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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
‘The Machine,’ they exclaimed, ‘feeds us and clothes us and houses us; through it we speak to one another, through it we see one another, in it we have our being. The Machine is the friend of ideas and the enemy of superstition: the Machine is omnipotent, eternal; blessed is the Machine.’
La mayor parte de la población ha perdido su habilidad para vivir en la superficie del planeta. Cada persona vive en una pequeña habitación bajo tierra en donde todas sus necesidades son proporcionadas por La Máquina, omnipotente y ubicua. Todo es igual para todos gracias a los avances de la ciencia. Los viajes se han vuelto prácticamente obsoletos: ¿para qué viajar si todo es igual en todos lados? El contacto físico es considerado algo innecesario y repulsivo, se comunican mediante una red global a través de un dispositivo que se asemeja a una tablet, en donde pueden visualizarse y escucharse. Cada individuo se especializa en un tema específico con el único objetivo de generar nuevas ideas, las cuales son planteadas mediante una red social de intercambio de conferencias. El castigo máximo es la indigencia, las personas son exiliadas y enviadas a la superficie a su propia suerte. Es una sociedad completamente dependiente de La Máquina; los nacimientos, el entretenimiento, la eutanasia... todo es controlado por ella.
Los esfuerzos del progreso no son en aras de la humanidad sino por y para La Máquina. La humanidad, en su intento por buscar la comodidad, se abre camino hacia el oscuro abismo de la decadencia. Pero La Máquina se detiene...
Me pregunto si Asimov obtuvo algo de inspiración de esta historia. La repugnancia hacia el contacto físico es muy similar a la sociedad que encuentra Elijah Baley en el planeta Solaria en "El sol desnudo", y la decadencia sociotecnológica es fácilmente comparable con la de los Espaciales en toda su saga de robots. Wow. Cuesta trabajo creer que este relato fue escrito en los albores del siglo XX, allá por 1909, más o menos contemporáneo con H. G. Wells. Es de esas historias que hacen que te preguntes si algunos son realmente capaces de asomarse y ver el futuro. Increíblemente profética.
La mayor parte de la población ha perdido su habilidad para vivir en la superficie del planeta. Cada persona vive en una pequeña habitación bajo tierra en donde todas sus necesidades son proporcionadas por La Máquina, omnipotente y ubicua. Todo es igual para todos gracias a los avances de la ciencia. Los viajes se han vuelto prácticamente obsoletos: ¿para qué viajar si todo es igual en todos lados? El contacto físico es considerado algo innecesario y repulsivo, se comunican mediante una red global a través de un dispositivo que se asemeja a una tablet, en donde pueden visualizarse y escucharse. Cada individuo se especializa en un tema específico con el único objetivo de generar nuevas ideas, las cuales son planteadas mediante una red social de intercambio de conferencias. El castigo máximo es la indigencia, las personas son exiliadas y enviadas a la superficie a su propia suerte. Es una sociedad completamente dependiente de La Máquina; los nacimientos, el entretenimiento, la eutanasia... todo es controlado por ella.
Los esfuerzos del progreso no son en aras de la humanidad sino por y para La Máquina. La humanidad, en su intento por buscar la comodidad, se abre camino hacia el oscuro abismo de la decadencia. Pero La Máquina se detiene...
Me pregunto si Asimov obtuvo algo de inspiración de esta historia. La repugnancia hacia el contacto físico es muy similar a la sociedad que encuentra Elijah Baley en el planeta Solaria en "El sol desnudo", y la decadencia sociotecnológica es fácilmente comparable con la de los Espaciales en toda su saga de robots. Wow. Cuesta trabajo creer que este relato fue escrito en los albores del siglo XX, allá por 1909, más o menos contemporáneo con H. G. Wells. Es de esas historias que hacen que te preguntes si algunos son realmente capaces de asomarse y ver el futuro. Increíblemente profética.
[b:The Machine Stops|4711854|The Machine Stops|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347943820l/4711854._SY75_.jpg|4776249] was a really good short story. Forster, writing in 1909, predicts Facetime / Zoom, amongst other things, though he sets it in a creepy nightmare future where humanity lives underground and everything they need is controlled and delivered by the Machine.
There are certainly parallels with our own world and concerns. The Machine is perhaps best likened to the Internet-- it connects people (who live in solitude) with others around the world, plays music, caters to their every need and whim. In this world, people view mountains, nature and people through the machine, but rarely, if ever, have any direct contact with any of them. People worship the machine and cannot imagine life without it. While we're not exactly living in Forster's dystopia, some aspects of it are eerily prescient.
In my copy of this book, it also came with the short story 'The Celestial Omnibus', which I didn't care for. It was silly and, maybe because it came so soon after my reading of [b:The Machine Stops|4711854|The Machine Stops|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347943820l/4711854._SY75_.jpg|4776249], it lacked impact. My rating is for [b:The Machine Stops|4711854|The Machine Stops|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347943820l/4711854._SY75_.jpg|4776249] only.
There are certainly parallels with our own world and concerns. The Machine is perhaps best likened to the Internet-- it connects people (who live in solitude) with others around the world, plays music, caters to their every need and whim. In this world, people view mountains, nature and people through the machine, but rarely, if ever, have any direct contact with any of them. People worship the machine and cannot imagine life without it. While we're not exactly living in Forster's dystopia, some aspects of it are eerily prescient.
In my copy of this book, it also came with the short story 'The Celestial Omnibus', which I didn't care for. It was silly and, maybe because it came so soon after my reading of [b:The Machine Stops|4711854|The Machine Stops|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347943820l/4711854._SY75_.jpg|4776249], it lacked impact. My rating is for [b:The Machine Stops|4711854|The Machine Stops|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347943820l/4711854._SY75_.jpg|4776249] only.
Remarkable. This short story written in 1909 is very prescient of modern society. Everything at the touch of a button.
Although we have names for the services provided by ‘The Machine’. Zoom, Spotify, Amazon, Netflix, Uber and Deliveroo spring to mind; Forster seems to have got there first.
I’m sure this story forms the base for many other sci-fi plots for films and books. There are shades of this in The Matrix, THX-1138 to name but two.
There’s also the conversion about man making the machine-it’s creator becoming subservient and worshiping the machine to be considered.
An intriguing short story and well worth the read.
Although we have names for the services provided by ‘The Machine’. Zoom, Spotify, Amazon, Netflix, Uber and Deliveroo spring to mind; Forster seems to have got there first.
I’m sure this story forms the base for many other sci-fi plots for films and books. There are shades of this in The Matrix, THX-1138 to name but two.
There’s also the conversion about man making the machine-it’s creator becoming subservient and worshiping the machine to be considered.
An intriguing short story and well worth the read.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A novella written in 1909, Forster demonstrates remarkable foresight in a story about a technological age in which everything one needs is at the touch of a button. As a modern reader, one can truly be astounded when reading of video chatting, food delivered at the touch of a button (almost like Uber Eats), the ability to be connected to all of your friends and loved ones across the world through a machine (which sounds remarkably like the Internet).
Civilization has been driven under ground, where humans created a Machine they eventually come to worship. Though everything is hyper connected, it comes at the expense of physical connection. People prefer to speak through the machine and detest having to see one another physically. People no longer touch each other (it is actually considered offensive), and theirs lives seem driven solely by coming up with "ideas".
Written 109 years ago, the tale wonderfully illustrates the damage technology can do to human life, human connections and even human sanity.
Civilization has been driven under ground, where humans created a Machine they eventually come to worship. Though everything is hyper connected, it comes at the expense of physical connection. People prefer to speak through the machine and detest having to see one another physically. People no longer touch each other (it is actually considered offensive), and theirs lives seem driven solely by coming up with "ideas".
Written 109 years ago, the tale wonderfully illustrates the damage technology can do to human life, human connections and even human sanity.
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No