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What I've Finished Reading
I finished Foundation on the plane and then tried to figure out what makes its appeal so strong for me. It's partly Asimov's writing, which is amiable and transparent and makes everyone in the far future sound like Hollywood Romans or company engineers of the 1950s (except that they all swear By Space!) so it's a peculiarly comfortable way to tour thousands of years of made-up history. And the structure is undemanding - it's really five novellas or long short stories bound together, with large gaps in time between each one. There are lots of neat set-pieces and episodes of skulduggery and some pleasant rib-nudging allusions to RL history. It's thought-provoking without being at all challenging or painful.
There's also Trantor, the beautiful/horrible subterranean city planet, where children go up to the observation deck once a year for school field trips and cry in fear of the open sky. But as large as it looms in my heart, Trantor is only seen in passing in Foundation. The impossible scale of things in general (the Galactic Empire lasted for twelve thousand years! Encompassing twenty-seven million planets!) sort of lifts it out of the realm of "speculation one might question" and into a different one - fantasy or fable, maybe? - in which the reader's inability to picture the administrative nightmare of day-to-day life in the Galactic Empire is part of the point. But it also doesn't poke too hard at that difficulty. I don't know! I like this book in a very specific way: I only want to read it when I have a long ride ahead of me. But when I do, it's the best thing.
What I'm Reading Now
A Buyer's Market by Anthony Powell:
I didn't manage to finish A Buyer's Market before I left town, but I am enjoying it pretty well.
I took a diminutive 99 Novels selection with me instead: JUSTINE by LAWRENCE DURRELL. This book will always be in all caps in my heart, but maybe for different reasons each time. I was so annoyed with Lawrence Durrell in the first few pages, but then I adjusted to the style and now I'm ok. There will be more about this book later, whether you want to hear it or not.
In the meantime, I've come down with something that makes my throat close up and my ears ring. This may be the perfect state in which to read Justine, but it is not great for the rest of the things I was planning to do this week.
What I Plan to Read Next
I'm saving Foundation and Empire to read on the way back.
What I've Finished Reading
I finished Foundation on the plane and then tried to figure out what makes its appeal so strong for me. It's partly Asimov's writing, which is amiable and transparent and makes everyone in the far future sound like Hollywood Romans or company engineers of the 1950s (except that they all swear By Space!) so it's a peculiarly comfortable way to tour thousands of years of made-up history. And the structure is undemanding - it's really five novellas or long short stories bound together, with large gaps in time between each one. There are lots of neat set-pieces and episodes of skulduggery and some pleasant rib-nudging allusions to RL history. It's thought-provoking without being at all challenging or painful.
There's also Trantor, the beautiful/horrible subterranean city planet, where children go up to the observation deck once a year for school field trips and cry in fear of the open sky. But as large as it looms in my heart, Trantor is only seen in passing in Foundation. The impossible scale of things in general (the Galactic Empire lasted for twelve thousand years! Encompassing twenty-seven million planets!) sort of lifts it out of the realm of "speculation one might question" and into a different one - fantasy or fable, maybe? - in which the reader's inability to picture the administrative nightmare of day-to-day life in the Galactic Empire is part of the point. But it also doesn't poke too hard at that difficulty. I don't know! I like this book in a very specific way: I only want to read it when I have a long ride ahead of me. But when I do, it's the best thing.
What I'm Reading Now
A Buyer's Market by Anthony Powell:
While I undressed I reflected on the difficulty of believing in the existence of certain human beings, my uncle among them, even in the face of unquestionable evidence-- indications sometimes even wanting in the case of persons for some reason more substantial to the mind -- that each had dreams and desires like other men. Was it possible to take Uncle Giles seriously? And yet he was, no doubt, serious enough to himself. If a clue to that problem could be found, other mysteries of life might be revealed.
I didn't manage to finish A Buyer's Market before I left town, but I am enjoying it pretty well.
I took a diminutive 99 Novels selection with me instead: JUSTINE by LAWRENCE DURRELL. This book will always be in all caps in my heart, but maybe for different reasons each time. I was so annoyed with Lawrence Durrell in the first few pages, but then I adjusted to the style and now I'm ok. There will be more about this book later, whether you want to hear it or not.
In the meantime, I've come down with something that makes my throat close up and my ears ring. This may be the perfect state in which to read Justine, but it is not great for the rest of the things I was planning to do this week.
What I Plan to Read Next
I'm saving Foundation and Empire to read on the way back.
