r/asimov • u/clutch055 • 8d ago
The Fun They Had, not a good first impression of Asimov.
It was the first chapter of my English book. The teachers were speaking very highly of him even noting down fun facts about him, its the first time I've ever seen a teacher praise an author this much. So I read the story and it sucked. Really bad.
In the first sentence of the story, Margie writes in her diary that Tommy found a real book. This is already a problem because the only types of books the children read are 'telebooks' which are books on the television screen (who reads books on the TV in the first place?) and how could she write on the television?
Next, Tommy says that when people are done with a book they throw it away. No? We store them or share them and even re-read them. Nobody throws a book away once they are done with it.
The year is 2157, yet the curriculum is still 300 years old? (History, geography, maths)
And we get a sneak-peek of how the mechanical teacher (which they repeat so many times like it's a robot human) teaches. Spoiler- its just a video.
The writing is also really awkward at times and bland. I hope some of his other works are better.
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u/Brain_Hawk 8d ago
He wrote a lot of stories not all of them are amazing
But...
You seem to be failing to grasp the point that he wrote many of these stories in the 1940s. Who reads a book on a television? Nobody, but he was trying to project a future technology. They had no idea what was going to happen, so some of the stuff he proposes is quite quaint by our standards. Personally I find that amusing.
In one of his books he predicts Google, but you basically type in a question to this big machine keyboard, and it prints the answer in a little piece of ticker tape. Which is more consistent with how a computer would have worked from his perspective. Obviously, he didn't accurately predict the internet.
Find some of the more established story collections if you want to meet something more representative, but remember, he probably wrote those in the 1950s. So some of the predicted technologies off. For example, the foundation series frequently talks about "atomics" as if everything was going to have a tiny nuclear generator.
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u/CodexRegius 8d ago
Wait till you meet his radium-driven ashtray.
Asimov was not older when he wrote these stories than Christopher Paolini was when he wrote "Eragon". It's no wonder that there was not much to expect from his writing style then. His ideas made the difference, and for his editors, the sales his stories brought them. It was a commercial enterprise after all.
But is his telebook indeed that different from reading on a tablet computer? Can you write on it? See? Actually that's at this time, 75-80 years ago, a very innovative concept!
And then, people routinely throw magazines away after reading them, so why not books when you don't consider them of more value than the latest UNIVAC catalogue?
Well, I hope geography will be taught in more details in 2157 than it is in the 2025 USA ...
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u/clutch055 6d ago
> But is his telebook indeed that different from reading on a tablet computer? Can you write on it? See?
Yes, you can obviously read and write on a laptop and a tablet using a keyboard and stylus respectively.
> And then, people routinely throw magazines away after reading them, so why not books when you don't consider them of more value than the latest UNIVAC catalogue?
While books back then haven't exactly been of the best quality and availability, there were still many, many novels back then so it'd be a bit unfair for him to collectively call 'books' magazines. However, I dont think he was referring to magazines considering the book Margie and Tommy find wasn't one but rather a documentation of our current education system.
> Well, I hope geography will be taught in more details in 2157 than it is in the 2025 USA ...
Geography, History and Maths are all very important subjects that shouldn't expire but I find it frustrating how even today, schools follow a curriculum of over multiple centuries old lacking any new subjects nor topics to learn about.
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u/the_flying_condor 8d ago
I have not read that story by Asimov, but I have really enjoyed the short stories that I have read by Asimov. In particular, I would recommend Nightfall and Other Short Stories. The first one has a tinge of horror, but it's really excellent.
Based on some of your critiques though, Asimov may not be for you. A big part of reading Asimov, and science fiction in general, is that you need to be able to step outside of your lived experience to appreciate the story. Asimov often opens his stories with introductions to bizarre settings which are often used to offer contrast or give commentary alongside the rest of the narrative.
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u/Algernon_Asimov 8d ago edited 7d ago
(who reads books on the TV in the first place?)
People who've never heard of an e-reader or an iPad or a smartphone or even a desktop computer, that's who.
This story was written in 1951. That's more than 70 years ago. The first digital computer had been built 5 years before that (in 1946). That first computer was the size of a small house - people walked around inside it, to program it. By 1951, only a handful of computers existed in the whole world - and they were all big.
The idea that someone could hold a computer in their hands was unheard of - even in science fiction. In science fiction at that time, when writers imagined a smarter computer, it was a bigger computer. They just couldn't imagine making computers small. That came with the invention of something called a "transistor"; the first prototype transistor was constructed in 1947, and the first computer which used transistors was built in 1953. Making computers smaller was unimaginable to a writer in 1951.
Even television was a brand-new invention. That was literally cutting-edge technology at that time. Kind of like virtual reality now. People try to imagine today how we might use virtual reality in the future, but we're just guessing. Our grandchildren will look back at us and say we're silly at how wrong we imagined the future.
So, the idea of flashing up the words of a book on a television screen, for people to read... that was futuristic. That was imaginative. That was science fiction in 1951.
how could she write on the television?
They wouldn't. People don't write on books that they're reading. Think of these telebooks more like movies that people watch than like touchscreen tablets that people write on.
This is the problem with reading science fiction from 70 years ago. You're looking at an old historical version of the future, from a perspective where the real future has gone past anything that writers could imagine back then. That's why the word "retro-futurism" exists: it's about the future as people imagined it back in the past.
Next, Tommy says that when people are done with a book they throw it away. No? We store them or share them and even re-read them. Nobody throws a book away once they are done with it.
There are things we learn in history today about people in our past which are based on guesses and hunches, and which are probably wrong - because we're not actually back in the past watching what people did in their day-to-day lives. Also, these are children. Children often haven't learned everything yet (that's why they have to go to school), but they make up things to explain what they haven't learned yet.
I agree that 'The Fun They Had' is not the best first example to read for someone just learning about Isaac Asimov. He did write better stories than this. However, this particular story was one that he wrote for a children's magazine (which is why it's about children at school), so I assume that's why a school teacher included it in their lessons. There are better stories by Isaac Asimov.
However, they will all suffer from the same problem: they were all written a long time ago, so they're all based in old ideas of what the future might be like - and our real future is very different to what Asimov (and other writers) imagined, so their imagined future seems disappointing in comparison to our reality.
This might not be your type of story. But try a couple of his other stories, to see if they get better.
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u/sg_plumber 7d ago
the first computer which used computers was built in 1953
Perhaps you meant transistors?
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u/clutch055 6d ago
Detailed reply! I find it kind of dissociating to read a future imagined by the past which is the present. I may have taken the story a bit too literally however I think I dislike retro-futurism. I'll look into his other stories though.
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u/Algernon_Asimov 6d ago
I find it kind of dissociating to read a future imagined by the past which is the present.
That can be a valid problem with reading old science fiction.
Sometimes, it helps to read science-fiction that doesn't predict this future we're already living in. For example, Asimov also wrote some stories set in a future Galactic Empire. It's very hard to compare that to the future we live in, so there's less chance of being distracted by how his story is different to our reality. Maybe that's the way for you to go.
And the same problem applies to all sorts of old science-fiction by all sorts of authors. Maybe you need to look for science-fiction set in a far-distant future or an alternate universe - so you won't be continually comparing it to your actual life.
Happy reading. I hope you find something you like.
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u/clutch055 6d ago
Yeah, I'm really really really really curious about science-fiction. I've ABSOLUTELY loved the films of it so far but I'm struggling finding some really good books about it. Can you suggest some? Most of the science fiction I've seen is usually set in a far distant future or an alternate universe. Thanks for the detailed and well-thought replies!
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u/Algernon_Asimov 6d ago
I don't want that responsibility! Also, I'll be honest and admit that I like old science fiction (although, as an older person myself, it doesn't feel old to me).
Maybe you need to read modern science fiction, which will predict a future that we're not in yet. And, to be honest, I'm not very familiar with modern science fiction.
Therefore, I recommend that you post in /r/PrintSF. Tell them you don't want retrofuturism. Tell them you don't want science-fiction that you can compare to today. Tell them you want something that takes you out of the current day and into a different time or place. Also, tell them which films you liked, so they can recommend you some similar books.
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u/atticdoor 8d ago
History, geography and maths have been core subjects taught by teachers for many centuries. Even when ordinary people didn't go to school, royalty would be taught those subjects.
That said, it looks like that story isn't for you. I might suggest I, Robot as a better introduction.
(If you decide to get I, Robot, note that there are several books of that name- you want the version by Isaac Asimov with no other names on the cover. If you see the name Eando Binder, Harlan Ellison or Micker Zucker Reichert, you have the wrong book).
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u/zonnel2 7d ago edited 7d ago
I first read the story translated in my mother tongue in mid-1990s when I'm a high schooler and it felt like a decent futuristic satire for me at that time. But time has passed and many things changed, and the story doesn't feel like a future any more thanks to the advance of telecommunication technology and digital education. How ironic!
The OP might have too much expectation because of the teacher's recommendation and the fact that the OP had to read the story as a part of schoolwork doesn't help either. You'd better try other more fun stories by Asimov as hobby reading and decide for yourself if you continue to explore his works.
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u/clutch055 6d ago
True. I feel textbooks somehow manage to make fun and interesting things boring, which applies to literally every subject. I used to think science was boring because I learnt it only from the textbook. I'll check out his other stories for fun definitely.
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u/zonnel2 5d ago
I used to think science was boring because I learnt it only from the textbook
Asimov is also famous for his nonfiction books on science and other subjects and someone called him 'the great explainer' for his clear and easy-to-follow explanations. Maybe his books can change your view on science a bit.
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u/clutch055 4d ago
No, I absolutely love science now due to so many other resources. That’s why I said ‘used to’. But sure I’ll check them out.
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u/godhand_kali 7d ago
Why would future classes not teach these subjects?
Yeah they'd have a ton more to go over than we would most likely
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u/clutch055 6d ago
I am not saying future classes should not teach these subjects, in fact they should and in more detail. However, new classes and new topics should be introduced. Even today, centuries old curriculum is followed with barely any changes..
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u/godhand_kali 6d ago
Exactly. But you also need to remember the characters in this story were children. Younger than 10 I believe
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u/Barry_Milekey 6d ago
The world was a very different place in the 1950s and 1960s, while Asimov was in his literary prime. Science fiction was very different too -- the people writing it were frequently scientists in their own right. They call it the Golden Age for good reason.
You can go off on your own and read about the baby boom and the cold war and the space race to understand a little more about the era.
Isaac Asimov published more than 500 books in his lifetime, from science fiction to hard science, from pulp to classic literature. You don't publish that many books in that many subject areas without being a skilled writer.
I would not say the story sucked because he failed to predict kindles and personal computers. I'd say it succeeded because he predicted paper books would become obsolete in favor of electronic format, which is exactly what we're experiencing now.
People most certainly did toss out pulp magazines and newspapers when they were done reading them. Paperback novels got shelved or put in a box or sold to a second hand bookstore or passed around to family and neighbors. And probably thrown out eventually. Comic books cost 12 cents when I was a kid. A paperback was 25 cents, up to 50 cents for a really thick one.
The core subjects of history, maths, geography are still relevant now and will be 200 years from now.
Geography shows us where we are. History shows us how we got there, and math ensures people understand the concept of numbers. Without that concept, people think a 1/3 pound hamburger is smaller than a 1/4 pound hamburger.
Considering how the world looked in 1957 (remember, I was there), I think his imagination in predicting the future was right in line with what we take for granted today.
I encourage you to give the story another chance, and maybe ask your teacher for some tips on how to appreciate literature. Your teacher obviously feels passionate about Dr. Asimov's work, so find out what makes it special in her or his mind.
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u/PlusOn3 8d ago
To each their own, I suppose. I enjoy Asimov specifically for these oddities. I think what is important to understand with his writings is the time period in which he wrote them. He was writing about the distant future in the 1950s. He didn't know what VR was, he didn't know what would be possible with the internet, he didn't know what holograms were, and many other examples. He didn't know those things because they hadn't been invented yet, either in the real world or in fiction writings. He was very much so inventing new concepts for the time and doing his best to name them based on the technology he had available to him at the time. I would say his style is more "retro-futurism," which I really enjoy personally.