Friday 1 June 2007

The Prelude

Oye...Superb...The prelude to the foundation by Issac Asimov had already had a chunk of my heart and a corner of my brain(the portion i use for imaginations).

SPOILER WARNING:NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK.

From the beginning itself the gravity shafts and the magnetically levitated express ways had left me hallucinating about the hyper-complex society of Trantor and I wondered what it would be like to have the whole of the galaxy discovered,settled,unified and had a history of a million years.The concept of psychohistory is absolutely wonderful a concept all credits to the ingenuity of the author to have thought of such a powerful theory.All the arguments lead through a powerful and gorgeous thread of neatly knit plots that leaves us spell-bound.
I'm most attracted to Hari Seldon,partly because we both share our first names and the love for mathematics,and obviously because he is the man with the innovation.Chetter Hummin aka Demerzel aka Deneel simply is a fantastic creation of a remarkable writer and its even more impressive when he finally uses the idea of an immortal humanoid to perfection.The guise of Demerzel was i feel the heart of the whole story and shrewd statesman he is just adds to the tally of remarks you can make of this man.Not to mention i was also captivated by the natural grace of Dors Venabili another of the clever and charismatic creations of a decorated author.
Trantor,the head quarters of the Empire ,a complex of worlds like Mycogen,Wye,Dahl,The University is a splendor in itself thanks to the foresight and vivid imagination of the author.
The concept of a domed,certainly not doomed,city or planet rather is very convincing an idea for the writer makes its necessity obvious citing the ecological situation of the planet.
All other characters stand by their duties in fulfilling the needs of the plot and each are impressive in their own attitudes and complexities.Be it the bald Sunmaster of Mycogen, or the moustached Dahlite Jirad Tisalver or Mother Rittah or the delightful Raych or the Madam Mayor of Wye.
A part of the story that captivated my attention was the
hand-on-thigh theory of Dors. The expertise the author has shown in making such a trivial thing into a cornerstone that was to lead our hero into the beginning
.
And finally the whole plot from the beginning to
the beginning
is so cleverly conjured up that it the level of fascination and wonder which urges you to believe something like this can be a possibility however far it may seem.The climax of the story is amazingly a shock,rather a delightful one, for you dispense with the idea of a robot in due course of the story(atleast that was the case with me. I took the whole idea of an immortal robot indistinguishable from a normal human and with mental powers for granted ).
I'm more than sure i have done little justice to the book and the author through the preview (or rather something like that),so keep flooding in the comments,baby.

6 comments:

  1. first of all, the review (preview?) is very well written.. the book..ah what can i say abt it.. classic isaac asimov.

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  2. btw who's dis rodrigo guy?

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  3. did a li'l research..the language is portugese and transalates to :
    Oi, I found yours blog for google tá well interesting I liked this post. When to give gives passed for mine blog, is on personalized t-shirts, shows step by step as to create a well personalized t-shirt way. Until more.

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  4. Good Inquisitivo!
    Well said about the book. It's truly an eye-opener, makes you venture into thoughts that you never thought you would ever think in your life.
    Even though the story is about a brilliant mathematician and his theory that I must say is one hell of an invention, the author makes beautiful comments on the human mind that I liked most. The insights are so well knit into everyday conversations between characters that if you ask me actually spoke volumes.
    Chetter Hummin who from the very start of the story grew to be my favourite character of the book didn't disappointment me in the end.
    The conversations between Oliwav and Seldon are so insightful. Those conversations I must say is my favourite.

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  5. good work. good analysis. i didn't think half as much after i read the book.

    the end of the story as u said is shocking rather than pleasing. but mabbe we will find out in the later books that it was all for the best.

    talking about that, wouldn't the ending been seen as blunt by people reading it in the chronological order.

    good starting sentence!!

    about the book i feel that it is among the few books that that successfully transported me to the place of action.

    you should also like reading hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

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  6. and to gemo....

    you always seems too be obsessed with character analysis. i could see it when i read your copy of prelude. the 'important' parts marked out. thanks to you i could see the beauty of those sentences. i usually skip such sentances

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