SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction
Science fiction; which was your favorite of the group and what put it at the top:
* "Robbie"
* "Runaround
* "Reason
* "Catch that Rabbit
* "Liar!
* "Little Lost Robot
* "Escape!
* "Evidence
* "The Evitable Conflict

"Liar!" was my favorite followed closely by "Escape!"

I probably enjoyed "Little Lost Robot" more than the others. It best captures the humor of Asimov in his study of robotic science.

My favorite is "Robbie" I also liked "Liar!" and "Little Lost Robot"

"Reason" was my favorite. It made fun of EVERYTHING. Philosophy, religion, logic & technology were all laughed at in a wonderful way. Man's vaunted 'reason' was shown to be absolutely powerless to change a belief.

The collection of stories & their themes make a wonderful progression, though. We start anthropomorphizing Robbie. The reunion is a tear-jerker. Powell, Donovan & Calvin show us how humans are smarter than our creations, even when there are glitches that are extremely complex. But finally, there is a distinct chill in "Evidence" & it clamps down firmly in "The Evitable Conflict". Are we really smarter, still? It's pieces of "Frankenstein" in a quicker, more readable format. Very cool.

I liked "Reason" and "Little Lost Robot."

The idea of that robot thinking about his origin and then just creating his own religion - it is absolutely hysterical! And in "Little Lost Robot", the duel between the scientist and the robot was really interesting to see.

I'm surprised by the number of people who liked "Liar" so much - this was probably my least favorite, although I agree that it is a powerful story. I don't like the way that Dr. Calvin is portrayed - to be a plain older woman whose male colleagues speak derogatorily about how she wears lipstick! It is such a negative stereotype of women involved in technology. The men in the story have delusions of being smarter than the robot, her secret wish is for someone to be in love with her?

I think that Asimov purposely exaggerated Calvin's plainness and made her quite unsexy both in appearance and attitude in order to stress her love for robotics. She has never pursued another love but her science, and the men see her as cold and "robotic" herself. I found "Liar" interesting because despite all of this, we got to see a humanity to Susan Calvin. For a short while, at least, she wanted to be loved by a flesh and blood man. The lipstick would likely be applied clumsily, as she had little to no experience trying to pretty herself up.....a negative stereotype? Sure...but remember that these stories were written in the 1940's, before there really were female in science stereotypes established....

Gosh, I can't remember now. I just loved them all!

Chris wrote: "I think that Asimov purposely exaggerated Calvin's plainness and made her quite unsexy both in appearance and attitude in order to stress her love for robotics. She has never pursued another love b..."

I would agree with Chris that Asimov was intentional in his portrayal of Calvin. That being said, I too was a bit bothered by how she was portrayed when her "female emotions" got the better of her. It's not just women that are driven crazy by love. In “Liar” it was pretty stereotypically that the men desired career advancement and the only woman desired love. However, in light of the time period in which Asimov was writing, I'm impressed he had a woman in such a prominent scientific position at all. I believe he was making an intentional statement. Women are known to be the more emotionally driven sex - that's just the way we are built - SO by using a woman in this position he provides an interesting contrast and commentary about humanity, ethics and robotics. I also think it's interesting that “Robbie” is the first story. Asimov plays the emotional cord right away – seemingly unusual for a book about robots.

Personally, my favorite story is "Reason". It's pretty funny and reminds me a bit of Herman Melville's Bartleby, the Scrivener. In particular, how Bartleby drove the lawyer nuts because Bartleby simply "perferred not to."

Libby - I feel that he wasn't saying it was just women driven crazy by love. In Susan's case, this was something she'd never really had. Career advancement wasn't something she'd have at the surface of her brain for the robot to pick up - she was the only robophyscologist and had no limits to her advancement. It had been stated a few times that she didn't wish to be the director, even when it was later offered. But Boggart would have been thinking about it constantly since he was ambitious. Lanning probably would have been thinking about it a lot too, that is Boggart circling him like a vulture. The robot was simply reading surface thoughts. What I didn't care for was that they never explained how that happened....

And yes, "Reason" was similar to "Bartleby". I've always loved that Melville story!

Chris - I also would have liked an explanation because your comments make me wonder about the extent of the robot's telepathy. You see mind reading used in may different ways in SciFi. I'd like to know did the robot read the foremost thoughts, the most broadcast thoughts, or thoughts people were trying to keep from it etc. For example, Star Trek has done a nice job of showing different types of telepathy / mind reading in different species. Too bad Asimov didn't do an entire novel just on this little robot.

That's right, Libby. He could have done lots more with it. Calvin was there to study the robot and figure out the mind reading thing, but once they all figured out how it was telling them lies they wanted to hear, the story ended.....i was still wondering what she discovered, if anything....

"Too bad Asimov didn't do an entire novel just on this little robot. "
As I understand it, the whole follow-up series to Foundation reveals that a telepathic robot has been around for thousands of years and is taking a somewhat longer view of what counts as humankind's best interests.

I like the "Liar!" because of the poor robot trying to follow one of the directives in not harming the humans and being forced to reasonably tell Susan a lie about someone liking her. It really shows how Isaac Asimov could analzye the actions of the characters and show where the directives can go wrong. It is an entertaining arguement of whether it's right to follow the letter of the law or the spirit of the law.

Marc wrote: ""Too bad Asimov didn't do an entire novel just on this little robot. "
As I understand it, the whole follow-up series to Foundation reveals that a telepathic robot has been around for thousands of ..."

Hmm, I'll have to take a look at these - thanks

It's been a while since I've read I, Robot (just joined goodreads a couple days ago).

But one of the stories that sticks out in my head was Runaround. I thought it really hit home the importance of the laws, and was clever, too.

Welcome Brent!