Favourite Short Story? (Isaac Asimov)

[AE35Unit]

Tough one. Nightfall Ugly Little Boy or Bicentennial Man. Or maybe something from I,Robot. Just so much good stuff!

[CBellenis]

As well as his better known stories, I love the ones about the little devil/imp thing (Azrael? Azazeal?) told by an old boy in his gentlemen's club. They are funny and off-the-wall/

[pnerd]

Originally Posted by CBellenis

...the little devil/imp thing (Azrael? Azazeal?)...

I think you mean "Azazel".

[Moonbat]

I've just read 'earth is room enough' and I liked almost all of the stories.

Someday
Satisfaction guaranteed
Jokster

These three were all robot stories and very good.

Also
The fun they had - I knew about this story but hadn't ever read it, very good.

I must say Asimov's short stories are truly great, and have motovated me to write more of my own.

[dimewestern]

Hi, there. 1st time to use this forum. Pardon the simple-mindedness of the query, but why are the stars appearing at the end so significant? Is it that the cultists had predicted them and thus religion disproves science? Also, if the people are eager for light, wouldn't the stars be welcome? I love Asimov, but for some reason the impact of this story eludes me. Teaching this in a SF course in the fall as a favor to the administration of my school--help!

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by dimewestern

Hi, there. 1st time to use this forum. Pardon the simple-mindedness of the query, but why are the stars appearing at the end so significant? Is it that the cultists had predicted them and thus religion disproves science? Also, if the people are eager for light, wouldn't the stars be welcome? I love Asimov, but for some reason the impact of this story eludes me. Teaching this in a SF course in the fall as a favor to the administration of my school--help!

a) The stars, though legendary and part of their belief system, have never been seen by any generation in millennia; attempts to simulate the stars would be nowhere near as powerful -- imagine never having seen a night sky in your life, and then finding yourself suddenly surrounded by the vault of the night studded with all those lights.

b) The immensity of it all (as mentioned): where with the sunlight -- especially of multiple suns -- things seem a good deal cosier and more "earthbound", once you remove all such light and are left with the genuine physical and emotional impact of the immensity of the universe, something which would completely upset all one's emotional and mental preconceptions (save on the most theoretical level), it would become something overwhelming, even suffocating -- yet at the same time so remote and gigantic that it simultaneously dwarfs not only the individual but the entire species to insignificance. And, again, not on some abstract philosophical level, but at an immediate, down-on-the-bone emotional and instinctual level.

c) It bears something of the same impact as the mythic "seeing the eye of God", and in fact this is something many writers have addressed in different ways: if one suddenly were confronted with the true face of the infinite -- something which we are still very far from even beginning to approach -- then one truly is "looking upon the face of God", and there is simply no way to be emotionally or psychologically prepared for such an experience. It is the supernal experience ne plus ultra, and something human egos simply are not likely to easily withstand.

While the light of the stars would be immense, it would still only emphasize the loneliness of this little planet in the vast void -- hence the fires to "bring back the light", to once again reassert control over their reality (whatever their ostensible reasons for such may be, it is a desperate attempt to reestablish for known in place of the completely unknown which they now face).

[Fried Egg]

Also, don't forget that they had speculated that there might be a "few" stars out there to be revealed. Their gross underestimation was underscored by the fact that their starscape was far more densely populated than ours is (because of their relative proximity to the galactic core) thereby suprising the reader as well as their protagonists in the story.

[dimewestern]

Thank you! If you don't object, your answer might wind up in some class handouts/notes. One final question: the people of Lagash are seeing an ordinary star-filled night sky as we think of it? Thanks again for the thoughtful, nonpatronizing response.

[dimewestern]

Didn't read this before I posed the question.

[j. d. worthington]

As a point of interest in light of the discussion above:

Solar eclipse pits superstition against science - Yahoo! News

And this, despite the fact that total solar eclipses aren't exactly terribly uncommon here on Earth, not to mention the fact that the entire process has been understood (and that understanding taught) for a very, very long time....

[J-Sun]

Why on earth is Agence France-Presse telling me what astrologers are claiming? Under the theory that it "takes one to know one" when talking about superstitious people?

Still, the gynaecologist at the hospital talking about presumably statistically confirmable changes in dates for operations underlines that the astrological con men know that there is something there to prey on.

And it definitely does relate to the story. Interesting. Thanks.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by J-Sun

Why on earth is Agence France-Presse telling me what astrologers are claiming? Under the theory that it "takes one to know one" when talking about superstitious people?

Well, just out of curiosity, I looked, and it seems there are a fair number of reports of such responses, by no means all from astrologers or the astrologically-inclined. I'd say it is a prime example of how ignorance and superstition about such things flourish even in areas where the people make wide use of the technological benefits of science.

I must admit that my own response is that it is easy to understand and even forgive such superstitious nonsense in areas where such knowledge is not made available, but when this is not the case, I find the combination staggeringly ill-matched, to say the least....


Still, the gynaecologist at the hospital talking about presumably statistically confirmable changes in dates for operations underlines that the astrological con men know that there is something there to prey on.

And it definitely does relate to the story. Interesting. Thanks.[/QUOTE]

[AE35Unit]

I remember one story involving a billiards or pool table,and also Asimov's description of how it came about. Someon said something like,here's my idea,now write a story around it. And he did! It was quite amazing how he could create a story out of any situation!

[J-Sun]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

I must admit that my own response is that it is easy to understand and even forgive such superstitious nonsense in areas where such knowledge is not made available, but when this is not the case, I find the combination staggeringly ill-matched, to say the least....

Yep. Though, y'know, on further reflection, you could file this under "consensus reality" vs. superstition. Again, you'd want some sort of verification but there could easily be self-fulfilling prophecies at work. Even a doctor may be superstitious (as ill-matched as that may be) and, if he's distracted by worrying about things going wrong, something might indeed go wrong. Some women who had rescheduled their operations might be doing so for pragmatic reasons. In other words, you could non-superstitiously move to avoid the real effects of other peoples' superstitions.

Sorry, though: this is getting off the main point of the article in relation to this thread.

Originally Posted by AE35Unit

I remember one story involving a billiards or pool table,and also Asimov's description of how it came about. Someon said something like,here's my idea,now write a story around it. And he did! It was quite amazing how he could create a story out of any situation!

"The Billiard Ball"? (Asimov's Mysteries) I know he's written stories like that, but I don't remember that in connection with this one, but it may be.

[CatBar]

Originally Posted by Moonbat

I must say Asimov's short stories are truly great, and have motovated me to write more of my own.

Sorry if this seems off-topic to the thread but, as a small-time story-writer myself, I was interested by your mentioning a motivation to write your own stories - would these be based on Asimov's?