September 02, 2004
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Did you see the movie? Because if you did, it is nothing like the book. Not that I expected it to be, but wow.
This is not really going to be a comparison of the movie and the book but I thought I would just get the obvious out of the way. The only things that are the same from movie and book are a couple of character names and the company name (and even that was abbreviated in the movie). Otherwise, the book is vastly different.
The book centers on Dr. Susan Calvin, a psychologist and a robopsychologist, who works for U.S. Robotics. She is being interviewed by a journalist and her recollections are what make up the book. Each short story concerns a new robot series manufactured by U.S. Robotics and the problems/concerns associated with the new robots.
I did find the writing a bit dry in parts but overall, the whole book was easily readable. Each story makes you think about the ramifications of advanced technology and each story has a moral (although some are harder to find than others). Some of the stories are humorous, some are heartwarming, some are heartbreaking, and some are a little heavy handed. However, I think it all balances itself out so that you are not overwhelmed by one emotion.
It was an odd feeling to read a book written in the 1950s that was talking about 2005 as "the future" and to know that the 2005 depicted in the book was not anything like our 2005 (unless there are amazing technological advancements made in the next year).
I give the book 3 Halos and 2 Pitchforks (for the dry writing).
