Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Books I read this week: Foundation and Oh William!


   I read two very different books this week. The first was Foundation by Isaac Asimov. I read it because I watched the Apple TV series and liked it, but I was also puzzled by how all the parts fit together. I thought reading the book would help me. It did not.

    It was published in 1942. That explains why everyone smokes and women barely have a speaking role. After researching, I learned there is a Foundation trilogy. Maybe if I read all three, I'll understand? There are also a companion series, Empire, and several prequels. I don't know if I'm going to dive that deep. 

    The other book was also strangely loosely part of a trilogy. It is Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout. I find Strout to be a writer whose power and pathos sneaks up on me. It feels the story she's telling is small and intimate--the relationship between an ex-husband, William, and his wife, Lucy Barton--but there is a larger question about how adult children understand their parents, and can we know one another, and are we all selfish and mean? It made me want to rethink my life--briefly.  ๐Ÿ˜‡

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