Twitter 20230601

Twitter 20230530

Twitter 20230528

Twitter 20230526

Oh, those gods

These are some thoughts on The Gods Themselves (free), Isaac Asimov. Spoilers.

First of all, I read this a while back and had some thoughts then.

This time I really caught the whole “academia can be a very toxic environment”. Oh boy. It’s a wonder anybody survives.

The aliens are wonderfully different. Interestingly their psychology is like ours some of the time. Like, they will get embarrassed, but for weird reasons. I think the genders would’ve been handled differently today.

Oh, and there’s the, ahem, procreation. With the aliens it’s kind of sweet. Can those descriptions upset anybody? It’s a little more complicated on the Moon. She’s 24, he’s 48? Really?

Other big themes are: truth, the me-first attitude, politics, the answer to scientific disaster is more and better science (not restraint) and chemistry/physics.

Twitter 20230524

Twitter 20230522

World = forest

Or as the Germans say: Das Wort für Welt ist Wald.

These are some thoughts on The Word for World Is Forest, Ursula K. Le Guin. Spoilers.

I’ve read this story before. So this time I focused on my big reactions.

  • It’s horrible being inside Davidson’s head. He’s pretty much the only good/right/strong person (he thinks) in the camp, no, on the planet, no, in the universe, and he constantly considers this. That one is a woman, of course, this one acts like a woman, he’s stupid, the next one is weak etc. Blargh!
  • This is a story of lost innocence. Before Davidson and friends, the planet was peaceful. After Davidson, the concepts of murder and rape exist, and there’s no way to go back. (I am reminded of “The Streets of Ashkelon”, free, by Harry Harrison.)
  • Part of the inspiration for this story is the war in Vietnam. It doesn’t resonate strongly. I guess fire jelly is related to napalm? To me this is just a story about war, the one war that just keeps going.

Other important themes are a League of Planets, language, dreams, colonialism and sustainable living. And it’s interesting to compare this story with Avatar.

Twitter 20230520

Twitter 20230518