short question. i am kinda new to the sci-fi genre and love your videos. I would love if you made a video explianing some terms that are often named and used in your videos for new people to the genre to fully understand them, maybe even explain some tropes as well. Things like (space-opera, literary sci-fi/ genre-fiction) whatever, especially for viewers whose first language is not enlglish this would help a lot. !
Thanks for the recommendation of Continuous Katherine. It's the best thing I've read in months, and is definitely now on my top 10 SF list. I can't guess exactly how many (at least several) times in the last 45 years of reading SF and Fantasy I've come across "The Unsleeping Eye" and said to myself, "That looks stupid." You're doing a real service here to people like me who are set in our ways, "know what we like", and find ourselves loathe to step out of our comfort zones without a compelling, articulate endorsement. And since you seem to have exquisite taste in this stuff (judging by the many books you've reviewed that I've read and agree with you about ;-), my SF reading list exists again. Inverted World or a re-read of Helliconia next, maybe.. after Windows by D. G. I'm a sucker for sequels, and it picks up the moment after CK ends.
Stayed 2 years in the Caribbean, wild dog central. Was trained by people who came before me to pick up a rock, or even just make the gesture of picking up a rock, whenever threatened by wild dogs or packs of dogs. You never had to throw the rock, they seemed to know to turn tail.
A few years ago I read the Bible. My local library had a copy of Asimov's Guide to the Bible so I read both together. It was really useful. There's more going on in the Bible than, I think, most people remember. Lots of place names, tribal names, kings, etc. Asimov describes what these places and people were, to the best historical knowledge at the time. It's a little dated but still worth reading. That's what I think puts Asimov above most other sci-fi authors. He wrote about everything, science, history, philosophy... on and on. And he did it well. Not just books but essays and forwards and every other kind of writing. In the New York Times book review section they always interview an author. A common question is "You're organizing a dinner party and can include any three authors, dead or alive. Who do you include?" For me, Asimov would be one of them. Just a truly fascinating man who could talk on any subject.
Upon that gasping intro I expected you to turn to the camera and say, “It’s…” as The Liberty Bell March begins to play a la Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
The "Please Explain, Isaac Asimov" series of essays were anthologised and I fondly remember reading them. I also greatly enjoyed his 2 volume autobiography.
kenneth patchen is very well known to new directions publishing book readers. i have had collected poems and selected poems off and on for years, along with journal. we even lived cater corner to new directions offices for 25 years, which always gave me a smile as its america's greatest book publisher (or was, really, although its still in business). love all the nd books as much as the 1960s-70s ace conan, tarzan and scifi paperbacks.
There’s a 1980 movie adaptation of “The Unsleeping Eye” called “Death Watch”. Directed by Bertrand Tavernier and starring Harvey Keitel. It’s very good and close to the book
Have a look on these books from Stanislaw Lem: Eden, The Invincible and Fiasco. I assume you already read Solaris. His work is in stark contrast to the golden era American sci-fi writers who often tend to create large and complex universes with many characters, while he instead kept focus on one idea and went into huge depth exploring it. I always liked this approach better.
I love your channel. When I got back into exploring the genre of Sci-fi, SF, all that (always into literature, though), I found your vids and perfect timing. Time traveling perhaps?
isn't Ballard's view of life based on his childhood in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, as per Empire of the Sun (autobiography)? Thank-you for Patchin
Cat-person who is currently catless with an awesome canine, here. (Oddly enough, The dog just might be my favorite pet ever, though.) You crack me up. I've been to those dinner parties. I only regret that I could not watch one of your videos while in attendance. So, no, this viewer is still subscribed.
Great video. I have a couple of copies of A Reader's guide to Science-Fiction as well as A Reader's guide to Fantasy. Back in the day, I thought of that two-book series as an essential of reference material but today they might be more of a fan's essential to collect.
Thrilled to see a shout-out to Patchen, an unfortunate asterisk in 20th c. American poetry. Sui generis. In the mid-70s I came across the slim volumes But Even So and Because It Is and have loved him ever since. Pleased to know there's another soul out there who's moved by his work.
So glad you liked the Compton. I read it a few months ago and was knocked out. Hard to get almost anything by him in paperback now. I've been reading a lot of Ballard lately and while I think your analysis of his tone is largely accurate, he's rescued by his beautiful prose.
I have a question for you, sir. I’m at a bit of a crisis. At a used bookstore, I have come across a BUNCH of Tanith Lee books. A lot of DAW originals, etc. I haven’t read her yet. I have these copies being held for me (I bought one of the books so I could read it in the meantime). I suppose what I’m asking is : should I just go in whole hog and buy them? this bookstore is smart and his pricing them accordingly (10-$15 range) , but I would follow your recommendation if you said just to go all in on Tanith... THIS PLACE HAD STANISLAW LEM PAPERBACKS! I bought those.
I think you’ll like both Carter and Sladek. I’ve got some library holds on Compton and am freshly keen for them to come in. What a great description of that special bond with works that seem to be speaking directly to one’s essence.
I just read Katherine Mortenhoe too, and while ultimately I didn't like it as much as Farewell, Earth's Bliss, I still very much enjoyed it. Where Bliss's ending is stunning, the end here is terribly sad, beautiful, and deeply moving.
I have Isaac Asimov's Gold. I wish I could just had it to you, it is in my discard pile. It is 1/3 short stories, 1/3 essays on science fiction and 1/3 essays on writing in general. The cover says that the short stories are among his last. "The last words from SF's Grand Master."
Cats are better pets than dogs. People who say dogs have never had a good cat. They're less maintenance and love you just as much. Agree with everything you said about Patchen too.
Cats are cats and dogs are dogs, and they can be for different types of people. I have a cat, I love her, but I also love dogs. There is no doubt that dogs can require more from people than cats, whether in space or attention, but eh, you get what's best for you. Both are lovely creatures in their own ways.
Haha, I know what you mean about dogs. I like them too but yeah, sometimes you just want to be left alone. Cats are less full-on and that's what you want sometimes.
Cats will be cats. . . . it is not about the dog it is about the owner and lack of training / responsibility; but I get it cause it is the dog in the moment
Had to skip the Compton review because it's in my TBR and I want to go in blind - but I actually didn't realize Unsleeping Eye & Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe were the same book!
@@gabormertz8873 I've read it in this collection in 1990 with some fiend eating a sexy droid on the cover. In Almanah Anticipatia I've read my first SF story which was The Crabs Swarm The Island by Anatoly Dneprov who was the first SF SCIENTIST that in a story called The Game demonstrated, in my opinion with no trace of doubt, that an AI, no matter how advanced, will never have a conscience, will always be just a simulacrum, predating The Chinese Room concept. What wonderful times of awe and discovery!
We need to get more people reading Compton. He's a much better writer than most SF authors. It's like he's a good writer who just happens to engage in SF storytelling, rather than a SF storyteller whose plots are ingenious but whose writing is subpar. My two cents, anyway...
haha speaking of travel and dogs i had the wildest adventure in easter island where after leaving a place late at night a group of dogs and horses walked us back home to where we were staying and the weird and eerie thing about it was they were completely silent.
A movie was made in 1979 based on The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe. It was called Deathwatch. I had forgotten about it until I heard your description of the book.
Glad that you recommended Patchen. As someone who is really into poetry more broadly, I would say Patchen is one of the most interesting ever. I might suggest Osip Mandelstam as well, because I have a feeling that if you connect with Patchen, you would also connect with him.
Hey Matt, I mentioned Patchen in a video of mine a while back, saying how nobody ever reads of talks about him, well done. Be interested to see what you think of 'Windows', the sequel to 'The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe'- as you know, I've been a DGC fan forever, great stuff. The film version - 'Deathwatch'- is a little too slow and sensitive I found, lacked the tight focus Compton always has without loss of feeling. I think you'll enjoy Carter. Sladek doesn't always grab people, love his work myself. Take care, man.
Verne and Wells have a lot of predictability hits among the two and very few "misses," so they go before Clarke. Orwell's record was very good, too, although his work is not strictly sci-fi. Also, when readers start either exploring sci-fi in languages other than English, or read in languages other than English and express their opinions to an English-language audience, different, unknown names start popping up that have demonstrated a decent predictive record.
Asimov's non-fiction is indeed very good. I'd say his book "Atom: Journey across the subatomic cosmos" is still one of the best intros to quantum mechanics for the general audience.
I like to play the game of where's Matt now. Guessing four corners region (I lived in SW Colorado for a long time) or maybe mtns of Arizona. Great post.
Some personal information on the author Kenneth Patchen--My dad lived on his street when he was little, during Kenneth Patchen's final years in Palo Alto. Dad said he and the other neighborhood kids would use the lamppost in front of Patchen's house as home base for their hide and seek games. Also, he said Patchen's house was painted black.
@@Bookpilled I seldom run across anyone who is aware of Kenneth Patchen's work, and personally I haven't read much of it. (Now, I may pick up Selected Poems.) A while back I was reading a Stephen King novel and found where King used a quote from Patchen as a header for one of the chapters. It was “Come now, my child, if we were planning to harm you, do you think we’d be lurking here beside the path in the very darkest part of the forest?” This resonated, if slightly humorously, since said lamp post on our cul-de-sac in 1958 stood only in a dim pool of light in a larger, darker area bounded on one corner by a back bedroom window of the Patchen's black house. None of us kids had seen him but knew he was bedridden, and I imagined, later in life while reading King, that at night he could turn enough to peek through the part in the curtains and see us kids playing in the gloom. If memory serves, we weren't very quiet. Mrs. Patchen could be seen frequently walking to or from the grocery store guiding her two-wheeled cart in front of her. She was tall--stately--and very friendly. My older sister, along with some of her friends from our cul-de-sac, was once invited inside to meet Mr. Patchen. She reported that he was "very nice." I'm sorry to say that's the extent of my experience. Today, by the way, the house is painted a nice light blue/gray and there are rose bushes in a front yard bounded by a white picket fence.
Would love to hear you talk about Asimov's review of 1984 (maybe on Patreon?), as I just read it too and it absolutely hit it on the nose for me especially with regards to Orwell's blatant obsession with Stalinist Russia, and how it's driving me absolutely nuts that this seems to fly right over people's heads... (I don't care as much about sf being "predictive" as Asimov seems to do, so his complaints about that were "eh" for me, but Asimov has other priorities than me which is fine.)
This is rather unrelated but has anyone read beyond the Aquila rift by Alastair Reynolds? If so would you recommend it? I’m debating whether I should buy it
This is what AI told me about if Isaac Asimov was into marxism. Spoilers he was not lol. "Isaac Asimov was not a Marxist. While Asimov's work often explored themes related to social systems, governance, and the future of humanity, his personal beliefs and political views were more nuanced. Asimov identified as a humanist and was known for his rational and scientific approach to understanding the world. He supported the ideas of progress, science, and rationality, but he did not adhere to Marxist ideology. In his writings, Asimov often emphasized the importance of individual freedom, scientific advancement, and ethical responsibility, which do not align strictly with Marxist principles. His Foundation series, for example, explores the rise and fall of civilizations and the role of psychohistory, a fictional science that predicts the future on a large scale, rather than promoting any specific political ideology." "Isaac Asimov did not explicitly identify as a Marxist in his writings or interviews, but he did discuss and critique various political and economic systems, including Marxism. His works often reflect a thoughtful examination of different ideologies and their impacts on society. In his essay collection "The Left Hand of the Electron," Asimov discussed socialism and Marxism. He expressed skepticism about the practicality of Marxist ideals, particularly the idea of a classless society. He acknowledged some of the positive aspects of Marxism, such as its focus on equality, but he also criticized the authoritarian tendencies seen in Marxist regimes. Asimov's works, like the Foundation series, often explore the complexities of political systems and the challenges of governance, but they do not serve as endorsements of any particular ideology. Instead, they reflect his interest in the dynamics of power, the role of science and technology in society, and the importance of ethical considerations in shaping the future."
Always collected Asimov essay volumes when I found them; his fiction less so. I have at least two dozen or more. When I first got The Hugo Winners I&II, the first thing I read were all the introductions he wrote about all the stories and authors. Never read Compton, but are you familiar with the movie “Real Life”? Hilarious take on reality TV gone insane,twenty years before it was a thing.
Keeping with some of your theme: Have you read "Heart of a Dog" by Mikhail Bulgakov? it was written circa 1925 but not published in the USSR until the late 80's. A dog is surgically transformed into a man. Strangeness ensues. Like most (all?) of Bulgakov''s work it is very anti soviet.
The End of Eternity (Asimov) suggests that utopian social planning is stifling and bad. The attitude of the hero in this novel, at least, seems contrary to Marxism. I think some of Asimov's other novels were anti-Communism in sentiment as well. I've also seem him in interviews. I think his attitude about Russia after the Revolution is closer Ayn Rand's.
Isaac always seems to mention socialism and liberalism a lot but not once I heard him mention marxism. Would be interested to see if he actually ever wrote or talked about it.
It is not A Boy And His Cat. Peregrine and Scriber are not cats, and, it is no accident that it is canids, not felines, who are the scholars and pacifists in City … Jack London - doh, could go on
I doubt the idea of the Foundation books being based on marxism. They seem to focus on the collapse of a feudal system mixed with an ancient roman one while Marx developed his theories on capitalism ,sometimes giving more attention to more defined stages of capitalism and its emergence from feudalism he didn't go this far back. Of course there has been some literature that analyses how such a perspective would work on those societies who existed in an earlier period like :The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World: From the Archaic Age to the Arab Conquests by G. E. M. de Ste. Croix. Maybe the reason some people think this is because he depicts imperialism and unequal development. But I don't think his treatment of those is marxist since he seems to think history is driven by the ideas a population expresses than material conditions and the ways of production such conditions could be achieved. And while is true Marx is not a materialist but a dialectical materialist, Asimov uses Pyscho-history to predict stuff instead of trying to analyse economic systems or class consciousness. Actual treatments of how marxism sees imperialism can be found in , surprisingly , books on the subject : The Political Economy of Imperialism by Dan Nabudere; Keynesianism, Monetarism and the Crisis of the State by Simon Clarke and The theory of capitalist development By Paul M. Sweezy. The age of empire by Eric J. Hobsbawn kind of gives a feeling for the age in which colonial empires were at their peak but is the least heavy on explanations. Edit: of course I don't expect you to review them on your channel but if you ever want to read them for yourself these are some of the better ones.
As an actual (moderate conservative) Ballard's cynicism and pessimism do resonate with me. I do like the Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe, though. I also like your channel.
You mentioned SF sea legs and I feel like I am nowhere near that point after just over 100 reads. I started this channel recently to document my journey and if you ever find the time to provide some feedback, I'd be grateful. Hopefully I can become as eloquent and coherent as the Bookpill plug.
Dogs put more than 12,000 Americans in the hospital each year. Dog attacks, especially pitbull attacks, are more like a shark attack than any other kind of injury that doctors would treat. That sounds pretty bad, but then you have to remember that dogs bite 50 million Americans every year, and so that's relatively few who are hospitalized. Of course when they maul and kill a child as they do, there's no one going to the hospital. A wild pack of dogs, even domestic dogs gone feral, is the most dangerous thing (other than a human) you could possibly confront. They kill people for sport. Cats, on the other paw, earn their keep: especially in rural and suburban areas, cats are very effective at keeping rodents populations in check and out of your home. Heck, even Wolves are better than dogs: wolves keep deer and elk from lingering on roads and roadsides and significantly reduce vehicular damage and human lives lost due to wildlife collisions. Wolves save lives. Wolves make America great. Dogs are a general nuisance and sometimes deadly.
Are there people who think Foundation isn't about dialectical materialism? I mean, it seems blatantly obvious to me that it's what psychohistory is based upon.
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I have 5 cats and love books. I don't normally hit that like button on videos but you get one for that. Love the content. Thank you.
I have 5 cats that manage my personal library, and they insist that I always give Bookpilled a thumbs up for the solid effort each video represents.
Asimov in the 80's - " One day everyone will have their own TV channel."
@@GoblinOfGygaxinor I thought iit was Andy Warhol
@@TulilaSalome Maybe he said it too. ruclips.net/video/cIB1b_8hqB0/видео.htmlsi=iChlR_dKxwaI8mb-&t=728
Survival horror book blogging.
"This is an Andy Weir reader I think" is your funniest line to date
Super interesting, as always!
I love you for keeping the adult exertion whimpers in the edit. Life after 20 is rough😄
Love the brief pockets of nature, great addition to the channel
short question. i am kinda new to the sci-fi genre and love your videos. I would love if you made a video explianing some terms that are often named and used in your videos for new people to the genre to fully understand them, maybe even explain some tropes as well.
Things like (space-opera, literary sci-fi/ genre-fiction) whatever, especially for viewers whose first language is not enlglish this would help a lot. !
You can just look up what these things mean on google
The dog was indeed an Andy Weir reader.
Have you heard of Andy Weir's book Artemis? -- translated from bork bork
That sounds like dinner party talk
Thanks for the recommendation of Continuous Katherine. It's the best thing I've read in months, and is definitely now on my top 10 SF list. I can't guess exactly how many (at least several) times in the last 45 years of reading SF and Fantasy I've come across "The Unsleeping Eye" and said to myself, "That looks stupid." You're doing a real service here to people like me who are set in our ways, "know what we like", and find ourselves loathe to step out of our comfort zones without a compelling, articulate endorsement. And since you seem to have exquisite taste in this stuff (judging by the many books you've reviewed that I've read and agree with you about ;-), my SF reading list exists again. Inverted World or a re-read of Helliconia next, maybe.. after Windows by D. G. I'm a sucker for sequels, and it picks up the moment after CK ends.
Stayed 2 years in the Caribbean, wild dog central. Was trained by people who came before me to pick up a rock, or even just make the gesture of picking up a rock, whenever threatened by wild dogs or packs of dogs. You never had to throw the rock, they seemed to know to turn tail.
Ballard's explorations of humans descending into savagery is of course a reflection of his childhood experiences in an internment camp in Shanghai.
A few years ago I read the Bible. My local library had a copy of Asimov's Guide to the Bible so I read both together. It was really useful. There's more going on in the Bible than, I think, most people remember. Lots of place names, tribal names, kings, etc. Asimov describes what these places and people were, to the best historical knowledge at the time. It's a little dated but still worth reading.
That's what I think puts Asimov above most other sci-fi authors. He wrote about everything, science, history, philosophy... on and on. And he did it well. Not just books but essays and forwards and every other kind of writing. In the New York Times book review section they always interview an author. A common question is "You're organizing a dinner party and can include any three authors, dead or alive. Who do you include?" For me, Asimov would be one of them. Just a truly fascinating man who could talk on any subject.
Mark Twain
Christopher Hitchens
Harlan Ellison
(Hugh Laurie a close 4th)
You struggling up that rock was adorable. Loving Matt Geo. :)
Upon that gasping intro I expected you to turn to the camera and say, “It’s…” as The Liberty Bell March begins to play a la Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
The "Please Explain, Isaac Asimov" series of essays were anthologised and I fondly remember reading them.
I also greatly enjoyed his 2 volume autobiography.
He was one of the all-time great explainers.
I’ve had an nyrb copy of The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe for a few months now! I’m going to start reading it immediately
kenneth patchen is very well known to new directions publishing book readers. i have had collected poems and selected poems off and on for years, along with journal. we even lived cater corner to new directions offices for 25 years, which always gave me a smile as its america's greatest book publisher (or was, really, although its still in business). love all the nd books as much as the 1960s-70s ace conan, tarzan and scifi paperbacks.
There’s a 1980 movie adaptation of “The Unsleeping Eye” called “Death Watch”. Directed by Bertrand Tavernier and starring Harvey Keitel. It’s very good and close to the book
Have a look on these books from Stanislaw Lem: Eden, The Invincible and Fiasco. I assume you already read Solaris. His work is in stark contrast to the golden era American sci-fi writers who often tend to create large and complex universes with many characters, while he instead kept focus on one idea and went into huge depth exploring it. I always liked this approach better.
I always preferred Asimov's essays to his fiction.
I love your channel. When I got back into exploring the genre of Sci-fi, SF, all that (always into literature, though), I found your vids and perfect timing. Time traveling perhaps?
isn't Ballard's view of life based on his childhood in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, as per Empire of the Sun (autobiography)? Thank-you for Patchin
Cat-person who is currently catless with an awesome canine, here. (Oddly enough, The dog just might be my favorite pet ever, though.) You crack me up. I've been to those dinner parties. I only regret that I could not watch one of your videos while in attendance. So, no, this viewer is still subscribed.
Adding Compton to my reading list! Thanks for the great review. Love the Laibach shirt!
Great video. I have a couple of copies of A Reader's guide to Science-Fiction as well as A Reader's guide to Fantasy. Back in the day, I thought of that two-book series as an essential of reference material but today they might be more of a fan's essential to collect.
It feels good to be Bookpilled again with a new video. Thanks.
Travel taught me cats are better than dogs 😂. Can’t help but agree with that 😅
Thrilled to see a shout-out to Patchen, an unfortunate asterisk in 20th c. American poetry. Sui generis. In the mid-70s I came across the slim volumes But Even So and Because It Is and have loved him ever since. Pleased to know there's another soul out there who's moved by his work.
it is ok to read a masterpiece every now and then :)
So glad you liked the Compton. I read it a few months ago and was knocked out. Hard to get almost anything by him in paperback now. I've been reading a lot of Ballard lately and while I think your analysis of his tone is largely accurate, he's rescued by his beautiful prose.
I have a question for you, sir. I’m at a bit of a crisis. At a used bookstore, I have come across a BUNCH of Tanith Lee books. A lot of DAW originals, etc. I haven’t read her yet. I have these copies being held for me (I bought one of the books so I could read it in the meantime).
I suppose what I’m asking is : should I just go in whole hog and buy them? this bookstore is smart and his pricing them accordingly (10-$15 range) , but I would follow your recommendation if you said just to go all in on Tanith...
THIS PLACE HAD STANISLAW LEM PAPERBACKS! I bought those.
I think you’ll like both Carter and Sladek.
I’ve got some library holds on Compton and am freshly keen for them to come in.
What a great description of that special bond with works that seem to be speaking directly to one’s essence.
I just read Katherine Mortenhoe too, and while ultimately I didn't like it as much as Farewell, Earth's Bliss, I still very much enjoyed it. Where Bliss's ending is stunning, the end here is terribly sad, beautiful, and deeply moving.
I have Isaac Asimov's Gold. I wish I could just had it to you, it is in my discard pile. It is 1/3 short stories, 1/3 essays on science fiction and 1/3 essays on writing in general.
The cover says that the short stories are among his last. "The last words from SF's Grand Master."
I appreciate your style of presentation.
Cats are better pets than dogs. People who say dogs have never had a good cat. They're less maintenance and love you just as much. Agree with everything you said about Patchen too.
Cats love no one. Your cat sees you as a source of food, either for the food you give it or as potential prey.
@@cedarwaxwing3509 Imagine actually believing that
@@Joshua-q3y2k Yeah, I forgot that cat owners have no sense of humor.
Cats are cats and dogs are dogs, and they can be for different types of people. I have a cat, I love her, but I also love dogs. There is no doubt that dogs can require more from people than cats, whether in space or attention, but eh, you get what's best for you. Both are lovely creatures in their own ways.
Doggos are awesome
Amphibian, by Belayev? My fave as a kid - a ripping yarn,fun, not too deep (sic)
Haha, I know what you mean about dogs. I like them too but yeah, sometimes you just want to be left alone. Cats are less full-on and that's what you want sometimes.
Cats will be cats. . . . it is not about the dog it is about the owner and lack of training / responsibility; but I get it cause it is the dog in the moment
Thanks bud. DGC on the TBR. All the best from Scotland
Had to skip the Compton review because it's in my TBR and I want to go in blind - but I actually didn't realize Unsleeping Eye & Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe were the same book!
Povestiri Științifico-Fantastice?! How appropriate! Where I did my apprenticeship in SF. I read The Sand Kings in that collection. I still have it.
Sand Kings was in Almanah Anticipația.
@@gabormertz8873 I've read it in this collection in 1990 with some fiend eating a sexy droid on the cover. In Almanah Anticipatia I've read my first SF story which was The Crabs Swarm The Island by Anatoly Dneprov who was the first SF SCIENTIST that in a story called The Game demonstrated, in my opinion with no trace of doubt, that an AI, no matter how advanced, will never have a conscience, will always be just a simulacrum, predating The Chinese Room concept. What wonderful times of awe and discovery!
We need to get more people reading Compton. He's a much better writer than most SF authors. It's like he's a good writer who just happens to engage in SF storytelling, rather than a SF storyteller whose plots are ingenious but whose writing is subpar. My two cents, anyway...
I live vicariously through Matt.
haha speaking of travel and dogs i had the wildest adventure in easter island where after leaving a place late at night a group of dogs and horses walked us back home to where we were staying and the weird and eerie thing about it was they were completely silent.
That was your one shot to enter the Redwall universe and you blew it
@@Bookpilled ha well those books were long after my childhood, although i know of them.
A movie was made in 1979 based on The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe. It was called Deathwatch. I had forgotten about it until I heard your description of the book.
Have you ever reviewed hard science first contact books? It's my favorite genre.
Glad that you recommended Patchen. As someone who is really into poetry more broadly, I would say Patchen is one of the most interesting ever. I might suggest Osip Mandelstam as well, because I have a feeling that if you connect with Patchen, you would also connect with him.
Haven't read Mandelstam, appreciate the rec.
I think Clarke might be the only SF author who actually had a decent "predictive" track record.
He worked closely with the government to see some of his invention ideas implemented. . . Is that considered cheating?
Hey Matt, I mentioned Patchen in a video of mine a while back, saying how nobody ever reads of talks about him, well done. Be interested to see what you think of 'Windows', the sequel to 'The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe'- as you know, I've been a DGC fan forever, great stuff. The film version - 'Deathwatch'- is a little too slow and sensitive I found, lacked the tight focus Compton always has without loss of feeling. I think you'll enjoy Carter. Sladek doesn't always grab people, love his work myself. Take care, man.
@@waltera13More like he was smart for doing that lol.
Verne and Wells have a lot of predictability hits among the two and very few "misses," so they go before Clarke. Orwell's record was very good, too, although his work is not strictly sci-fi. Also, when readers start either exploring sci-fi in languages other than English, or read in languages other than English and express their opinions to an English-language audience, different, unknown names start popping up that have demonstrated a decent predictive record.
The Unsleeping Eye was adapted to a movie in 1980
Soviet Science Fiction ~ I just saw that exact book at a Halfprice Books....and passed it by. Damn.
You need to review Cujo sometime (haha). I never read D.G. Compton as a kid, and he sounds intriguing. I do like Ballard.
That cover for Hoiti Toiti is from Romania.
I think Mercinary by Mac Reynolds deserves a little bit more attention. I never hear anyone talk about it.
Starting look like Forrest Gump when he started to run around USA 😃
It happens.
You sound very Patchenate about his work.
(You said Edenic AND Rousseauean, we're even)
Asimov's non-fiction is indeed very good. I'd say his book "Atom: Journey across the subatomic cosmos" is still one of the best intros to quantum mechanics for the general audience.
I like to play the game of where's Matt now. Guessing four corners region (I lived in SW Colorado for a long time) or maybe mtns of Arizona. Great post.
Some personal information on the author Kenneth Patchen--My dad lived on his street when he was little, during Kenneth Patchen's final years in Palo Alto. Dad said he and the other neighborhood kids would use the lamppost in front of Patchen's house as home base for their hide and seek games. Also, he said Patchen's house was painted black.
Incredible. And of course it was painted black. If your dad recalls any other details about Patchen I'd love to hear them.
@@Bookpilled I seldom run across anyone who is aware of Kenneth Patchen's work, and personally I haven't read much of it. (Now, I may pick up Selected Poems.) A while back I was reading a Stephen King novel and found where King used a quote from Patchen as a header for one of the chapters. It was “Come now, my child, if we were planning to harm you, do you think we’d be lurking here beside the path in the very darkest part of the forest?” This resonated, if slightly humorously, since said lamp post on our cul-de-sac in 1958 stood only in a dim pool of light in a larger, darker area bounded on one corner by a back bedroom window of the Patchen's black house. None of us kids had seen him but knew he was bedridden, and I imagined, later in life while reading King, that at night he could turn enough to peek through the part in the curtains and see us kids playing in the gloom. If memory serves, we weren't very quiet.
Mrs. Patchen could be seen frequently walking to or from the grocery store guiding her two-wheeled cart in front of her. She was tall--stately--and very friendly. My older sister, along with some of her friends from our cul-de-sac, was once invited inside to meet Mr. Patchen. She reported that he was "very nice."
I'm sorry to say that's the extent of my experience. Today, by the way, the house is painted a nice light blue/gray and there are rose bushes in a front yard bounded by a white picket fence.
"Andy Weir reader..." brilliant.😏
The Unsleeping Eye is brilliant. Read it several times.
Would love to hear you talk about Asimov's review of 1984 (maybe on Patreon?), as I just read it too and it absolutely hit it on the nose for me especially with regards to Orwell's blatant obsession with Stalinist Russia, and how it's driving me absolutely nuts that this seems to fly right over people's heads... (I don't care as much about sf being "predictive" as Asimov seems to do, so his complaints about that were "eh" for me, but Asimov has other priorities than me which is fine.)
This is rather unrelated but has anyone read beyond the Aquila rift by Alastair Reynolds? If so would you recommend it? I’m debating whether I should buy it
Stoked for the incoming content 👌
My dad always recommended to me the various "Asimov on" books, but I never did try one.
The dog is an Andy Weir reader 🤣🤣🤣
05:56 that's a Romanian cover!
What? A top fantasy book list? I look forward to it.
This is what AI told me about if Isaac Asimov was into marxism. Spoilers he was not lol.
"Isaac Asimov was not a Marxist. While Asimov's work often explored themes related to social systems, governance, and the future of humanity, his personal beliefs and political views were more nuanced. Asimov identified as a humanist and was known for his rational and scientific approach to understanding the world. He supported the ideas of progress, science, and rationality, but he did not adhere to Marxist ideology.
In his writings, Asimov often emphasized the importance of individual freedom, scientific advancement, and ethical responsibility, which do not align strictly with Marxist principles. His Foundation series, for example, explores the rise and fall of civilizations and the role of psychohistory, a fictional science that predicts the future on a large scale, rather than promoting any specific political ideology."
"Isaac Asimov did not explicitly identify as a Marxist in his writings or interviews, but he did discuss and critique various political and economic systems, including Marxism. His works often reflect a thoughtful examination of different ideologies and their impacts on society.
In his essay collection "The Left Hand of the Electron," Asimov discussed socialism and Marxism. He expressed skepticism about the practicality of Marxist ideals, particularly the idea of a classless society. He acknowledged some of the positive aspects of Marxism, such as its focus on equality, but he also criticized the authoritarian tendencies seen in Marxist regimes.
Asimov's works, like the Foundation series, often explore the complexities of political systems and the challenges of governance, but they do not serve as endorsements of any particular ideology. Instead, they reflect his interest in the dynamics of power, the role of science and technology in society, and the importance of ethical considerations in shaping the future."
Dogs are fine as long as they're regularly washed, not sniffing your package and not being aggressive towards others.
Always collected Asimov essay volumes when I found them; his fiction less so. I have at least two dozen or more. When I first got The Hugo Winners I&II, the first thing I read were all the introductions he wrote about all the stories and authors. Never read Compton, but are you familiar with the movie “Real Life”? Hilarious take on reality TV gone insane,twenty years before it was a thing.
Haven't seen it I don't think
@@Bookpilled I remember it’s an Albert Brooks comedy.
I think you are correct that Asimov wrote more non fiction than fiction!
We need another whatnot sale!
Nice Laibach t-shirt, Slóvenía's 2nd best band.
"hilariously dry, academic and Asimovian"
I couldn't have put it better myself. 😀
Keeping with some of your theme: Have you read "Heart of a Dog" by Mikhail Bulgakov? it was written circa 1925 but not published in the USSR until the late 80's. A dog is surgically transformed into a man. Strangeness ensues. Like most (all?) of Bulgakov''s work it is very anti soviet.
Have only read Master and Margarita, which was great.
The End of Eternity (Asimov) suggests that utopian social planning is stifling and bad. The attitude of the hero in this novel, at least, seems contrary to Marxism. I think some of Asimov's other novels were anti-Communism in sentiment as well. I've also seem him in interviews. I think his attitude about Russia after the Revolution is closer Ayn Rand's.
Where was this filmed?
Can't talk about Russian Sci-Fi without talking about "Roadside Picnic"! It's great, if you haven't read it.
As a barklord, I resent your borderline cur-slurring.
check out bob shaw's orbitsville and sequels..underated classic sci-fi
Isaac always seems to mention socialism and liberalism a lot but not once I heard him mention marxism. Would be interested to see if he actually ever wrote or talked about it.
Release the wild dogs cut!
Are you (were you) at Pensaquia Park (not the actual spelling) near San Diego?
It is not A Boy And His Cat. Peregrine and Scriber are not cats, and, it is no accident that it is canids, not felines, who are the scholars and pacifists in City … Jack London - doh, could go on
And there's MAUS.....
I used to have that great book
I doubt the idea of the Foundation books being based on marxism.
They seem to focus on the collapse of a feudal system mixed with an ancient roman one while Marx developed his theories on capitalism ,sometimes giving more attention to more defined stages of capitalism and its emergence from feudalism he didn't go this far back.
Of course there has been some literature that analyses how such a perspective would work on those societies who existed in an earlier period like :The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World: From the Archaic Age to the Arab Conquests by G. E. M. de Ste. Croix.
Maybe the reason some people think this is because he depicts imperialism and unequal development. But I don't think his treatment of those is marxist since he seems to think history is driven by the ideas a population expresses than material conditions and the ways of production such conditions could be achieved.
And while is true Marx is not a materialist but a dialectical materialist, Asimov uses Pyscho-history to predict stuff instead of trying to analyse economic systems or class consciousness.
Actual treatments of how marxism sees imperialism can be found in , surprisingly , books on the subject :
The Political Economy
of Imperialism by Dan Nabudere; Keynesianism, Monetarism and the Crisis of the State by Simon Clarke and The theory of capitalist development
By Paul M. Sweezy.
The age of empire by Eric J. Hobsbawn kind of gives a feeling for the age in which colonial empires were at their peak but is the least heavy on explanations.
Edit: of course I don't expect you to review them on your channel but if you ever want to read them for yourself these are some of the better ones.
Stand up before a dog. It must clearly know who is the boss.
1 minute and no views, dude really fell off.
This is a joke of course keep up the great content.
Andy Weir is a cat guy, I bet
What are your traveling plans these days?
TBD
As an actual (moderate conservative) Ballard's cynicism and pessimism do resonate with me. I do like the Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe, though. I also like your channel.
Cats are better than dogs. They give you personal space and only give you attention when necessary, mainly around supper time. The best.
You mentioned SF sea legs and I feel like I am nowhere near that point after just over 100 reads. I started this channel recently to document my journey and if you ever find the time to provide some feedback, I'd be grateful. Hopefully I can become as eloquent and coherent as the Bookpill plug.
Dogs put more than 12,000 Americans in the hospital each year. Dog attacks, especially pitbull attacks, are more like a shark attack than any other kind of injury that doctors would treat. That sounds pretty bad, but then you have to remember that dogs bite 50 million Americans every year, and so that's relatively few who are hospitalized. Of course when they maul and kill a child as they do, there's no one going to the hospital. A wild pack of dogs, even domestic dogs gone feral, is the most dangerous thing (other than a human) you could possibly confront. They kill people for sport. Cats, on the other paw, earn their keep: especially in rural and suburban areas, cats are very effective at keeping rodents populations in check and out of your home. Heck, even Wolves are better than dogs: wolves keep deer and elk from lingering on roads and roadsides and significantly reduce vehicular damage and human lives lost due to wildlife collisions. Wolves save lives. Wolves make America great. Dogs are a general nuisance and sometimes deadly.
Release the clip of you being chased by a pack of dogs!
Are there people who think Foundation isn't about dialectical materialism? I mean, it seems blatantly obvious to me that it's what psychohistory is based upon.
Just got back from dinner and I’m making the girlfriend watch a Bookpilled video.
Hopefully the relationship survived
Nice video
i love your videos
'Balardian.'