Asimov had Aids!

Foxnews ^ | 3/12/02 | metacognate

[metacognate]

Asimov book reveals he died from AIDS By JAM! Books A forthcoming posthumous autobiography of Isaac Asimov reveals that the science fiction legend's death 10 years ago was due to AIDS, according to the New York Post.

Asimov, whose works include "I, Robot," reveals in "It's Been A Good Life" that he contracted the disease via tainted blood while undergoing a 1983 heart bypass operation.

The Post said Asimov's wife, Jane, compiled the new book from essays and notes her husband left behind when he died at 72.

[Dr. Frank fan]

Was this in the film or the book?

[Scully]

With the years this line has become ever more poignant to me. After all, an old person to one who has known him a long time is not an "old person" but is much more likely to be thought of as the younger person who inhabits our memory, vigorous and vibrant. When an old person dies who has been a part of your life, it is part of your youth that dies. And though you survive yourself, you must watch death take away the world of your youth, little by little.

There may be some morbid satisfaction to being a survivor, but is it so much better than death to be the last leaf on the tree, to find yourself alone in a strange and hostile world where no one remembers you as a boy, and where no one can share with you the memory of that long-gone world that glowed all about you when you were young?

Oh I don't know, LarryLied...this beautiful bit of creativity suggests that Asimov did indeed learn a few things in his lifetime.

[Leto]

Loved the Foundation novels, one of my favorite SF writers (Heinlen, Dick and Herbert are the others). Dune was very different in premise from Foundation,

[Leto]

Dig up 'The Man in the High Castle' and 'The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldricth' both are great.

[js1138]

Asimov frequently stated that the inspiration for Foundation was Gibon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Personally I find two tragic events in his writing career. First is the use of word processors, which resulted in his novels bloating from the God-given 200 pages to 600+ pages. Nothing much good ever comes from word count inflation.

The second tragic event in his writing career was his second marriage to a Freudian therapist. His themes turned from innocent fun to wooden sexuality (more or less literally).

[js1138]

Gormenghast was made into a 4 hour miniseries by the BBC and recently broadcast by BBC America. I thought is was above average television. Take that however you will.

[Leto]

There is allusions to telepathy in the shared memories of the Reverend Mothers, but Alia as an Abomination is a special case. Most of this was based on being able to read the "Truth" from the vocal inflections and body language, which is why the navigators didn't want them around. The Bene Gesserit wouldn't reveal their methods and would not discourage fears about telepathic abilities, as this would represent a tatical advantage.

Leto II could see other people's futures but didn't practice telepathy per se.

Thanks for the heads up on the other series, I haven't read it but will have to check it out.

[LarryLied]

I was too rough on Asimov. I'm sure he was a good guy with the best of intentions. Some of his admirers are with whom I have a problem. If don't like AI, you are stupid. He was the smartest person in the whole wide world. Makes me cringe. Too many follow people because they think them to be more intelligent than most. We see it with Clinton and Chomsky devotees. I don't get it. Lots of things more important than intelligence.

[boris]

"Was this in the film or the book?"

It was certainly in the movie. It has been 25 years since I read the book; I cannot recall if these specific scenes were in the book. I believe they were. In general I found the movie to be quite accurate in following Herbert's book.

--Boris

[metacognate]

Dunno what you're talking about. I just got off work and the thread is terrific...except for the atheists. Bitter people. I liked Asimov until he totally mis-applied the Second Law of Thermodynamics in the evolution argument. I didn't know Aids was around in the early '80's and I have friends with transfusion Aids that aren't dying. No big deal. He was a good hearted guy. Heinlein and Clark were better.

[Dr. Frank fan]

I agree that the movie was, on the whole, quite faithful to the book. Especially compared with most filmed versions of books. Like I said, the director Lynch even made an attempt to portray many of the characters' interior voices, which was unusual (and off-putting to some), which at times were taken verbatim from the book.

However, I believe that if the characters in the film actually spoke about "telepathy" and being "in" other peoples' minds (like the "get out of my mind!" line, which I do distinctly remember), this was a slight misrepresentation of the way Herbert portrayed such powers in the book, possibly to make things simpler to understand for the moviegoing audience (which in general may have an easier time understanding "telepathy" than "truthsaying, based on prana-bindu training"). Having read 5 of the 6 books within the past six months, I can honestly say I never got the impression that any of these powers were meant to be understood as "telepathy" per se. What can I say.

You probably still have a point about the resemblance of Herbert's work/world to the other, earlier author (since I haven't read the work you describe, I cannot say). The only question in my mind then becomes, was Herbert aware of that other author's work at the time (early/mid 60s) he started work on Dune?

To me, a much clearer case of stolen ideas arises when comparing Dune with the first Star Wars film :)

[tacticalogic]

Your choice of keywords, and your comment left the distinct impression of an implied smear based on theological differences.

[Lurking Libertarian]

Asimov had a genius for explaining complex scientific theory and mathematics so well that even dunderheads could understand. He was a great writer, one of the three greats from the golden age of science fiction. He wrote hundreds of books on numerous topics.

I heard Asimov give a talk once (at my synagogue), and, during the question period, a woman asked him, "When are you scientists going to invent a device to end war?"

Without missing a beat, Asimov replied, "Madam, we have. It's called the book. It's not my fault if too few people use it."

[Dr. Frank fan]

I agree that the movie was, on the whole, quite faithful to the book. Especially compared with most filmed versions of books. Like I said, the director Lynch even made an attempt to portray many of the characters' interior thoughts, which was unusual (and off-putting to some), which at times were taken verbatim from the book.

However, I believe that if the characters in the film actually spoke about "telepathy" and being "in" other peoples' minds (like the "get out of my mind!" line, which I do distinctly remember), this was a slight misrepresentation of the way Herbert portrayed such powers in the book, possibly to make things simpler to understand for the moviegoing audience (which in general may have an easier time understanding "telepathy" than "truthsaying, based on prana-bindu training"). Having read 5 of the 6 books within the past six months, I can honestly say I never got the impression that any of these powers were meant to be understood as "telepathy" per se. What can I say.

This is probably hair-splitting anyway, since you probably still have a point about the resemblance of Herbert's work/world to the other, earlier author (since I haven't read the work you describe, I cannot say). The only question in my mind then becomes, was Herbert aware of that other author's work at the time (early/mid 60s) he started work on Dune?

To me, a much clearer case of stolen ideas arises when comparing Dune with the first Star Wars film :)

[Dr. Frank fan]

yikes double post

[metacognate]

I did have a difference with Asimov. There simply is too much faith required to be an atheist, as he was. I want to follow the evidence, with no pre-conditions.

[js1138]

We see it with Clinton and Chomsky devotees. I don't get it. Lots of things more important than intelligence.

I'm a big fan of Asimov but not an uncritical one. Most of his last 20 years of fiction was crap. He didn't like the comic strip L'il Abner, thought it was racist. What a crock.

I still like the early fiction and most of the science writing.

[boris]

"To me, a much clearer case of stolen ideas arises when comparing Dune with the first Star Wars film"

Star Wars was essentially a rip-off of Le Morte d'Arthur, the story of the young king Arthur. Obi-Wan is Merlin; you can figure out the rest yourself.

--Boris

[Dr. Frank fan]

As far as I'm concerned it's quite possible for Star Wars to be a ripoff of more than one thing simultaneously :) For what it's worth I believe Lucas has always said it was... "strongly influenced" by The Seven Samurai.

(/offtopic)