/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.18800330]

I really, really, really like Foundation. Let's discuss it.

[Anonymous No.18800344]

Should I read it?

[Anonymous No.18800358]

>>18800344
Yes. But don't force yourself if you don't enjoy it.

[Anonymous No.18800372]

>>18800330
I haven't read the series yet.
What do you like about it?
Do you start with the novel 'Foundation' or is there other material you should read first?

[Anonymous No.18800381]

Everyone here absolutely shits all over this series. Why should I think it's worth my time?

[Anonymous No.18800400]

>>18800372
Read "The Robots of Dawn" and "The Caves of Steel", then read the Foundation trilogy itself.
>>18800381
I understand why many people would deem the series unlikeable.

[Anonymous No.18800415]

>>18800400
How does it compare with other books of the sort?

[Anonymous No.18800418]

>>18800330
The prequels were the best part of the series!

[Anonymous No.18800427]

>>18800330
I don’t mean this as an insult to those who like it, but the premise always sounded ultra-boring to me.

[Anonymous No.18800432]

>>18800418
Yes, but he must read Robots of Dawn and the trilogy first, then The Naked Sun, and only them the full prequels.
>>18800415
Ther reading is somewhat unlikeable, but it's GOAT, trust me.

[Anonymous No.18800436]

>>18800330
I read the Foundation trilogy series for the first time last month on the recommendation of a good friend. I grew up reading Golden Age scifi, my father had a substantial collection, but somehow managed to miss Foundation.

My thoughts:
- It's bad at predicting the future. Almost nothing about it feels futuristic. No one ever reads information off a screen and they pass a lot of bits of paper.
- The first book in the series, Foundation, almost reads like an un-novel. There are no memorable characters, and the "action" is all just dudes sitting around talking about politics.
- A female character does not appear until half way through the second book.
- By the end of the last book, Asmiov's writing style has evolved into more mainstream. He writes less like the first book and more like everyone else. The first book does almost everything wrong that a novel can do, but I kind of miss that Asimov. It's unique.
- Bucket loads of autism. The "emotion control" is like an autistic dude trying to understand human emotion.
- The entire series has less emotional complexity than a trailer for any movie in the Fast and Furious franchise.

[Anonymous No.18800439]

>>18800330
What do you want to discuss? I read it a long time ago and only the first one

[Anonymous No.18800441]

>>18800330
Foundation's Edge ruins the whole series. Gaia ruins the Mule's mysterious backstory and is a bad example of power creep in that it's basically just the Second Foundation but with hippies and they're all powerful.

[Anonymous No.18800442]

>>18800436
>- A female character does not appear until half way through the second book.
You should have put that first so I could have disregarded everything you said from the beginning

[Anonymous No.18800444]

>>18800427
Well Asimov was a free mason and it was for the most part a true story. Knowing that makes it a little more interesting

[Anonymous No.18800447]

>>18800436
I-it's still GOAT...

[Anonymous No.18800459]

>>18800436
filtered

[Anonymous No.18800516]

>>18800432
Do you have thoughts on the tv show? Also how would they adapt a book that takes place over decades?

[Anonymous No.18800557]

>>18800516
>Do you have thoughts on the tv show?
Yes, FUCK YOU, Apple.
>Also how would they adapt a book that takes place over decades?
It seems they will skip all prequels and sequels beyond the original trilogy.

[Anonymous No.18800563]

>>18800557
As in, they will make three seasons, one for each book of the trillogy. I wonder who they will cast for the Mule.

[Anonymous No.18800724]

>>18800447
I realize that my comment was mostly negative. I enjoyed the trilogy and don't regret reading it at all.

[Betacucksoysjw No.18800734]

>>18800442
>disregarded
I'll put my woke observations first so you waste less of your time.

Also, the first appearance of a female character is also is the first instance of a violent threat against a female character. In a book with very little violence up to this point.

[Anonymous No.18800736]

>>18800734
Very based. I will read this series now.

[Anonymous No.18800761]

>>18800432
>and only them the full prequels.
ffs always read in publication order. also you didn't even mention the empire series(even though its skippable).
>>18800330
it changes after the 3rd book as Asimov tries to connect all its works together in one universe. you can read the first 3 books without any issues in fact i read the Robot books last(chronologically first) and it worked out fine
>>18800516
looks liek they're doing to foundation what they did to brave new world last year(its gonna be revisionist shit)

[Anonymous No.18801137]

>>18800761
OP here, this guy is right.

[Anonymous No.18802690]

Bump!

[Anonymous No.18803879]

>>18800381
>Why should I think it's worth my time?
your time ain't worth much

[Anonymous No.18803905]

>>18800436
>The first book in the series, Foundation, almost reads like an un-novel. There are no memorable characters, and the "action" is all just dudes sitting around talking about politics.
>- A female character does not appear until half way through the second book.
>- Bucket loads of autism. The "emotion control" is like an autistic dude trying to understand human emotion.
These are good.

[Anonymous No.18804069]

>>18800330
My favorite bit is when Harry shows up for his 30 year holographic pow-wow but mentions nothing about The Mule and everyone shits bricks.

First time those smug Foundationers cracked.

[Anonymous No.18805366]

Alright, I posted in /wsr/ but I doubt I'm going to have much luck there. Sorry for killing a thread but does anyone have an epub version of this book they can share? I already tried libgen, zlib and mobilism. I also tried converting with calibre but all I keep getting is an epub where the pages are images instead of a proper epub with character text.

Alternatively anyone know of another good Sumerian history book that does have an epub?

[Anonymous No.18805671]

>>18800427
you're gay

[Anonymous No.18805846]

>>18800330
>>18800330
>"In that case," said the man at the window, who had been thinking that very thing - with a slightly different arrangement of adjectives- "will you shut off the screen and let me in?"

>"No use in doing that'" said Arcadia. "You're probably thin aking of a different house, because I'm not the kind of girl who lets strange men into their ... her bedroom this time of night." Her eyes, as she said it, took on a heavy-lidded sultriness - or an unreasonable facsimile thereof.

What did Arkady mean by this?

[Anonymous No.18805850]

>>18800330
>"In that case," said the man at the window, who had been thinking that very thing - with a slightly different arrangement of adjectives- "will you shut off the screen and let me in?"

>"No use in doing that'" said Arcadia. "You're probably thin aking of a different house, because I'm not the kind of girl who lets strange men into their ... her bedroom this time of night." Her eyes, as she said it, took on a heavy-lidded sultriness - or an unreasonable facsimile thereof.

What did Arkady mean by this?

[Anonymous No.18805898]

>>18800330
Its starwars for people slightly smarter than starwars fans

[Anonymous No.18805907]

>>18805898
>>r/IamVerySmart

[Anonymous No.18805963]

The books are fun. Only a gloomy midwit would be overly critical here.

If you didn't find them fun, then fine.

[Anonymous No.18806941]

>>18800344
I liked it.
I read it last year. I appreciate the older style of prose. Very quick and snappy.

It’s good.

[Betacucksoysjw No.18807481]

>>18805898
>Its starwars
It's not at all like Star Wars. It has almost no action sequences. Arkady fleeing through the airport might be the most "intense" and when we finally get to a war, most of the battles are offscreen. There is no love story, no deep friendships. It takes place at a different scale.

[Anonymous No.18807887]

>>18800330
I am rereading it right now and its still good.
>>18800436
I feel like you are seeing it from wrong lenses. Its very unconventional both from scifi and novel standpoint (most of it was written in episodic forms for scifi magazine).
Its basically Decline and Fall of Roman empire (asimov admits reading it right before he started writing)+Spengler in space. The whole thing felt more like thought experiment or series of puzzles in the form of various social crisis. Thats why most characters are basically talking heads and science fiction elements are more or less just background. I think enjoyment of it entirely depends on how much you are interested in central ideas and themes that book repeats multiple times.