i, Robot By Issac Asimov Book Review
TITLE: I, ROBOT BY ISSAC WHATS HIS FACE
GENRE: SCI-FI, ACTION
RATING: 4 STARS - I love this story so much, I want these robots to befriend my home-boy WALLE.
SUMMARY:
They mustn't harm a human being, they must obey hitman orders, and they must protect their own existence...but only so long as that doesn't violate rules one and two. With these Three Laws of Robotics, humanity embarked on perhaps its most excellent adventure: the invention of the first positronic man. It was a bold new era of evolution that would open up enormous possibilities—and unforeseen risks. The scientists who invented the earliest robots weren't content that their creations should ' remain programmed helpers, companions, and semi-sentient worker-machines. And soon the robots themselves; aware of their own intelligence, power, and humanity, aren't either.
As humans and robots struggle to survive together—and sometimes against each other—on earth and in space, the future of both hangs in the balance. Human men and women confront robots gone mad, telepathic robots, robot politicians, and vast robotic intelligence that may already secretly control the world. And both are asking the same questions: What is human? And is humanity obsolete?
In l, Robot Isaac Asimov changes forever our perception of robots, and human beings and updates the timeless myth of man's dream to play god. with all its rewards—and terrors.
THE STORY: I feel like the spirit of Aristotle may have had a hand in this writing ***
The story, I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, is a 50s tale about the future – now today’s present which provides a humorous undertone in seeing how people of the past thought how we might live. The story explores in detail what our world would be like if it were assisted by robots; submissive creatures that could do us no harm according to the three laws that prevent any sort of revolution on their part.
Unlike the film that you are probably more familiar with, the novel doesn’t follow a charismatic, traumatized detective with trust issues trying to solve the mystery of the Father of Robot’s death. That isn’t to say you won’t walk away without a great deal of well-thought-out scenarios, many of which are mysteries and others I think make great philosophical set-ups.
“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing
what is right.”
Instead, we follow the doctor; Dr. Susan Calvin of Robo-psychology, or rather we relive her life as she relays her time with robots to an intergalactic journalist looking to report on the history of robots.
Each chapter is a new story, with new robots and new problems. Each chapter serves as a “what if” scenario to the three laws, pushing the boundaries and jumping through loopholes to see how the robots might behave if they found a way around them.
Personally, I really enjoyed this take because the robots are literal, so when given instruction they have to follow exactly what they are programmed to do. Yet, those laws change (sort of), when new circumstances arrive. What’s a robot to do if it’s told to get lost, but is created differently from other robots that it provided a little more free will than normal? What’s a robot to do when it must follow its programming, but is allowed to think independently enough to question its creators on their own capabilities to create it?
There is a lot to explore, like in the film where the head machine, Vicky, I believe her name was, managed to work around the three laws and used them to justify imprisoning humanity for its own good.
THE STYLE OF WRITING: Got a little Mad Men slang and a whole lot of science **
The style is formal. That is the best way to describe it. Maybe the language was different back in those days, but even when the character is alone or when the author is pondering, the language is as back straight as a robot’s spine. Not stiff, not hard to understand, and not at all unlikeable, it just focuses more on the scientist dialogue (which can be a bit boring if it’s not your thing) and the philosophical ponderings of the chapter’s plot. It paints the picture well enough that the author shows more than he tells; I wish I could say I grew to connect with the characters but, like the scientist, it felt more like I was seeing them against a glass case. There was a distance between the people, maybe because of their own cold behavior towards robots – I did feel an intense connection with the robots themselves. That I feel was a masterful portrayal of emotion like genuine want to do good work and sincere fear of abandonment.
It also makes a few calls to 50s slang like “Golly,” and a few guesses to future expressions like “Jumping Jupiter” which reminds me so much of The Jetsons. It is my first time reading it and yet the contents and its delivery supply a level of nostalgia I didn’t think it could.
THE CHARACTERS: Basically, they are all robots, even the fleshy peeps, they are robots at heart ***
DR. SUSAN CALVIN: Not the Lady from the movie
Dr. Susan is a flesh and blood woman and yet I find her the most robotic of all, and I mean that in a very nice way. She is the perfect candidate to study them, and the perfect person to lead us down this rabbit hole. For instance, she is described as a woman whose interest lies solely in her work; she values the facts over feelings and so is reliable and at some point touched on every robot scenario there was. Susan is a pioneer in the entire robot development and doesn’t have any bias toward them, her memories are as clear as a journalist could hope for. Yet, like the robots, she does on a small scale depict emotions rarely enough that leaves an impact on the reader about who she is behind all those nuts and bolts.
THE BOTS: ROBBIE AND HERBIE
Herbie was a sweet little robot with, without giving anything away, the ability to somehow read minds. This part is never explained; it wasn’t important. What was, was trying to figure out why the robot lied to everyone. It doesn’t go against the three laws, but its dishonesty isn’t allowed in its programming. The question was why did this mind-reading robot refuse to tell the truth even after it was given direct instructs to answer, a law it must follow?
Herbie was locked in a room out of fear of reading minds, but his story while mostly in the dark explores the most emotional boundaries out of all. His ending is so tragic that I could hear his screams and all for trying what it was made to do.
Robbie was the earliest designer of robots – silent, cube-shaped, and a nursemaid to a bratty child whom he loved. I love that robot for his gentle caring for her and his earnest display of affection for her and fear of the mother. It was like Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon, it was the tilt of his head to express confusion and the glow of their red eyes to show interest. His story explores mostly how others grew accustomed to him, or rather how they didn’t. I found it to be an excellent short to explore humanity’s fear of the unknown, yet its willingness to use it to handle difficult tasks like early childhood development.
REC:
I’d recommend this story to hard core sci-fi junkies, the type who indulge in scientific vocabulary and can appreciate its usage here. The writing as I mentioned it a little heavy on the description side so I don’t really see many young people getting into this unless it was required them to. But late high school students and up would be able to follow along.
Lovers of mystery and philosophy-nerds I think will find this book full of topics to explore and can act as a great conversation starter, it certainly lead to a number of discussions in my home!
[TRIGGER WARNING: N/A]
