The King of SciFi - Issac Asimov

The King of SciFi - Issac Asimov

One of the greatest authors in the field of science fiction literature was Issac Asimov (1920 - 1992). Along with Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein he was considered one of the 'big three' in the field. In recent years, both Clarke and Heinlein have gained in popularity due to big budget Hollywood movies made out of their novels; the only movie made on an Asimov story was 'I, Robot', starring Will Smith, a mangled and mutilated version. 

I was first introduced to Asimov through the Foundation series of novels. Afterwards, I hunted out and read all the Asimov books I could find. Asimov was an extremely prolific writer, having penned or edited over 500 books!! He has also had a large influence on subsequent scifi writers and was responsible for coining the term 'psychohistory'.

From what I know of Asimov his fiction books fall into three categories - the Empire series, the robot series and the Foundation series. I believe all these were written to be separate novels but somehow ended up being part of the same 'fictional universe'. Indeed, one includes the Lucky Starr series, one has a complete timeline - from the development of robotics on Earth followed by the exploration of the Solar System to the colonization of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Asimov's writing, especially in his earlier novels, was crisp and clear. The stories were well plotted and rarely bloated or full of cheap sex or gimmicks. He explored a wide variety of characters in his novels, from hard-headed politicians to explorers to wastrels. However, there were some common characteristics of his heroes - they all had a Holmes like deductive ability (admittedly buried deeply sometimes) and they had to make decisions affecting the whole human race at the worst possible time without much forethought!

Probably Asimov's most famous characters are Hari Seldon and the robots. Hari Seldon was a mathematician, who invented psycho-history, a mathematical model to predict the future. Interestingly, psycho-history was only able to predict the future of large groups of people rather than of individuals. Pscho-history is depicted in the books rather like how one observes the course of a river coming down from the mountains to the plains, while standing on the last hilly outpost. One can discern the broad sweep of the river but not the minute structures on the banks.

The other main characters are the robots. I can't think of any other scifi author who gave his robotic characters such depth and vitality while maintaining their totally dispassionate and logical basis. The robots appear to be almost human; however, they are not so and the point is emphasized at crucial times. Daniel and Giscard are two of the more interesting robotic characters in the series.

I believe a TV series is being planned on the Foundation novels. I hope the producers and directors capture the essence of the novels and focus more on the earlier work in the series.

Meeting with John Keay

I had the good fortune of being able to attend a talk and book signing session by the celebrated author John Keay recently in Chandigarh. The event was organised at the British Council in Chandigarh on the 24 th of January. His latest book is called 'The Tartan Turban' and is the life story of Alexander Gardner, a soldier of fortune who lived roughly two centuries ago.

 


I have been an avid reader of John Keay's books from the last 20 odd years. He is a pretty prolific author, with over 20 books to his credit. He is specially known for his interest in British India,  for doing exhaustive research for his books and his lucid and readable prose. The two books closest to my heart are 'Where men and mountains meet' and 'The great arc'.

My copy - bought in 2000

More power to your pen Mr. Keay!! Keep writing.

'The Lord of the Rings" - book review part 2

The Lord of the Rings

by

J R R Tolkien

A book review - part 2

Welcome to part 2 of my review of the Lord of the Rings (LOTR). We established that LOTR is, without doubt, one of the best books of this genre - in fact, of any genre - ever written and now on to the book review proper.

The LOTR was written by J. R. R. Tolkien (1892 - 1972), an Englishman, who was an expert on Anglo-Saxon literature and also worked on the Oxford English Dictionary. Tolkien loved inventing languages as a hobby 😮 and LOTR supposedly grew out of that habit. Certainly, I don't know of any other fiction author who has invented multiple languages for his/her books complete with grammar, syntax and everything! There are online courses in Quenya (which was the language of the High Elves). Another reason for the creation of the book was that Tolkien felt that England deserved a heroic mythology of its own, similar to the Germanic tradition. From this desire grew the "Silmarillion", which was a sort of magnum opus of Tolkien. He started working on a rudimentary form from the 1920s which was finally published posthumously by his son. Probably, the LOTR was just a minor side project (still took 10 years - this gives me hope that I may achieve something great too!!)

As far as the story goes, it is not very complicated. It takes off about 60 odd years after the events of  'The Hobbit' - to which this book is a direct sequel. The reader gets a long and informative prologue, just to lay out matters concerning Hobbits and the geography of the Shire i.e. where the hobbits live. The story then starts off nice and slow, with the hundred and eleventh (or eleventy-first, in Tolkien's words!) birthday of Bilbo Baggins, who is of course the protagonist of the aforementioned 'The Hobbit'.

Bilbo passes on his ring and other effects to his nephew and heir Frodo and sort of retires. The ring of course turns out to be the ultimate lost weapon and possession of the titular Lord of the Rings, Sauron. Sauron, like magicians in an Arabian Nights tale, who store their soul in parrots for safekeeping, has poured out most of his power into  the ring. He can be destroyed only when the ring is. The crux of the story revolves around the journey of Frodo and his companions to take the ring to only place where it can be destroyed, which also happens to be Sauron's stronghold.

I especially like the pacing of the story - it's like one is going on a long journey, with the start slow and sedate and gradually picking up speed. Later on the speed picks up significantly, with multiple story lines taking place simultaneously. Nowadays, especially in fantasy fiction, the fashion is to drop the reader in the middle of the action, without any explanation or build up, the so called exposition. I prefer the prior approach, with lots of details and backstories. It's the approach that most Indian epics have. The narrative architecture of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata or even the Panchtantra, consists basically of a story within a story within a story, like a Russian Doll or the structure of an atom. Being brought up the great epics, I absolutely relish the similar approach of the LOTR.

One gets a sense of immense history in the LOTR. The author's skill is such that every hill and valley, every mountain and every building resonates with a life of its own. Indeed, it is rightly said that the landscape is also character in the book! The best example of this would be the characterisation of  the ruined dwarf stronghold of Moria. The sense of lost grandeur, of immense space and of simultaneous claustrophobia, of courage and terror, of the terror of the unknown and of the ancient world is almost palpable. The prose flows like water and the reader is carried along on the flow. When the chapter ends and the other one starts, it feels like getting off a boat ride over river rapids. Two other segments in the book fit in the same description - the battle of Helm's deep and that of the Pelennor fields.

A striking point in the book is the absolute lack of magical powers in any of the main characters, except to a limited extent in Gandalf and maybe Legolas. The protagonists are absolutely, even blandly, normal. The hobbits are small, can't fight, are well mannered gentlemen. In fact, they are just like what most of us are but don't want to be. Frodo is picked to carry the Ring, a huge burden. The Ring corrupts anyone who dares to carry it. The temptations and dilemnas Frodo faces are remniscent and representative of what one faces in life. The student who has to study, the poor man who considers theft, the bureaucrat who refuses a bribe, are all part of the same struggle. The Ring in this sense is a metaphor for unchecked desire and greed. 

The LOTR is not as simple and easy a book as it first appears. It is not a childs' tale of dragons and swords. There are no happy endings, only bittersweet ones, to put it in Tolkien's words. All great tales pose questions to the reader and LOTR is no different. 

All good things must come to an end, so here I rest my pen and my keyboard, and conclude my two part review of 'The Lord of the Rings'. 

The Lord of the Rings - book review part 1

The Lord of the Rings

by

J R R Tolkien

A book review - part 1

'Three rings for the Elven kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne

In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them,

One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In the land of Mordor where shadows lie.'

I can still remember the first time I laid eyes on this rhyme from the 'Lord of the Rings' (LOTR). I chanced upon a copy of the book in the Chandigarh Central State Library, c1995. I had always been interested in fantasy and science fiction, but limited availability of these sort of books had restricted my own reading. Despite being an avid reader and being labelled publicly and privately as a book worm, I had never even heard of the name of J. R. R. Tolkien. Amazing, when I now think of it. For an excuse, pitiable and flimsy as it may be, I can state I was young, isolated and of course, without access to the internet (which in any case didn't exist as yet!)

I can remember the shivers I got while reading these lines for the first time. More than twenty years and multiple readings later, the impact has still not dulled. Even now, when I got out my paperback edition of the book (purchased with the help of a relative) to copy the lines from, I still felt the faint tingle and the rising tide of excitement that I had on my first reading.

It is difficult to define what reading this short poem (if one can call it so!) brings up in my mind. Many possibilities come to mind - the evocation of the spirit of adventure and of the unknown, the allure of musty halls, ruins and forgotten realms or the excitement and fascination of something new. However, I think the best explanation would fall short, so we'll leave it at that.

The 'Lord of the Rings' is, without doubt, the greatest work of fantasy literature published in the modern era (in my humble opinion!) This is despite some tough competition, especially in recent times. I may honorably mention here the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' by George R. R. Martin, who incidentally is a great fan of LOTR. The publication of this book actually kickstarted the genre in the modern era and has influenced almost all writers in this field to some extent. 

In this regard I would like to quote the eminent historian, Ramachandra Guha, here. In an essay on the threats to the freedom of expression in India - in his latest book 'Democrats and Dissenters'  - he mentions that in Modern India, the icons of different regions, castes and/or communities have become - in the eyes of their followers - untouchable and above criticism. The only exception to this seems to be Mahatma Gandhi, whom every Indian feels confident enough to criticize or denigrade (that this is done without knowing a single word of his philosophy is a separate issue!) Maybe it is because Gandhi belongs to all Indians and not to a specific caste, community or region.

Anyway, the point to be made is that the 'Lord of the Rings' serves as a sort of literary counterpart  to Gandhi, in that anyone can rip off or mock it, without in anyway lowering its prestige, quality or popularity and that's a pretty big achievement.