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I concur with all of your particulars (everyone has read this, fun two minute read, occasionally brilliant ideas, generally awful writing, sadly missed) and was
by michael_dorfman 18y ago
I concur with all of your particulars (everyone has read this, fun two minute read, occasionally brilliant ideas, generally awful writing, sadly missed) and was completely in agreement up until your very last word.
If Isaac Asimov's a genius, what was Isaac Newton?
"...all little sisters like to try on big sister's clothes..."
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- RiderOfGiraffes 18y ago> If Isaac Asimov's a genius, what was Isaac Newton? A genius of a different type. Can you compare Nelson Mandela with Leonhard Euler? Can you compare Benjamin Franklin with William Shakespeare? Genius, like intelligence, comes in different flavors. In short, it's silly and ultimately pointless trying to quantify terms such as "genius". One person's "genius" is abother person's "skilled". Let's agree that it's not worth worrying about.
- michael_dorfman 18y agoSorry, but I think there's orders of magnitude of difference involved here. Sure, you can compare Nelson Mandela, Leonhard Euler, Benjamin Franklin and William Shakespeare-- all were (are) truly exceptional men of the first order. Asimov was a somewhat talented and extremely prolific science fiction writer. He wrote a few great short stories, a few great novels, and a lot of standard (and sub-standard) fare. To call him a "genius" devalues the term beyond recognition.
- RiderOfGiraffes 18y agoThen we'll agree to differ. I think simple, direct and engaging writing is difficult, and coming up with such a range of ideas to exploit is equally difficult. I think in this field Asimov has very, very few peers. I'm not upset that you don't think he was a genius.