interesting in its tale of scientific backlash - banishing the scientists who objective work predicted (unpopularly) the collapse of society. Reminded me more than a little bit of the political reaction (e.g., in North Carolina) to scientists who dare predict climate change and an uncomfortable rise in sea levels. Hmmm. We do just repeat ourselves through history, don't we?

My all-women book club thought this was a singularly "male" book - that is not necessarily a bad thing, but we felt "Foundation" had a clear target audience (young men of the 50s), and a notable lack of female characters... that lack was, perhaps, a reflection of the era in which it was written... I mean OBVIOUSLY women wouldn't be involved in government, making major political decisions. Goodness, that WOULD be science fiction!

In the end it is a "Glad I read it" book for me and overall a fun read - but I'm pretty sure I won't feel compelled to read the rest of the trilogy, much as I admire Asimov. ...more

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