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I'm not OSC, but I will say this: His ego is one of the things I loved about him. He knew he was good and rightly said so. False humility is just that---False! And I don't think he was arrogant either. He put in print embarrassing accounts about himself. Read his biography. Read the liner notes for the Hugo collections. In one he tells about the time he ranted at the audience that he had never received a Hugo and it must be because they were all a bunch of Nazis. Then he opened the next envelope which was the Hugo awarded for 'putting the science in science fiction'. Of course it was for Asimov himself. He went on to tell how the entire room just fell apart laughing at him. Someone with a delicate or overblown ego wouldn't tell such a story.
I, for one, think his ego was a very well balanced one.
Posts: 232 | Registered: Jan 2005
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I didn't read much sci-fi growing up. A few stories when I was in third grade ("Call Me Joe" "Tunesmith"), then the selection they had in the school library when I was in eighth grade (Andre Norton's early books; Heinlein's juveniles); and then, when I was in college, I began reading Bradbury and Asimov and a handful of others. Most of my sci-fi reading has been after college.
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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By the way, Asimov's "ego" was a pose, a joke. He was actually very shy and modest about the value of his own work. Those who knew him knew that, and enjoyed the public posture that had nothing at all to do with the real man. It was for entertainment only.
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Crotalus: I'm not OSC, but I will say this: His ego is one of the things I loved about him. He knew he was good and rightly said so. False humility is just that---False! And I don't think he was arrogant either. He put in print embarrassing accounts about himself. Read his biography. Read the liner notes for the Hugo collections. In one he tells about the time he ranted at the audience that he had never received a Hugo and it must be because they were all a bunch of Nazis. Then he opened the next envelope which was the Hugo awarded for 'putting the science in science fiction'. Of course it was for Asimov himself. He went on to tell how the entire room just fell apart laughing at him. Someone with a delicate or overblown ego wouldn't tell such a story.
I, for one, think his ego was a very well balanced one.
I agree with the both of you, I always found him to be witty and entertaining. (I've also read the award story). But I didnt realize it was just a pose or a joke, I thought he truly was that good and deserved to brag a little (or alot).
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quote:By the way, Asimov's "ego" was a pose, a joke. He was actually very shy and modest about the value of his own work. Those who knew him knew that, and enjoyed the public posture that had nothing at all to do with the real man. It was for entertainment only.
That's very interesting to know. I always though he came across as insufferable from his comments (prefaces, etc.).
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His prefaces and intros are some of what I love most about him! He's so...fun. I have the Hugo Winners for 1967 (I think), for which he was the editor and all his self-deprecating ranting about how much he deserves a Hugo just gives me warmfuzzies. and I love his introduciton of Harlan Ellison's "'Repent, Harlequin,' said the Tick Tock Man". Asimov just rocks.
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I just started reading Asimov's Foundation series. Well I read all the sequels and now I think I'll hit the prequels. What I did found interesting really interesting was how his view of a future society changed in the nearly 40 years between the first three and the last 2 books. At first there were no real women in his stories, just a wife and a child. Flash forward 30 years and he put one in charge of the galaxy. I also found it amusing at how off he was on computing power because even today's computers could do the calculations that would have been needed for the Far Star in a matter of minuites. Anyway it was an interesting experience reading old scifi. I was given a glimpse of the past through one man's stories set in an imaginary future.
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I also found it amusing at how off he was on computing power because even today's computers could do the calculations that would have been needed for the Far Star in a matter of minuites. Anyway it was an interesting experience reading old scifi. I was given a glimpse of the past through one man's stories set in an imaginary future.
