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A review by ianacook
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
2.0
I can see how it might be fairly foundational (pardon the pun) to modern science fiction, but yikes it is Of Its Time.
It seems to be very pro-authoritarianism and predeterminism, and often seems to resolve precisely in the way it feels it's arguing against. It almost seems to make parody, only to at the last moment fall into awkward sincerity. For example, one character mocks another for not understanding science and turning it into religion, which seemed like an excellent way to interpret and critique what was happening. And then a few moments later, he proceeds to do the same thing but in a slightly different way. (Later, he quite literally creates a religion of Science, which we discover was the Correct Thing To Do according to the Predetermined Course.)
Further, there was only one (1) singular and lonely female character, who only appeared in two scenes and was not named until the second, and whose whole purpose was to gawk at and later be appeased into silence (amongst “the men”) by a fashionable bauble. Yikes.
It seems to be very pro-authoritarianism and predeterminism, and often seems to resolve precisely in the way it feels it's arguing against. It almost seems to make parody, only to at the last moment fall into awkward sincerity. For example, one character mocks another for not understanding science and turning it into religion, which seemed like an excellent way to interpret and critique what was happening. And then a few moments later, he proceeds to do the same thing but in a slightly different way. (Later, he quite literally creates a religion of Science, which we discover was the Correct Thing To Do according to the Predetermined Course.)
Further, there was only one (1) singular and lonely female character, who only appeared in two scenes and was not named until the second, and whose whole purpose was to gawk at and later be appeased into silence (amongst “the men”) by a fashionable bauble. Yikes.