where to start?

 > Please! Do _not_ start with that! If you're interested in his
 > Foundation books, I suggest you read them in the order he _wrote_ them:

That makes sense - thanks.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: where to start? 

Dear christian,
I suggest starting with "Nightfall"--a masterpiece.
best
penny

p.s. You might enjoy " The End of Eternity"
which I thought was brilliant.

 >That makes sense - thanks.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: where to start? 

On Thu, 15 Jul 2004, Mueen Nawaz wrote:

 > I suggest you read them in the order he _wrote_ them:
Almost always the way to read any series unless there is some reason (like
the author suggests another order.) But especially true with these.

  > His various short story collections are usually quite entertaining.
And if you have any interest, his science fact books (most were
collections of essays) are quite nice. In fact, even if you are not very
interested, give one or two a read. They are very well and usually
entertainingly written. Maybe he'll get you interested!

3ch<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: where to start? 

"christian viereck" <cv_on.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:2llkeoFefv5jU1@uni-berlin.de...
 > Hi,
 > I have read some short stories and one essay by Asimov and I love his
works.
 > I was going to read prelude to foundation now. Is that a good starting
 > lecture or do you have any othere recommendations. I heard reading his
Robot
 > works before will be suitable.
 > Thanks and greetings
 > from Christian, Germany
 >
 >
Well what do you like he's written in a lot of fields. If you want sci fi,
decide if you want short stories or a novel length. Your library has a lot
by Asimov. In my library they are often checked out, but not stolen as
opposed to a lot of other books I like. This speaks well of the readership.
Anyway if you want something light he has a number of anthologies out. These
are great if you just want to read something short and put the book down. I,
Robot is kind of like this as it is a connected group of short stories.
Although at the moment it might be hard to find. Foundation is probably some
of my favorite books. But I don't like the questions they raise about free
will.

He also wrote a number of essays in science. I would say that a majority of
these deal with chemistry and astronamy. They are well written and easy to
understand. An intellegent 12 year old will understand them, and a 26 year
old won't feel as if he's reading a kiddie book. Although at this point
these have become a neat type of history book. While he wrote about the
cutting edge in astronamy, this was years ago and we've learned alot. I have
a collection of his essays where he talks about quasars. But at the time
nobody had any idea what they were.

You like mysteries? He wrote those as well. Mostly as short stories. He
liked the clasic locked room style. They seldom involve a murder or crime
though. They are fun to read, and could probably be rated G until the pc
crowd gets mad about the fact they take place in a males only club.

He also wrote a number of other books, including a guide to the bible and
general history. The guide to the bible is interesting as he addresses the
issue as a historian might. He doesn't address the magic and miracles, but
the language, geography, and people.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: where to start? 

Let the facts show that on 7/14/04 4:47 PM, christian viereck at
cv_on.RemoveThis@hotmail.com wrote:

 > Hi,
 > I have read some short stories and one essay by Asimov and I love his works.
 > I was going to read prelude to foundation now. Is that a good starting
 > lecture or do you have any othere recommendations. I heard reading his Robot
 > works before will be suitable.
 > Thanks and greetings
 > from Christian, Germany
 >
 >

Tag, Christian. Wie gehts?

Try getting hold of "I, Robot" (his original anthology) or "The Complete
Robot" (a lot more stories in there). His collection called "Isaac Asimov:
Gold" was a pleasure too. Any of his Lije (Elijah) Baley & R.Daneel Olivaw
murder mysteries (one of the detective is a robot and is governed by the 3
Laws Safe, as the new film calls the Three Laws of Robotics, a cornerstone
of many Asimov stories) would be a good idea too. As the Foundation saga
eventually gets around to mentioning the planets (and one of the characters)
featured in the Lije Baley & R.D Olivaw stories and a bit about the
robots... start with those first for a month or two.

If I was starting the Foundation books, I'd start with the original trilogy
(Foundation, Foundation & Empire, Second Foundation) because the prelude
books may give things away and you may not understand some of the references
alluded to in Prelude To Foundation (for example, Foundation begins with a
great explanation of Trantor and its place in the galaxy).

I personally like his "The Sun Shines Bright", a collection of essays.

Happy reading.

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"I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them." (Isaac Asimov.)
?°`°?ø,¸¸,ø?°`°?ø,¸¸,ø?°`°?ø,¸¸,ø?°`°?ø,¸¸,ø?°`°?ø,¸¸,ø?°`°?ø,¸¸ø?°`°?ø,¸¸,ø<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: where to start? 

"Shawn" <ShawnGBR DeleteThis @worldnet.att.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:BD1DC26B.B061%ShawnGBR@worldnet.att.net...

 > Tag, Christian. Wie gehts?

Gut, vielen Dank!

 > [...] I personally like his "The Sun Shines Bright", a collection of
essays.

I just looked at what essays are included in this collection and saw there
is "the letter that Einstein wrote". That is actually what I was reading,
the lecture that pointed me to Asimov. It was a small book published in
Germany by Asimov and is called "Warum Krieg?", meaning "War! Why?", which
consists of two letters by Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud (Psychologist).
Also there was one essay included by Asimov, the english title must be
something like "Good earth is dying.". This is stuff i am r e a l l y
interested in. But there is one big problem. My sources for Asimov lecture
is very limited. There is stuff offered at german A**zon and Ebay, but most
books are out of print and even when I try to get for example "The sun
shines bright" from the United States it will be difficult and expensive.
Maybe you guys can give me some hint on what the best sources of Asimov
books are??

Thank you for help
Christian<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: where to start? 

On Mon, 19 Jul 2004, Hils wrote:

   > >> I suggest you read them in the order he _wrote_ them:
  > >Almost always the way to read any series unless there is some reason (like
  > >the author suggests another order.) But especially true with these.
 >
 > I disagree. The narrative makes more sense if you read them in the order
 > of the events portrayed, with The End of Eternity as a prelude.

Sense in the narritive is not the only (nor even, for most people the
main) goal. It is to enjoy a good story. The narrative in most mysteries
"make more sense" if you know who commited the crime at the outset. It
does not, however, make the story more enjoyable.

In the Foundation/Robot books the later written books are revisionist
and, to my tastes, would -harm- the narrative if you read them first.

3ch<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: where to start? 

  >> I suggest you read them in the order he _wrote_ them:
 >Almost always the way to read any series unless there is some reason (like
 >the author suggests another order.) But especially true with these.

I disagree. The narrative makes more sense if you read them in the order
of the events portrayed, with The End of Eternity as a prelude.

--
Hil<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: where to start?