Garbage - Why do you love me
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Book 62: Foundation
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
As I’ve said before, as much as I enjoy science fiction and fantasy, those two genres can also very easily get hokey or just be badly written, so I’m usually hesitant. Obviously, Asimov is one of the classic science fiction writers, but I guess I also like more modern science fiction generally. While good science fiction has a message about society and isn’t just about technology, I didn’t really want to read about a futuristic world that was actually already antique seeming. This is especially noticeable when watching older movies or shows.
Foundation is the first of a trilogy to which Asimov eventually added several prequels and sequels. While this novel was written years before Star Wars, there were definitely parts of it that reminded me of it – there is a large galactic empire spanning thousands of planets and star systems. No aliens, though – these planets have all been colonized by humans over the past few millennia (like Firefly). However, Trantor, the main planet, sounds like a precursor to Coruscant – the entire planet is covered by buildings and sky scrapers, and there are inhabitants that have not seen the sky in years (in one of the Star Wars books, the author portrayed the lower levels of the planet as slums while the levels became more prosperous as they became higher).
As for the actual story, the Galactic Empire has been successful for several millennia but is slowly starting to weaken and decline. For example, science and technology is resting on laurels of years past and the people are too focused on the past to make any more discoveries. In this way, knowledge is starting to stagnate and also be lost. Hari Seldon is the head of a science termed psychohistory which basically sounds like very complicated mathematical probability. Using this theory, he can basically predict the reactions of masses for several years ahead of time. Of course, knowledge of historic trends probably would help as well. After the fall of the Roman Empire, there was a period of chaos and ignorance in that area of the world, and Asimov applies this on a much grander scale to his novel. Seldon predicts the fall of a the empire within three hundred years, and a dark age lasting over 30,000 years unless he can set up a scientific Foundation to preserve the knowledge and serve as a new beginning which would lessen the dark ages to a mere millennia instead of 30. However, his theory relies on the subjects not knowing the future, so he makes sure not to divulge this information beyond a few personnel, and does not send any trained psychohistorians to the Foundation.
The novel charts the first 150 years of the Foundation and how they maintain their hold and some power on a planet with limited resources surrounded by planets that have taken control of their domains, no longer fall under the Empire and are ruled by war lords.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I already picked up the second part of the series at the PX. However, while the politics and rise and fall of nations was well done and interesting, his treatment of gender was disappointing to say the least. After 1000s of years of development, Asimov couldn’t imagine women in a role other than wives. In fact, the only woman that even made an appearance in the novel was someone’s shrewish wife whom the husband had married to make an alliance with her father. While I could definitely buy the idea of societies taking away women’s rights and retreating back to a kind of medieval set up, there’s never any suggestion that women had any type of power before nor do they seem to have any prominence on Terminus, the heart of the Foundation which is supposed to be the most advanced planet around. When Seldon sets up the Foundation, a court asks him about the number of people, and he said they were including wives and children in that number. The only other time women are mentioned is when Mallow talks about economic warfare, and someone sarcastically responds, “so the war is going to end because of disgruntled housewives?” (Not an exact quote, I don’t have the book near me). While I’m willing to give him some leeway since this novel was published in 1950 or 1951, it is still rather irritating – it’s not like WWII hadn’t just ended during which many women took on roles and jobs that were traditionally done by men. They may have had to give them up again right after, but they’d definitely proven themselves. I’m hoping there will be an improvement in the next parts of the trilogy.
As I’ve said before, as much as I enjoy science fiction and fantasy, those two genres can also very easily get hokey or just be badly written, so I’m usually hesitant. Obviously, Asimov is one of the classic science fiction writers, but I guess I also like more modern science fiction generally. While good science fiction has a message about society and isn’t just about technology, I didn’t really want to read about a futuristic world that was actually already antique seeming. This is especially noticeable when watching older movies or shows.
Foundation is the first of a trilogy to which Asimov eventually added several prequels and sequels. While this novel was written years before Star Wars, there were definitely parts of it that reminded me of it – there is a large galactic empire spanning thousands of planets and star systems. No aliens, though – these planets have all been colonized by humans over the past few millennia (like Firefly). However, Trantor, the main planet, sounds like a precursor to Coruscant – the entire planet is covered by buildings and sky scrapers, and there are inhabitants that have not seen the sky in years (in one of the Star Wars books, the author portrayed the lower levels of the planet as slums while the levels became more prosperous as they became higher).
As for the actual story, the Galactic Empire has been successful for several millennia but is slowly starting to weaken and decline. For example, science and technology is resting on laurels of years past and the people are too focused on the past to make any more discoveries. In this way, knowledge is starting to stagnate and also be lost. Hari Seldon is the head of a science termed psychohistory which basically sounds like very complicated mathematical probability. Using this theory, he can basically predict the reactions of masses for several years ahead of time. Of course, knowledge of historic trends probably would help as well. After the fall of the Roman Empire, there was a period of chaos and ignorance in that area of the world, and Asimov applies this on a much grander scale to his novel. Seldon predicts the fall of a the empire within three hundred years, and a dark age lasting over 30,000 years unless he can set up a scientific Foundation to preserve the knowledge and serve as a new beginning which would lessen the dark ages to a mere millennia instead of 30. However, his theory relies on the subjects not knowing the future, so he makes sure not to divulge this information beyond a few personnel, and does not send any trained psychohistorians to the Foundation.
The novel charts the first 150 years of the Foundation and how they maintain their hold and some power on a planet with limited resources surrounded by planets that have taken control of their domains, no longer fall under the Empire and are ruled by war lords.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I already picked up the second part of the series at the PX. However, while the politics and rise and fall of nations was well done and interesting, his treatment of gender was disappointing to say the least. After 1000s of years of development, Asimov couldn’t imagine women in a role other than wives. In fact, the only woman that even made an appearance in the novel was someone’s shrewish wife whom the husband had married to make an alliance with her father. While I could definitely buy the idea of societies taking away women’s rights and retreating back to a kind of medieval set up, there’s never any suggestion that women had any type of power before nor do they seem to have any prominence on Terminus, the heart of the Foundation which is supposed to be the most advanced planet around. When Seldon sets up the Foundation, a court asks him about the number of people, and he said they were including wives and children in that number. The only other time women are mentioned is when Mallow talks about economic warfare, and someone sarcastically responds, “so the war is going to end because of disgruntled housewives?” (Not an exact quote, I don’t have the book near me). While I’m willing to give him some leeway since this novel was published in 1950 or 1951, it is still rather irritating – it’s not like WWII hadn’t just ended during which many women took on roles and jobs that were traditionally done by men. They may have had to give them up again right after, but they’d definitely proven themselves. I’m hoping there will be an improvement in the next parts of the trilogy.
Book 61: The Body Project
The Body Project by Joan Jacobs Brumberg
When I took "Girls and Popular Culture," the professor occasionally referenced The Body Project. Since it was written in the ‘90s, parts of it seemed dated. Using various diaries, journals and other sources, Brumberg charts the changes in adolescence and being a teenage girl. She argues that in the 19th century, there was a larger focus on internal beauty, and as the 20th century progressed, this shifted to external much more. Instead of girls saying they wanted to behave in certain ways to improve themselves, they started talking about changing their appearance.
One of the points that she discussed which I think would probably be worth a book in its own is how these changes all coincided with commercialism and consumer culture – advertisers convinced girls that their products could help them with their flaws but also helped them realized they had these “flaws.”
Her main areas of focus are menstruation, skin, “body projects” including weight loss among other things and sexuality. At times I worried that she was going to start talking about the good old days and how teens were so much more protected but her conclusion didn’t argue for that. She does, however, believe that there needs to be more involvement considering the mixed signals girls get.
Brumberg continues a problematic trend present in many feminist writings: there are a few mentions of black girls and other ethnicities, but for the most part, it is very much about white middle class girls. I also felt it was dated in some ways, especially when she mentions popular trends like piercings and tattoos (granted I may be thinking more about college and early ‘20s than teens). Since she wrote this during the Clinton years, I’m sure the Bush administration’s policies have also affected some of the trends she was discussing, such as sex education. She doesn’t get into anorexia too much, but has written a separate book on the subject. Overall, she has some interesting things to say about female adolescence and its development over the past century, and the book has some good insights into the history of girls. However, for a more recent analysis of girlhood or young women, I would suggest Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters.
When I took "Girls and Popular Culture," the professor occasionally referenced The Body Project. Since it was written in the ‘90s, parts of it seemed dated. Using various diaries, journals and other sources, Brumberg charts the changes in adolescence and being a teenage girl. She argues that in the 19th century, there was a larger focus on internal beauty, and as the 20th century progressed, this shifted to external much more. Instead of girls saying they wanted to behave in certain ways to improve themselves, they started talking about changing their appearance.
One of the points that she discussed which I think would probably be worth a book in its own is how these changes all coincided with commercialism and consumer culture – advertisers convinced girls that their products could help them with their flaws but also helped them realized they had these “flaws.”
Her main areas of focus are menstruation, skin, “body projects” including weight loss among other things and sexuality. At times I worried that she was going to start talking about the good old days and how teens were so much more protected but her conclusion didn’t argue for that. She does, however, believe that there needs to be more involvement considering the mixed signals girls get.
Brumberg continues a problematic trend present in many feminist writings: there are a few mentions of black girls and other ethnicities, but for the most part, it is very much about white middle class girls. I also felt it was dated in some ways, especially when she mentions popular trends like piercings and tattoos (granted I may be thinking more about college and early ‘20s than teens). Since she wrote this during the Clinton years, I’m sure the Bush administration’s policies have also affected some of the trends she was discussing, such as sex education. She doesn’t get into anorexia too much, but has written a separate book on the subject. Overall, she has some interesting things to say about female adolescence and its development over the past century, and the book has some good insights into the history of girls. However, for a more recent analysis of girlhood or young women, I would suggest Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters.
Quick Update
The last few weeks have been insanely busy. I was in the field for a week in May, followed by a four day in Rome, three days of work, a short weekend during which I spent most of Sunday baking cakes and cup cakes for my promotion ceremony. I got promoted to captain on Monday, and have been busy at work due to USR and field prep. The rest of the company went to the field yesterday and I saw them off, and then dealt with Soldier issues that came up in the rear. I will be joining the company in the field tomorrow after I finish USR turn in up at brigade. I'm not going to have internet access while I'm out there, but it's going to be too busy out there anyway. I've seen a few people make comments about how they're going to use the summer to catch up on their reading; I'll be using mine to fall behind on my reading. 
I do want to post some pictures from Rome since I loved it but it looks like that's definitely going to have to wait. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do it after I get back from the field and before my trip to Istanbul.
Here are a few pictures from my promotion, though. As a surprise, the commander and headquarters moved my office into the old PAC office so I now am no longer in the conference room.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Book 60: Bombay Time
Bombay Time by Thrity Umrigar
In ways, this novel has a similar set up to Olive Kitteridge, since it is about many intersecting characters and told from several different view points. In this case, however, Umrigar uses one event to tell the story of a community, or more specifically neighborhood/housing area.
The wedding of an young Parsi man brings together a group of neighbors, and the wedding reception serves as a time for the older attendants to reflect on their lives. Some, such as the groom's father, Jimmy, can look back at a successful life, while others wonder if perhaps they made the wrong choices and wasted their life. Rusi, who is the closest thing to a main character in the novel, has seen many of his dreams fall apart and suffered many other disappointments. Despite the passion he and his wife initially felt, he has watched their marriage disintegrate over the years.
While these characters of the Waudia Bag have faced many hardships and tragedies, Umrigar also reminds the readers that they are still very well set up compared to many in the city. Juxtaposed with these middle class men and women who have doubts about the future are the poor of Bombay who can't even feed themselves and whose lives can be determined by a word from people like Jimmy. She also uses one character to explore the situation in some rural communities and how landowners continue to have extreme power over the workers. While Umrigar mainly reminds the readers and her characters of the other side of Bombay in one of the later chapters, the poor she portrayed reminded me of the novel The White Tiger. While I definitely enjoyed this novel, if anyone is interested in how the other half lives, that book is also worth the read.
In ways, this novel has a similar set up to Olive Kitteridge, since it is about many intersecting characters and told from several different view points. In this case, however, Umrigar uses one event to tell the story of a community, or more specifically neighborhood/housing area.
The wedding of an young Parsi man brings together a group of neighbors, and the wedding reception serves as a time for the older attendants to reflect on their lives. Some, such as the groom's father, Jimmy, can look back at a successful life, while others wonder if perhaps they made the wrong choices and wasted their life. Rusi, who is the closest thing to a main character in the novel, has seen many of his dreams fall apart and suffered many other disappointments. Despite the passion he and his wife initially felt, he has watched their marriage disintegrate over the years.
While these characters of the Waudia Bag have faced many hardships and tragedies, Umrigar also reminds the readers that they are still very well set up compared to many in the city. Juxtaposed with these middle class men and women who have doubts about the future are the poor of Bombay who can't even feed themselves and whose lives can be determined by a word from people like Jimmy. She also uses one character to explore the situation in some rural communities and how landowners continue to have extreme power over the workers. While Umrigar mainly reminds the readers and her characters of the other side of Bombay in one of the later chapters, the poor she portrayed reminded me of the novel The White Tiger. While I definitely enjoyed this novel, if anyone is interested in how the other half lives, that book is also worth the read.
Book 59: Olive Kitteridge
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
I recently heard about this novel when it was mentioned as a Pulitzer Prize Winner on Bibliolatry. I waited a while to order it because her review mentioned that the book was set up as a series of short stories, and generally, I'm not a big fan of short stories. However, since the short stories all revolved around the same character, Olive Kitteridge, in one way or another, I figured it would be a little different. The usual reason I don't like short stories is because I feel like by the time I start really getting into the characters and the story, it's already over - a collection of stories about the same person would basically prevent that from happening. Also, since they are told from different perspectives, and all the characters have different relationships, I liked seeing how that would affect my views. I always like seeing how characters fit together, even ones that one wouldn't necessarily expect to know each other (which is one thing I like about Louise Erdrich's novels - they are all about different people but since they take place in the same community, you keep running into certain characters again and again).
While the book, of course, showed how one person's life might affect a community or be affected by a community, I also enjoyed getting to know some of the other characters, and wish there had been more follow up to their stories (such as whether or not that one guy left his wife or not; it doesn't come up later, so I'm not sure if it didn't happen or no one cared enough to gossip about it, though it was probably the former). A few of the stories are from Olive's perspective or others close to her, while she barely appears in others. For example, in one of them, she is simply remembered as the math teacher that once told her students something inspiring they were too young to understand. Of course, years later, her student remembers this, and it helps her come to an important decision.
Olive definitely isn't an easy person to get along with and has very strong views and opinions. Her relationship with her son is difficult, and while she isn't always likeable, at least Strout portrays her in a way where it is easy to understand what makes Olive tick.
I recently heard about this novel when it was mentioned as a Pulitzer Prize Winner on Bibliolatry. I waited a while to order it because her review mentioned that the book was set up as a series of short stories, and generally, I'm not a big fan of short stories. However, since the short stories all revolved around the same character, Olive Kitteridge, in one way or another, I figured it would be a little different. The usual reason I don't like short stories is because I feel like by the time I start really getting into the characters and the story, it's already over - a collection of stories about the same person would basically prevent that from happening. Also, since they are told from different perspectives, and all the characters have different relationships, I liked seeing how that would affect my views. I always like seeing how characters fit together, even ones that one wouldn't necessarily expect to know each other (which is one thing I like about Louise Erdrich's novels - they are all about different people but since they take place in the same community, you keep running into certain characters again and again).
While the book, of course, showed how one person's life might affect a community or be affected by a community, I also enjoyed getting to know some of the other characters, and wish there had been more follow up to their stories (such as whether or not that one guy left his wife or not; it doesn't come up later, so I'm not sure if it didn't happen or no one cared enough to gossip about it, though it was probably the former). A few of the stories are from Olive's perspective or others close to her, while she barely appears in others. For example, in one of them, she is simply remembered as the math teacher that once told her students something inspiring they were too young to understand. Of course, years later, her student remembers this, and it helps her come to an important decision.
Olive definitely isn't an easy person to get along with and has very strong views and opinions. Her relationship with her son is difficult, and while she isn't always likeable, at least Strout portrays her in a way where it is easy to understand what makes Olive tick.
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