Second Foundation by Issac Asimov, second group read along
And, so we’ve finally finished the three Issac Asimov novels as part of a sci-fi readalong being hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. It makes me sort of sad that it’s come to an end. The discussions have been great and I’ve enjoyed reading some sci fi much more than I expected and actually understood what was going on (I was expecting to feel like a raging dunce!) Below are the final questions for discussion but please don’t read these if you haven’t read these novels as they will definitely SPOIL the plot!
1. Now that the trilogy is over, discuss your feelings on Asimov’s portrayal of female characters?
I think that Asimov did a really good job portraying the females in the story and gave both of them key roles in the plot. I suppose reading the book in the year 2012 they did come across as a little old fashioned but I think given when these stories were written he does a good job and I think it was probably quite risky for him to include such strong female roles because it can deter some male readers.
2. After all the back and forth mind control of the first part of Second Foundation, what was your state of mind reading this second section of the book? Were you suspicious of everyone? Did you figure things out? Were you just going along for the ride?
To be honest I wasn’t really trying to second guess the ending although I had started to feel as though the location of Second Foundation would be hidden amongst the systems we already knew – I just didn’t know where! In terms of all the mind control flipping back and forth I was just enjoying it as and when it was revealed.
3. Throughout the three novels we were shown a couple of versions of Trantor. Which is more appealing to you? Which would you rather visit?
I preferred the latter version of Trantor. I didn’t like the earlier version before the collapse – I thought it was all too glossy and fickle. I liked the way towards the end that Trantor had actually turned a corner, soil had been revealed and plants had started to grow once again on the surface.
4. How have your thoughts about Hari Seldon, his plan, and either or both Foundations changed, or not, during the course of these three novels?
I feel like I’ve come a long way! We’ve twisted and turned along the way. Been told one thing, then another, liked one person and then found that we didn’t like them, believed there was one Foundation only to find there was two and believed them to be poles apart when in fact they were cheek by jowl. I must hand it to Asimov he’s a master of strategy. I feel like his nickname should be the Trickster.
5. What, if anything, surprised you in this last half of the book? How do you feel Second Foundation held up compared to the other two books in the trilogy?
The biggest surprise for me in this half of the book was the discovery that Arcadia had been mind controlled from her birth – I hadn’t really understood just how far in advance the second Foundation people had been planning. I think this was probably my favourite installment. Particularly the first half which I though was gripping.
6. Did any themes stand out for you in this series? What are you taking away from the experience of reading the Foundation trilogy?
The particular theme that I think comes across is that no one is perfect. I liked the way that the control changed from control based on religious belief, then commerce then mind control. I also think that Asimov was trying to demonstrate that in spite of who is in charge they all have their own foibles.
I think what I’m taking away from this experience is: engagement with a great group of bloggers who have really active minds and get involved in some fantastic discussions. At the end of the day reading is a bit of a solo pursuit and so getting involved in a readalong at least allows you to explore the story more fully and also awakens ideas that you didn’t know you had. It also sometimes highlights different points of view and I found it really interesting how I may or may not like a character in contrast with some of the others. I also have surprised myself and found that I liked sci fi a whole lot more than I thought. I admit that I need to STOP judging a book by it’s cover – because I would never have picked these up otherwise! and I feel almost pleased with myself that I took part, completed the readalong and didn’t struggle too much to ‘get’ the plot. Although, again, I readily admit that I didn’t second guess anything.
Thanks again Carl for hosting.
Lynn 😀
Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
27 February 2012
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Elizabeth Haynes, Into the Darkest Corner
Just finished reading Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes and frankly I’m staggered that this is a debut novel!
Basically this book is all about obsession in it’s different forms and tells a fairly creepy yet gripping story of domestic violence. The story is told in two different timelines and concentrates on Cathy. Cathy as she was a few years ago (2004), happy go lucky, bit of a party animal, group of fairly wild friends, late nights, lots of laughs and Cathy as she is now in (2007). 2007 Cathy is not the same person at all. Basically, earlier version Cathy meets a nice young man! Good looking, well dressed, sexy, funny, got a job, bit mysterious. All her friends think he’s the bees knees and the camels hips. What can go wrong? Enter obsession in it’s first guise. The stalker guy. Lee. He takes over, slowly at first with little unobtrusive things that cause self doubt until finally he is totally controlling Cathy’s every move. And, eventually, he turns violent. Things reach a head when Cathy plans her escape!
Reading alongside the earlier story we learn about Cathy 2007 and here enters obsession in it’s guise of OCD. These chapters are unbelievable and quite painful to read. Cathy’s life is completely dictated by her OCD. She has to rise at the crack of dawn just so that she’ll be able to arrive at work (almost) on time after having undertaken countless checks of her apartment before leaving. On returning home at night she then takes at least 1.5 hours to recheck the apartment – and that is assuming she isn’t exhausted and can complete the checks correctly. And these are just a few of the things that control Cathy. She has no friends and no social life and lives life on the edge of exhaustion and on the verge of panic. She is trying to turn things around though and with the help of a new neighbour who seems to recognise some of Cathy’s symptoms she is starting to make tiny steps forwards – until she receives a phone call from the police which brings everything crashing down.
This is a difficult review to write because it tackles such difficult subjects. Domestic violence, stalking and obsessive compulsive disorders. They don’t particularly sound like the ingredients for cheerful reading and yet in spite of this I found this story compelling. I read it in two days, virtually ignored the weekend in order to do so, and frankly it was an emotional read (okay, I may have got a bit weepie there at one point – and I consider myself to be a bit of a tough cookie as a rule.)
There is a lot of detail going on here, particularly in Cathy’s story about OCD. I thought the level of detail was necessary to the story though in order to reinforce Cathy’s obsessions to the reader – I think if you were just told once about her rituals you’d put it to the back of your mind and it wouldn’t be as powerful as having to read about them all the time, so, whilst this can seem a bit repetitive at times I thought it was relevant. There is also a certain level of violence, graphic language and sexual content. I didn’t think any of it was gratuitous or overly explicit. You were simply being made aware of what was going on.
I think what Elizabeth Haynes managed to do really well was write Lee. He is so wrong! The thing is you can just imagine him. He’s so perfect on the outside but so sinister within. He’s devious, creepy and just a total ‘not right’. That’s what kept the tension for me and just plain gave me the shivers. And the fact that Cathy seems to be all alone in the knowledge of Lee’s true character and is just really terrorised by him – even before he ratchets up the stakes. It really brings home the fact that you really can’t judge a person on their appearance. it also makes you reconsider the number of times you’ve thought ‘why don’t people get out of these relationships’. This book demonstrates how difficult that really is.
Obviously things steadily reach a dramatic finale in both storylines. I wouldn’t describe it as a thriller particularly although there was plenty of suspense and tension. If you’re looking more for a thriller I don’t think this will cut it for you. It is undeniably tense and there are certainly a few goosebump moments.
In terms of criticisms – I was a bit sceptical about the fact that all Cathy’s friends seemed to desert her – I’m not saying it isn’t plausible but I think those parts of the story should have had more built into them to make them believable to the reader. Otherwise it almost seemed as though they all just dropped out of the story.
On the whole I would definitely recommend this – although I would be cautious about who to. It’s certainly not YA and it could be too close to home for some people to read about.
Into the Darkest Corner
Pure by Julianna Baggott
Just finished reading Pure by Julianna Baggott.
Pure is a strange, dark and original blend of post apocalyptic and dystopian. It’s set in a world where detonations have taken place and the world has been reduced to rubble, except for the Dome – which was protected from the blast. This is a world of contrasts. The haves and have nots, the vulnerable and the protected, the wretches and the pures and very much the rights and the wrongs. When the detonations took place a number of people had managed to reach the safety of the Dome – these people are known as Pures because they remain intact, perfect and unblemished. The people on the outside of the Dome either died instantaneously or survived but not in their original condition. They became fused to objects, people, animals or each other. Some are barely recognisable, turned into monsters. It’s a harsh and unrecognisable landscape, littered with remnants of the former world, jagged remains of buildings and ash filled air. A lot of the people have lost their humanity in the fight to survive and many have turned bitter eyes towards the Dome and would like nothing more than to take some revenge. On top of the fight to survive in this harsh landscape the survivors are ‘policed’ by the OSR who basically terrorise them and take all the children who reach the age of 16 – for what purpose there is no clear explanation.
You could be forgiven for thinking the inhabitants of the Dome are living a peachy life, they escaped the horrors of the blast after all. However, they are ruled by a dictator and fed false information, their young men are taken for elite training and adapted into strange new beings, the women are treated in a strange, almost old fashioned way and opinionated females seem to be taken into a mental institution for correction. In spite of this, few of them would want to leave the protection of the dome. All except one that is.
The story is told from a number of points of views, the main characters being Pressia, a wretch, scarred and with a doll’s head fused to her in place of her hand, and Partride, the son of the most important man within the Dome, perfect unscarred skin, all digits intact, full head of hair, pristine. The two of them will come together, thrown together through necessity and struggling to survive and accomplish the mission Partridge has broken out of the Dome for.
I won’t go any further into the plot in order to avoid spoilers but will say there are a number of twists and turns and Julianna doesn’t take prisoners.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a little slow to get into at first but once it works it’s magic it’s virtually unputdownable. It’s so utterly strange and unique. Some of the ideas that the author has come up with are bizarre and fascinating – the Groupies, the Mothers, the Dusts – horrible, creepy and totally compelling to read about. I thought the world building was excellent and the characters really well drawn. I particularly liked some of the secondary characters such as Bradwell.
We also get to take a long hard look into human nature. In a disaster situation it appears the old adage ‘survival of the fittest’ takes on a whole new significance. We see the cruel and spiteful who seem to flourish in this type of environment, picking on the weak and vulnerable, we see the manipulators using others for their own ends and we see the results of an obsessed mind driven to drastic measures by it’s own search for perfection.
In terms of criticisms I don’t really have anything major although a little more information in certain respects would have been a plus – not sure where exactly this takes place in America. Did the detonations take place all over the world. Just a bit more background although that might be forthcoming in the next two novels. Also, I found some elements of the plot a little bit predictable – although I didn’t particularly find that irritating as this isn’t supposed to be a thriller.
I think this book is aimed at older YA but I feel it will appeal to an older market. I don’t suppose it will appeal to everyone given the bleak landscape. It’s not particularly bubbly or cheerful after all but even with that I did find it had a feeling of hope running through and I thought the story telling was excellent. I would definitely recommend and I look forward to reading the next.
Pure
Second Foundation by Issac Asimov, Group Readalong part 1
Just finished reading Chapters 1-9 of Second Foundation as part of a group readalong I am taking part in hosted by Carl over at Stainless Steel Droppings.
I don’t read a lot of sci fi but wanted to branch out some more and this series has been really great. This weeks questions and discussion points below: (Beware of spoilers!)
1. How have your perceptions of the Mule and his form of governing grown or changed, or not, after spending more time with him in this novel?
I like the Mule less in this novel than previously (in fact I’ve lost any feelings of sympathy that I once had for him). He seems more sinister somehow or perhaps I just totally misread him previously. When he first appeared under the persona of the Clown I wanted to believe he was okay and he almost seemed a little sad which made me feel more forgiving towards him. Also, although I didn’t agree with his methods he didn’t appear to take casualties if he could avoid doing so. Now, he appears to have wiped out any traces of the clown almost as though when he lost his only friend he lost his last shred of humanity. He’s now wiping out full planets without a second thought and he seems much more vindictive. I’m also not totally sure why he was so hell bent on discovering the Second Foundation and bending that to his will as well. He already had the whole system in his pocket and yet he was ruthlessly determined in spite of the fact that most people didn’t believe that the Second Foundation even existed.
2. Having finally gotten a glimpse into the mysterious Second Foundation, what are your feelings/thoughts about this group and their methods (as revealed thus far)
A bit mixed at the moment to be honest. I found the conflict with the Mule the guy from Second Foundation fascinating. Talk about twists and turns! Again we seem to have a planet whose inhabitants are determined to keep within the confines of the Seldon prediction. It’s strange that there are so many people absolutely set on ensuring this prophecy succeeds. You can’t help wondering what would the difference have been without all the interventions. I’m waiting to see how this new element develops – I couldn’t help thinking however that the tactics used to eliminate the threat posed by the Mule were so similar to the tactics he would have used himself! I don’t totally agree with this mind manipulation ‘thing’, however, I was definitely not rooting for the Mule during the confrontation so was actually relieved to a certain extent (even though I didn’t approve the methods). I’d almost started to believe the Mule was really invincible!
3. Has your understanding of the Seldon Plan changed at all with the revelations about the plan and the Second Foundationers near the end of this first part of our reading? Looking back does it alter any ideas you had about Seldon and his predictions?
I think I’m still just as much in the dark as when I first started to read. I had no inkling of the Second Foundation until the point it was actually revealed (I did wonder how Seldon could have predicted things so accurately given how much things would change and develop in the years since he made his prediction and the fact that he would have no knowledge of the effect that these developments would actually mean) but, still waiting to see how things pan out. I’m loving all the secrecy about the location of Second Foundation – I feel as though it’s going to be something really obvious that I should have spotted – hidden in plain sight maybe! I like the way we’ve moved on through the books – we’ve had power through force, through economics and now it seems through intellect. Very intriguing and thought provoking. (I do feel like a big dunce for being so in the dark with how the plot will develop but on this occasion I’m actually not even attempting to second guess the outcome which is unusual for me.
4. A simple one: How did you feel the first part of Second Foundation held up in comparison to the sections we’ve previously read?
Again, similar to the previous book, I really enjoyed this first half and am really looking forward to reading the concluding chapters. I’m still enjoying the style of writing. It’s sort of minimalistic yet manages to say exactly enough to put you in the picture, keep you entertained and make you keep turning the pages. Quickly.
5. It is perhaps not surprising that Asimov’s second important female character in the trilogy would be a direct descendent of the first. What do you think of young Arcadia “Arkady” Darell?
I like her – she’s got a lot of nous! It will be interesting to see what role she eventually comes to play and I think the link with Bayta is good to read about – and makes you keep her story fresh in your memory.
Thanks for the questions Carl. Look forward to all the discussions.
Lynn 😀
Mount Teidi, Tenerife
Filed under General Comments
We just had a short break away in Tenerife for a week. It was a good week. The sun was shining and the temperature was much better than that which we’d left behind in foggy, wet and cold Britain. In fact the weekend we departed it was actually snowing!
During the week we went for a number of trips but the highlights of the week were an afternoon out at sea watching the dolphins and a drive up through the mountains to the volcano Teidi. Apparently Teidi is still active – (wasn’t aware of that before the trip!), it’s the third highest volcano in the world and rises about 3,500 meters above sea level and the crater which it sits within has a 12/13 mile diameter.
I must admit that I really surprised myself with this because I’m a bit scared of heights so I didn’t think I would enjoy the outing. So, you may well ask why I was going up in the first place. Simply because I don’t want to be dictated to by my fears.
Anyway, we had a long drive up some rather hair raising bends through the mountains eventually passing through pine forests and then actually driving through the clouds.
The landscape then changes dramatically and becomes very barren and almost lunar. We were driving along a road that was actually laid through a massive crater – you could see the rim all around – so strange! The road continues to rise until you eventually reach a visitor centre, again really bizarre having this building just out there in the middle of the wilderness. A lot of people stop at this point and get out to take various walks. We continued in the car until you come to a further building where you can pay to go up the rest of the mountain via cable car. I really expected to be nervous about this but I wasn’t and in fact really enjoyed it. Go figure.
The cable car takes you almost to the top and, providing you have the necessary permit and are fit enough you can climb the last few metres to the top.
Another cable car
We didn’t continue to the very top because we didn’t have the permits, also it was absolutely freezing up there and although we had prepared I don’t think we we wrapped up enough.
It was a cloudy day but I loved the view we had looking down to see the crater below and the clouds which we had passed through. It was the brilliant blue that you experience when flying.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
What I discovered on this outing is that my fear of heights depends on the context. After all, I’m not afraid to fly and planes tend to be pretty high up after all! I’m not afraid to be in a high building even on the top floor – because I’m inside the building. However, I wouldn’t like to be on a balcony very high up – it would just make me feel ‘wrong’! So I didn’t mind being so high up because it wasn’t like the experience of standing on a sharp cliff edge.
Anyway, a great trip and well worth it.