Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (Revised Edition) (25 page)
Read Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (Revised Edition) Online
Authors: James Gunn
It's healthier, better. The troubles of modern life come from being divorced from nature. Read up on the Coal Century sometime.
In these references, of course, Asimov is referring, as well, to our own attitudes toward the past, as Poe was in "Mellonta Tauta."
In
The Caves of Steel,
as in well-written science fiction of all kinds, language must constantly be inspected for surprises and reinterpretation. Baley notes, for instance, that there are no expressway directions to Spacetown. He explains why almost immediately: "if you've business there, you know the way" and "if you don't know the way, you've no business there." In a related logical process, the novel raises an aspect of Spacer attitudes that infuriates Earthmen. Earthmen are not allowed into Spacetown except singly and then only when thoroughly cleansed and decontaminated as if they were dirty and diseased. Later this business is turned around and inspected from the other side. Earthmen haven't changed, but Spacers have; like Wells's Martians, they have eliminated infectious diseases and contact with Earthmen might be fatal.
The Caves of Steel,
as in well-written science fiction of all kinds, language must constantly be inspected for surprises and reinterpretation. Baley notes, for instance, that there are no expressway directions to Spacetown. He explains why almost immediately: "if you've business there, you know the way" and "if you don't know the way, you've no business there." In a related logical process, the novel raises an aspect of Spacer attitudes that infuriates Earthmen. Earthmen are not allowed into Spacetown except singly and then only when thoroughly cleansed and decontaminated as if they were dirty and diseased. Later this business is turned around and inspected from the other side. Earthmen haven't changed, but Spacers have; like Wells's Martians, they have eliminated infectious diseases and contact with Earthmen might be fatal.
The Caves of Steel
contains the kind of science-fiction wit that Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth displayed to such good advantage in their collaborations (beginning with
The Space Merchants
) and that Pohl continued in his own work. Novels and short stories are "viewed," for instance, which suggests a reevaluation of the customs and literacy of a society and linguistic development in general. A reference is made in
The Caves of Steel
to "whole yeast bread," and Baley remembers when he took his son to the zoo and they saw cats, dogs, and the wonder of sparrows flying.
contains the kind of science-fiction wit that Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth displayed to such good advantage in their collaborations (beginning with
The Space Merchants
) and that Pohl continued in his own work. Novels and short stories are "viewed," for instance, which suggests a reevaluation of the customs and literacy of a society and linguistic development in general. A reference is made in
The Caves of Steel
to "whole yeast bread," and Baley remembers when he took his son to the zoo and they saw cats, dogs, and the wonder of sparrows flying.
At one point Asimov describes the natural solariums at the uppermost levels of some of the wealthier subsections of the City:
. . . where a partition of quartz with a movable metal shield excludes the air but lets in the sunlight. There the wives and daughters of the City's highest administrators and executives may tan themselves. There a unique thing happens every evening.
Night falls.
Asimov moves on from that revelation about a world in which the fall of night can be a unique event (and is, no doubt, a personal allusion to his most famous single story, "Nightfall") to an analysis of those habits of humanity that can be changed and those that cannot.
Much of the earlier habits of Earthly society have been given up in the interests of that same economy and efficiency: space, privacy, even much
of free will. They are the products of civilization, however, and not much more than ten thousand years old.
of free will. They are the products of civilization, however, and not much more than ten thousand years old.
The adjustment of sleep to night, however, is as old as man: a million years. The habit is not easy to give up. Although the evening is unseen, apartment lights dim as the hours of darkness pass and the City's pulse sinks. Though no one can tell noon from midnight by any cosmic phenomenon along the enclosed avenues of the City, mankind follows the mute partitionings of the hour hand.
The expressways empty, the noise of life sinks, the moving mob among the colossal alleys melts away; New York City lies in Earth's unnoticed shadow, and its population sleeps.
The prose of that observation, it might be noted, need not be ashamed anywhere in literary society.
Ultimately, the appeal of
The Caves of Steel
depends upon two major elements: the depiction of an overpopulated society living in what we would consider a claustrophobic environment, and the relationship between an Earthman and a robot. Asimov tries to get the reader interested in the Sarton-Fastolfe goal of pushing Earthmen into space colonization, but because this goal is distant and idealistic, the reader remains unconvinced. And the threat of robots replacing humans matters only insofar as it motivates Baley.
The Caves of Steel
depends upon two major elements: the depiction of an overpopulated society living in what we would consider a claustrophobic environment, and the relationship between an Earthman and a robot. Asimov tries to get the reader interested in the Sarton-Fastolfe goal of pushing Earthmen into space colonization, but because this goal is distant and idealistic, the reader remains unconvinced. And the threat of robots replacing humans matters only insofar as it motivates Baley.
The environment, on the other hand, is virtually a major character in the novel. Some readers interpret
The Caves of Steel
as dystopian. Asimov refers to this in a headnote to "It's Such a Beautiful Day," a story reprinted in
Nightfall and Other Stories
:
The Caves of Steel
as dystopian. Asimov refers to this in a headnote to "It's Such a Beautiful Day," a story reprinted in
Nightfall and Other Stories
:
I wrote a novel in 1953 which pictured a world in which everyone lived in underground cities, comfortably enclosed away from the open air.
People would say, "How could you imagine such a nightmarish situation?"
And I would answer in astonishment, "What nightmarish situation?"
The Caves of Steel
was written by a claustrophiliac (and an agoraphobe) for an editor who had a severe case of agoraphobia. Asimov's dislike for travel and his refusal to fly are well known, but he also enjoyed being enclosed. In that same headnote he wrote:
was written by a claustrophiliac (and an agoraphobe) for an editor who had a severe case of agoraphobia. Asimov's dislike for travel and his refusal to fly are well known, but he also enjoyed being enclosed. In that same headnote he wrote:
. . . my idea of a pleasant time is to go up to my attic, sit at my electric typewriter . . . and bang away, watching the words take shape like magic before my eyes. To minimize distractions, I keep the window-shades down at all times and work exclusively by artificial light.
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