The End of an Era

There isn't much that I can say about these last two books which conclude Asimov's long, long story.  I can't give away anything.
  I feel I must remind everyone that he had never intended it to be that way... that over fifty years of writing about the future history of humanity and of science itself, he had never intended it to be a consecutive tale... it's just serendipity that it ended up that way, and in four final novels he 'made it so'.

After reading Foundation's Edge  I was positively lathered up into a froth of excitement because I thought that the story was heading towards a conclusion that I had always hoped.

Foundation and Earth did not disappoint me.  In so many conclusions of series that I have read over the years, there is sometimes a little sadness because the story is over or disappointment over how it was finished, but I am glad to say that this was not one of those kinds.

Without giving away spoilers I will say this... I had two reactions, or I should say impressions.  The first being  this... do you remember a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode where Starfleet is infested with a lifeform similar in appearance to a giant beige earwig, that takes over key officers and is trying take over the Federation?  It was quite intense but concluded satisfactorily with Will Riker And Jean Luc Picard 'phasering' the queen bee into goo and all the earwigs exploding.    But not before the lifeforms had managed to send out a message far into space and the episode finishes with a picture of space and the sound of a message being transmitted to who knows where meaning who knows what, and you get a little creepy chill because you just don't know what will happen next.  Well I got that feeling right at the end, so much so that I had to go back and re-read the last page so that I could make sure of why I felt that way.  Shortly afterwards though I had another image, and that is of Dirk Gently standing outside on his front lawn shaking his fist at the night sky and yellling "STOP IT!" (from the Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams).

The Foundation Trilogy

         

What an absolute joy it was for me to read this very special group of books.  You might expect after reading the two prequels and then slogging through the original trilogy, that I might have gotten a little bored at this point, but there is no fear of that!
I began with some reluctance, as I was not sure what to expect.  After such a build up from the prequels, I was a little worried that the original trilogy might not measure up to what had been written more than thirty years later.  Each book had it's slow points and were each punctuated with crises that made the event and the solution to it exciting, very clever and even funny at some points (I just couldn't help chuckling with glee at some of the solutions).  Foundation and Empire  was just devastating.  The story of the Mule was so upsetting and intense, where was Isaac going with this, is he killing the Foundation off, is the Seldon Plan kaput?  I feel sorry for the people who had to wait for the next installment.  Luckily I had no such problem and with eagerness I plunged into Second Foundation.
Let me tell you, the first sixty pages of that book were read in one sitting.  I wasn't going anywhere until that story arc was told. 
Now there are only two books to go, and I have a lot of expectations.  I am very curious about how it will all end, but I won't pose my questions here because no matter how I try to write them up, they just give too much away so I will have to keep it all to myself.  I know I won't be disappointed.

Prelude to and Forward the Foundation

 Have I said before how grateful I am to Isaac for tying up all of his stories together into one pretty package?  I probably couldn't say it enough.  I love how he has done that!  

Since I haven't read the Foundation Trilogy yet I'm not sure what to expect.  But the hype that Asimov built in with each chapter by adding inserts from his Encyclopedia Galactica adding a sense of greatness and history to the story, you just know its going to add up to something really really special.  I actually got sick of the term "psychohistory" it was bandied about so much, but I loved the backstory of Hari Seldon, and of how Isaac pulled it all together to make his legacy.  Forward the Foundation was his last novel which makes it all that much precious as we see Hari at the end of his life and the success of his life work accomplished, as Isaac has accomplished his.   

The Eyre Affair

 

I really got a kick out of reading this book!  Like in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,  The Eyre Affair is laced with literary references ... with a twist!  I enjoyed it just as much and know it would have been even better if I had've read the books that were used in this story (yes... I am ashamed to admit I have not read Jane Eyre, or Martin Chuzzlewit!).

This is an alternative history of which Thursday Next is the protagonist.  You'll notice right away with her name that this is no regular kind of book.  It is richly flavored in a  Dickensian way by the names that a lot of these characters have (one of which is Jack Schitt, and I still cannot read that without giggling a little bit because it was used with great skill throughout the novel).  I recommend to anyone to read the book just for that fun value alone.  More also is a science fiction/ futuristic element of technology, in a world that has to protect its literature ( Next is a cop that hunts down literary felons...and I don't mean that literally).  This is where it's a good idea that you know your literature, though I think you can get by pretty well without it (though I'd like to see you not go back and read all the books mentioned afterwards).  I won't tell you any more because I don't want to spoil it... just go out and get it!

There are a few more to read in this series, but I want to be prepared beforehand, so I will read the books featured first (so I don't feel like a stupid boobie for not knowing my stuff).  This year seems to be, so far, a year of finding books that seem to be almost tailored to my own tastes, and I am having a great time discovering them.

Great Expectations

In honor of Charles Dickens 200th birthday I chose Great Expectations to read.  I am embarrased to say that I had not read it yet!  Hopefully I will read them all one day.  I cannot help but feel that Charles Dickens is one person that I wish to get to know well, and the best way to do that is to read all of his works.  I haven't read many so far.  I read David Copperfield in my early teens, and later there was A Chrstmas Carol and Little Dorrit.  An interesting sampling so far which already gives me a good impression of the character of its author.
I admit at this stage in my life my knowledge of this century is still very skimpy, and much of my original reading was done when I was younger so the memories are hazy.  Once, when I was watching the movie Fahrenheit 541 and Montag was reading from David Copperfield, I felt like I wanted to cry too (one of the women he was reading to was) because the passage he was reading aloud  was beautiful (though I think the woman who was crying was doing it for another reason entirely).  Dickens shows me a world I cannot possibly know, but I feel as if I could because he paints very clear pictures with his words.
I am glad that I have made a point of not seeing any of the movies that have been made from this book.  I didn't know what the story was about which was great.  I loved it.  The characters were all so different from each other and some were very strange.  I loved the name Mr. Pumblechook (I think that alone helped me not to hate him!), crazy Miss Havisham, and dependable Joe.   I even joined a discussion group about this book, and earnestly defended Pip to another person who thought that he was a very selfish and awful character.    He really wasn't.  It was a valueable discussion, because I developed a better undertsanding of Pip (because my own initial impression was that he did end up being a selfish so and so). This is something I love about Dickens' books.  You are there with your characters at the beginning, so you can understand them and why they behave the way they do, and you get to share, not only in the adventure of their lives but also the characters they meet along the way.  While there is always adversity, it is sweetened with healthy helpings of good people from all walks of life to soothe the protagonist's way.
So you can see why I wish that I could meet and shake the hand of such a man, to get to know him.  He was brilliant, and an amazing scholar of human nature.  His characters are believable, they are true.

In case you would like to see this as a movie, I recommend watching the PBS 2011 television series as a good place to start.

Some Things You Can Never Get Back...

...like the morning I just spent reading this book.  My first instinct was not to read it, I'm just not interested in these kinds of things.  Books about personalities, rockstars, actors etc.,  just leaves me  bored.  It wasn't really all that bad,  I did learn one or two new things, and I laughed a few times.  It was just one morning's effort.    

             

The issue for me however, is confusion.  I am puzzled about why people now are writing such books about themselves when, to my point of view, I don't think they've done that much (be on the lookout for Justin Bieber's book coming soon...not!).  It has always been an assumption of mine that when you write an autobiography you have already lived a long and eventful life and have much wisdom to share.  The exception being I suppose that one really special noteworthy thing has already happened to you and there is so much material to write about this event that it couldn't possibly wait for years from now when you are old and grey.  Apparently not.  These days anyone with a bit of renown can churn out a book about themselves and it doesn't really have to make much sense...or have a point.  

When I read a book I expect to get somewhere at the conclusion, even if it is a series or a trilogy...whatever.   When it is a one-off non-fiction deal, shouldn't it make sense?  Where do you want to go?  What are you trying to say?  

This is a genre I have not really looked at before, because I have not really been all that interested in non-fiction, and it has been something I have wanted to change.  So with the aim of reading LibraryThing's Hot This Month list, and trying to improve myself by reading something possibly educational, I thought I would give Bossypants a whirl (at #10 on the list).  I don't know much about Tina Fey (being too tired to stay up and watch Saturday Night Live and I have never watched 30 Rock.  So it was all new information to me. 

She's funny and smart,  a person who works hard and does a good job.  She's had some success in her career, and has a nice little family.  At the end there we all know how ambivalent she is about her job and her family,  and she really can't make up her mind about having another baby. 

My question is why does it have to be in a book?  Isn't it something more appropriate for say a journal, or even a blog?  Those one off entries you can make about something that concerns you at the moment, but have no need to be decided on or to be concluded in any way?  There is just this very unfinished feeling about the book, which annoys me.  And inspires me to rant a little about how these days the world is just being flooded with every concieveable media and it all seems to be about quantity, not quality.  

Ok I promise to stop being grumpy now.  And I promise to have a look at her next book when/if she writes one  twenty nears from now (stuffed with experience and wisdom I fervently hope!)

 Also, I will not be reading #4 on the Whats Hot list... Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.  Just reading the contents make my eyes glaze over and my stomach clench at how many pages are in there... over 700!  While I know it meets my criteria for what I think should make up an autobiography I just can't read that many pages about computers and people who make them  So I will go with my instincts on that one and give it a miss. 

The Color Purple

Over the years there have been a few movies I have watched that have moved me emotionally, so deeply that they have held a very special place in my heart. To name a few, in Steel Magnolias the scene after the funeral always has me tearing up a bit and ready to bawl because the pain that Sally Fields portrays is so very real and raw.  The English Patient  is another tear-jerking  movie which I have only seen once and have yet to read the book of because it was just so hauntingly heartbreaking.  Then there is the movie I Am Legend with Will Smith (yet another show I will never be able to see again because of it's suspense and frightening content).   The Color Purple directed by Steven Spielberg is one of the most emotionally evocative movies I have seen (yet).  This scene pictured above is what I consider to be the most powerful one I have ever encountered.  If the movie is on the television, I will always stop to watch it even if I only catch the last half hour (which is, in my opinion the best part), just so that I can see Whoopie Goldberg again perform one of the most touching and overwhelmingly emotional parts of the whole movie.  I always cry because it is just so beautiful.

So it was with great interest that I read the book, and I am pleased to say that Spielberg didn't muck it up (meaning that he was pretty faithful to the book).  I must admit I would have been tickled pink to see Danny Glover quilting with Whoopie on the front porch, but I guess you can't have everything. 
Written as a journal (one of my favorite formats!), we get to follow Celie throughout her life, to a most satisfactory conclusion.  The writing is simple and the imagery is vivid without detail (though I thought that might be because of the movie at first, but I was wrong because as I went further into the story I had other images come to mind which are not a part of the movie).
It is a great story to step into and experience another way of life for a short while. It was great to have a peek into the strong and loving bond between women who are the best of friends. It was also a great way to be reminded of the value of simpler things that life can be about,  a good home-cooked meal or a hand-made quilt, which are more powerful and important than anything else I can express the significance of here.