po3mah reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov
masterpiece of sociology
5 stars
I wonder why th I didn't read this book before. Almost all modern scifi is borrowing ideas from it.
Català language
Published Aug. 31, 2022 by Duna llibres.
L’Imperi Galàctic s’ha expandit i consolidat al llarg de 12.000 anys, de manera que ningú pot sospitar que el cor d’aquest pròsper sistema està podrit. Ningú tret del psicohistoriador Hari Sheldon, que ha utilitzat la seva nova ciència per predir un futur terrible. Exiliat al desolat planeta Términus, Seldon estableix una colònia amb les ments més brillants de l’Imperi, una Fundació que té la clau per canviar el destí de la galàxia. Tanmateix, l’agonia de l’Imperi portarà nous enemics a la Fundació, que es veurà amenaçada abans fins i tot de començar la seva tasca.
La sèrie de La Fundació és una obra mestra icònica d’Asimov. Amb el teló de fons d’un Imperi Galàctic en decadència, la història de Hari Seldon és un testimoni clar de l’extraordinària imaginació que va donar forma a la ciència ficció moderna.
I wonder why th I didn't read this book before. Almost all modern scifi is borrowing ideas from it.
This is a very good novel- the beginning of a major life's work. Clearly no one should expect this novel comes to a closure. It is instead a beginning of a' mystery' and tale of evolution.
Una nova i preciosa edició d'un clàssic entre clàssics. Una saga escrita entre els anys 50s i 90s del segle 20 (no us perdeu especialment els 3 primers volums) que, com sempre feia Asimov, mentre ens explicava històries de tecnologia, robots i espai en el fons ens parlava del ser humà, com a individu, com a col·lectiu, de com ens relacionem, de com ens veiem com a individus i com ens projectem a la societat.
Sure it’s great literature kind of dripping in bigotry and misogyny but I’m sure it had its time and place in the sci-fi hall of fame. Cool TV series though.
I really enjoyed the book's "prose" or rather lack thereof. The writing is very straightforward, reading at times more like a play, including many grand monologues, rather than a novel.
However, the book's subject matter is not fun at all: It basically describes various ways in which political operatives acquire more power, always justified by "the survival of civilization". All in all, it reads as a praise of imperialistic tactics, which is pretty gross.
I enjoyed re-reading Foundation and plan to continue to read the others in the series. As I've grown older I've become more appreciative of history and how it has shaped our lives, so reading about a science fiction setting where people effectively write the history they want to have is just fun.
The principles of psychohistory, the statistical study of masses of humans to predict their behavior, was fascinating and today's real-world applications of data science scratch at similar concepts. Of course, this is a science fiction book, but it nonetheless explores the what-if: what-if this psychohistory were real and could be applied on human civilization at large?
For a more in-depth review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2021/08/book-review-foundation-by-isaac-asimov.html