Asimov was from a more optimistic era, when things seemed a lot simpler.
I love his writing style, though I also enjoy other authors who create more
complicated stories. His attitudes are unabashed and unashamed, though they
show the era in which he lived. I don’t think he’s like the current era,
with its pessimism, isolationism and political correctness. He knew he was
popular; there was no use being humble about it. So he took advantage of it,
and he gave back to the scientific and SF community. What struck me most was
the way he described SF vs sci-fi, his attitude about writing -especially in
the way everything makes sense at the end and how most of his characters are
intelligent, and the fact that he responded to almost every single letter he
received.
Spoiler review:
I feel a connection with Asimov He
was the first author that I became obsessed over, trying to read every SF
book he’d ever written. I don’t think I even came close. But I’ve read his
classics, from the Robot novels, the Galactic Empire novels, and of course
the Foundation novels -all of them. I’ve also read The Gods Themselves,
which is truly inspiring, and The End of Eternity, which is very similar in
several aspects, to George Orwell’s 1984. I’ve also read a lot of his short
fiction, even before I started recording the books that I’ve read, which
eventually morphed into this website.
Some of my writing resembles
Asimov’s in style, in that, as he writes in one letter, everything makes
sense in the end, he doesn’t need swearing and sex, and he has no real
villains -only people who have opposing points of view, and who think they
are right. After all, most people in this world are not out to destroy it or
become tyrants. They just disagree with other people, and those
disagreements can lead to very bad consequences.
I wrote to Asimov
once, though I never got a response. I guess I was one of those few who
didn’t get an answer, or my letter went astray.
The letters in this
book deal with a great many subjects. Many of the letters are only a couple
of lines, but others go into more depth. It’s a very interesting slice into
his public persona, and I wonder how much of it is truly how he was in his
personal life, as well. It seems that he was quite the flirtatious
womanizer, but I wonder if that was just appearances He obviously had a
dirty mind, to which his limericks testify. I liked the fact that he
protected his mind above all else, not allowing it to be influenced by
alcohol, drugs or tobacco. I understand his atheism, though it’s hard to let
go of God. I adore the way he defended science, because it truly is
self-correcting, and I deplore the way it’s been under attack for so long
now.
I don’t think Asimov would have liked the world that has
emerged since his death. The way everyone can become a critic, without any
training or credibility, and the way nations have become more isolationist,
even as the internet has made it smaller. It’s the opposite of his vision of
a Galactic Empire united through scientific pursuits.
I think his
most influential ideas on me are reflected in three letters. In one, he
describes SF vs sci-fi, where the former endorses thinking, and the latter
allows mind-numbness. The second is where he describes his writing style, as
I mentioned above. In the third, he encourages everyone to think, and keep
thinking. Those three aspects still permeate my life, even though the world
has changed, and no longer believes in those principles I can only hope that
somebody like him can emerge in the near future, someone who has a vision of
a good future, that can rise above the jingoism that we see in the world
today, and bring about a peaceful future dedicated to self-improvement.