classics – BookBunnies

Midnight reviews Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov

Late last year the mysterious and reclusive black bunny of the family, Midnight, decided to join in the book fun and reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov, the first book in Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. Today he is talking to Sprinkles about the second book in the series, Foundation and Empire, originally published in 1952.

Sprinkles: It is nice to have you back here for another book review, Midnight!

Midnight: It’s good to be invited back. A being such as myself needs to be invited across a threshold before entering. (Bares teeth.)

Sprinkles: No need to try to be menacing Midnight; we appreciate you without the fear factor.

Midnight: Hmm. Underestimate me at your peril.

Sprinkles: Okay, whatever. So last time you and I talked about Asimov’s Foundation. And today we are talking about the second book in the series: Foundation and Empire.

Midnight: Foundation and Empire is really two long stories put together in one volume.

Sprinkles: Like the first book, which was five stories put together, right?

Midnight: If you want to put words in my mouth, then I suppose so.

Sprinkles: Okay, then you can use your own words. Go ahead.

Midnight: As I was saying, there are two stories. The first story is called “The General”. It is about Bel Riose, an ambitious general of the Galactic Empire who wants to fight for the glory of the Empire. He wants to attack the Foundation, which is by now a serious galactic power itself.

Sprinkles: But Hari Seldon comes through for the Foundation once more, right?

Midnight: Yes. However, by this point in galactic history, Hari Seldon is long dead. But as this rabbit can tell you, the long dead may still pose a great danger to the unwary. (Bares teeth.)

Sprinkles: Midnight! Stop scaring our readers. Some of them are young.

Midnight: Some people say I overcompensate for my modest size. Anyway, I thought you did not want to provide too many spoilers in these reviews, so I was trying to be entertaining.

Sprinkles: Yes, you are right, maybe we should not go too deep into the plot. But I think it is an important setup for the second story …

Midnight: Yes, in some ways. The second story is called “The Mule” and it is about a new challenge for the Foundation that Seldon could not have predicted. Things get out of hand, and a small group of people from the Foundation heads out to look for the mythical Second Foundation in order to reclaim Seldon’s legacy.

Sprinkles: Yes, I think this is a good summary of the plot.

Midnight: Glad you approve.

Midnight is reading Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov. — Midnight is reading *Foundation and Empire* by Isaac Asimov.

Sprinkles: Anyways, maybe that is enough about the plot.

Midnight: Now what do we talk about?

Sprinkles: What else do you want to say about the book?

Midnight: Not much. I think I am not an Asimov fan. This book was better than the first book though. The characters were a bit more developed. The jumps in time were less drastic. The first book skipped around five different times or something. Here we have only the two, separated by about a century. So that allowed him to focus on the characters in each story a bit more.

Sprinkles: I did like the characters in this book a lot more actually. I also really liked the idea of the visi-sonor, the musical instrument the clown Magnifico played in the second part. It could combine sound and images and affect people’s emotions. It fit the storyline really well, too.

Midnight: True. Also, there is a twist at the end of “The Mule” which I had not expected, so that was successful.

Sprinkles: I did not catch it either. And I agree. It was good.

Midnight: I guess you will want to talk with me about the third book next.

Sprinkles: That would be great!

Midnight: I am not committing to it. I may take a break from Asimov for a while. No one commands Midnight.

Sprinkles: Sure, we can take a break from Asimov, I suppose. I would love to get back to it eventually, but maybe you will enjoy talking about some Tolkien next.

Midnight: That sounds great! I really enjoy watching science fiction, but somehow reading it is not my beverage of choice.

Sprinkles: Yes, you are more into fantasy. So maybe that is what we can talk about the next time you visit.

Midnight: No promises.

Sprinkles: Okay, Midnight. This is a good place as any to wrap up this review. So what will you say as your last words?

Midnight: Farewell, dear reader. Until such a time as the Black Bunny sees fit to reappear.

Midnight enjoyed reading Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov. He might even come back some day out of the shadow realm where he normally resides to pontificate about the next book in the series. — Midnight enjoyed reading *Foundation and Empire* by Isaac Asimov. He might even come back some day out of the shadow realm where he normally resides to pontificate about the next book in the series.

Sprinkles reviews Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot

Today Sprinkles reviews a classic book of poems about cats, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot, originally published in 1939. The edition reviewed here was illustrated by Edward Gorey and published in 1982.

After chatting with Marshmallow about s most interesting book written by a cat, I decided to see if I could read more books about or by cats. This is how I first laid my paws on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. This book was not claiming to be written by a cat but rather an old possum, but of course the possum was none other than the famed poet T.S. Eliot. Having reviewed a poetry book about dogs, I thought it would be fun to review a poetry book about cats as a way to balance the issue.

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats is a small book, with a total of fifteen poems spread over less than sixty pages. Every poem is accompanied by at least one full-page illustration, drawn expertly by Edward Gorey. Most of the poems have relatively simple and standard rhyme structures, so that they can be read out loud to a little one with much pleasure for all involved.

I should warn the reader that the book does include a poem, “Growltiger’s Last Stand“, that has a serious racist slur. This particular poem is about a dangerous cat named Growltiger, a bad bully of a cat, who hates Siamese cats because he was beaten by one and lost an ear to it. So it is within reason that he could be hateful towards all Siamese cats, but the poet himself did not need to use a racial slur to describe the latter. [It is honestly jarring to see this word in an otherwise perfectly enjoyable poetry collection. I’d recommend parents reading poems out loud to their little ones to consider skipping this poem, or perhaps rephrasing the line with the problematic word.]

Sprinkles is reading "Macavity: The Mystery Cat" in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot. — Sprinkles is reading “Macavity: The Mystery Cat” in *Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats* by T.S. Eliot.

When I started reading Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, I had no idea that it was the main inspiration for the outrageously successful Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats, which premiered in 1981. I had seen the musical itself way back in the last millennium, when I was about Marshmallow’s age. At the time, I had been overwhelmed by the sounds and the lights and knew that I was probably missing more than half of the plot. (I was seeing it performed in German, a language that I admire but am not terribly fluent in, so maybe you will give me some grace.) Now reading about it in more contemporary outlets, I can see that I did miss a lot. In particular the musical can apparently be viewed at a lot more adult, sensual level, and this totally evaded me back then. However, I am not at all upset about having missed all that. The cats were so fascinating, and they were so alien, and yet so irresistibly alive, I vividly remember leaving the performance hall excited and full of curiosity. Reading T.S. Eliot’s little book that started it all completes the circle for me, bringing me back to the joy and humor, to the simple appreciation of the many feline characters introduced so playfully by the poet in his letters to his godchildren.

While writing this review I also learned of a relatively recent movie production of the same content. Apparently it was a big flop, but looking at the trailer, I have to wonder how much of the failure was due to the uncanny valley effect, the discomfort humans tend to feel when a character in a book or a movie is almost too humanlike but not quite. As a bunny of course, this would not affect me as much, so I might end up trying to watch the movie some day.

Coming back to Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, I would like to suggest that readers should take a look at it for sure, especially if they are cat parents, of course, but even if one is not especially fond of cats, the book can offer some pleasure and fun.

Sprinkles loved reading Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and recommends it to all bunnies, young and old, who love cats, musicals, and whimsical poetry. — Sprinkles loved reading *Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats* by T.S. Eliot and recommends it to all bunnies, young and old, who love cats, musicals, and whimsical poetry.

Midnight reviews Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Today we have a surprise for you: The mysterious and reclusive black bunny of the family, Midnight, decided he wants to join in the book fun! So here follows the first book review by Midnight, where he talks to Sprinkles about Isaac Asimov’s classic Foundation, the first book of the famous Foundation trilogy, originally published as a stand-alone book in 1951.

Sprinkles: Midnight, I am so happy to welcome you to the book bunnies blog!

Midnight: It’s wonderful to be here. It’s certainly a thrill.

Sprinkles: So you chose Asimov’s Foundation as your first book. Can you tell us a bit about it?

Midnight: It’s almost like another bunny purchased it for me and suggested that I read it.

Sprinkles: Yes, that is true. I read it on my tablet via the Libby app, but then I thought you might enjoy it too.

Midnight: It is a short book about the decline and fall of the Galactic Empire.

Sprinkles: Wait, the Galactic Empire is something from Star Wars, no?

Midnight: Foundation predates Star Wars by several decades. It was written originally as a series of short stories in the 1940s, and published in science fiction magazines, until in 1951 Asimov put them together into a book. The first Star Wars movie came out in 1977.

Sprinkles: Okay, okay, of course you know the timeline really well. But then tell us a bit about this Galactic Empire. Are we talking about our own galaxy, the Milky Way?

Midnight: Yes, we are, and they keep talking about humans and no other aliens. And sadly no bunnies are mentioned. (But we can assume that they control everything from the shadows–as they do in the present.)

Sprinkles: Midnight, let us not scare our readers away with your schemes of world (or universe) domination. Let’s get back to the book. Okay, we are talking about a galactic empire in the Milky Way, so this is far into the future, right?

Midnight: Yes. The Galactic Empire has endured for about twelve thousand years and spans the entire galaxy. According to other Asimov books in the same universal timeline, the Empire was founded about ten thousand years into the future from now.

Sprinkles: That is way in the future! Kind of like Caramel’s WarHammer storyline, which was about forty thousand years into the future. That’s kind of cool!

Midnight: That’s not a question.

Sprinkles: Okay, I will try to phrase my words into questions. I did not read much about WarHammer, but I know it describes a rather dystopian future. The one Asimov describes is not as dismal, is it?

Midnight: True. The Galactic Empire seems modeled after the Roman Empire to some extent. It is ruled by a monarch from the imperial capital planet Trantor. But the empire is in a slow decline that is inexorable according to Hari Seldon, the main character in the first portion of the book.

Sprinkles: Yes, I remember the book is written in five separate sections, which must be the five stories that were published separately earlier. Seldon is the main character in the very first one, but he does appear in the later ones too, no?

Midnight: Yes, but it is probably more accurate to say his influence is felt in the later ones.

Sprinkles: Yes okay. Go on.

Midnight: So Seldon is a scholar of psychohistory, a discipline that uses mathematical tools to model psychology of large groups of people to make predictions about their collective behavior. If the sample sizes are large enough, Asimov suggests that predictions can be made with high degree of certainty. Seldon predicts the downfall of the Empire, and that the galaxy will go through a dark age that would last thirty thousand years.

Sprinkles: That would bring us to past 40K, the time of WarHammer! What an interesting coincidence! Anyways, psychohistory kind of sounds to me like using big data to predict, and we know that has worked pretty well in predicting people’s purchasing decisions and such, but it is not clear it would work for historical events. I guess that is why this is science fiction.

Midnight: Yes. And the book was written quite a bit before mathematicians began studying chaos theory, and Lorenz’s discovery of the butterfly effect in weather prediction.

Sprinkles: Yes, that is true too. Okay, coming back to this being fiction. Let us accept the premise of the book that Seldon has this theory that predicts the future of the Empire. Then what happens?

Midnight: Seldon starts a foundation on the planet Terminus, at the edge of the galaxy, recruiting a group of scholars, ostensibly to compile a great encyclopedia of all knowledge from which humanity will be able to restore the galaxy to some sense of civilization. According to the Seldon Plan, the Foundation would be able to shorten the dark age to only one thousand years.

Sprinkles: I see what you did there. The word “ostensibly” seems to have silently found its way into your sentence.

Midnight is reading Foundation by Isaac Asimov. — Midnight is reading *Foundation* by Isaac Asimov.

Sprinkles: Anyways, maybe this is enough about the plot of the book.

Midnight: Okay. What do I need to say now?

Sprinkles: Well, you can tell me what you thought of the book.

Midnight: The book takes place over many centuries, so a new cast of characters is introduced in each part of the book.

Sprinkles: The five main parts we mentioned earlier?

Midnight: Yes. But this means that characters do not necessarily have the same depth that they might in a conventional novel.

Sprinkles: Yeah, I can see that.

Midnight: And there is a lot of speaking about things as opposed to showing events take place. Asimov has a lot of big ideas, but when centuries pass every few pages, one does not feel quite as invested in the individual characters and one does not get too much of a sense of who they are as people. They are more vehicles to deliver context and story.

Sprinkles: I can see your Tolkien fan feelings coming out here. Tolkien spent a lifetime developing his world, and his characters are often much richer and deeper.

Midnight: Let’s compare this to the Silmarillion, which takes place over thousands of years and characters come in and out of the narrative over these vast time scales, kind of like in Foundation. I feel like I have a lot clearer sense of those characters than Asimov’s in this book.

Sprinkles: I have not read Silmarillion, but my guess is that Tolkien has a different style and different goals. He cares a lot more about his characters, while maybe Asimov is trying to tell us a possible future.

Midnight: I am not sure I’d say that. I think Tolkien is also retelling a vast history, and does not set out to write a character-driven drama. But somehow his characters are more complete people in my mind.

Sprinkles: Well, Midnight, then you will have to come back and review Silmarillion for us some day.

Midnight: Well, I don’t want to sound too negative about Foundation. I did find the ideas intriguing and read the next several books in the series. I found some of the characters in those books more compelling and three-dimensional.

Sprinkles: Okay, then, maybe you will also tell us about those books some day?

Midnight: Maybe. As a mysterious and reclusive bunny, I do not wish to commit to anything at this time.

Sprinkles: But that is alright. You have already shared with us some good thoughts on a classic, and that is already wonderful! I did like Foundation a lot myself, and it seems that you enjoyed it, too. So maybe this is a good place to wrap up your first review. What do you think?

Midnight: Sounds reasonable to me.

Sprinkles: The little bunnies I interview for the blog have their own closing phrases when they are ending their posts. What would you like to tell our readers as we wrap up yours?

Midnight: A bunny as sophisticated, as complicated, and as self-important as I, cannot be reduced to a simple catchphrase.

Sprinkles: I understand. But we do need to end this post. So what will you say as your last words?

Midnight: Farewell, dear reader. Until such a time as the Black Bunny sees fit to reappear.

Midnight enjoyed reading Foundation by Isaac Asimov. He also enjoyed coming out of the shadow realm where he normally resides and pontificating about the book. — Midnight enjoyed reading *Foundation* by Isaac Asimov. He also enjoyed coming out of the shadow realm where he normally resides and pontificating about the book.

Marshmallow reviews The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Today Marshmallow reviews a classic novel originally published in 1899: Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like reading books that make you think and take you back in time, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Edna Pontellier lives in New Orleans, Louisiana during the late nineteenth century. As she is originally from Kentucky, Edna has felt a little out of place ever since she married Mr. Pontellier (who was born into the Creole culture), moving to Louisiana to live with him. Edna spends her days as a “mother-woman” now, attending to the needs of her husband and two sons and running the domestic details of the Pontellier household; however, this is not enough to satisfy Edna.

The Pontelliers are fortunately very wealthy and the book introduces us to them during their trip to Grand Isle (near the Gulf of Mexico) during the summer. At Grand Isle, Edna realizes that she is truly unhappy when Mr. Pontellier berates her for neglecting their children (despite the fact that he was out the whole night at the pub). She breaks down in tears, but finds comfort in spending time with her friend Robert—who is the son of the woman who runs the resort the Pontelliers stay at. While Mr. Pontellier is regarded as the best husband Edna and her friends know, he is not particularly attentive. Still, he sends back sumptuous gifts while he is away, and he has never abused or assaulted Edna.

To me, it seems that Mr. Pontellier is the best husband one could hope for from the men of that time period; he is a very by-the-book gentleman, treating his wife in the most caring manner he knows how (though it is mostly materialistic and he does not offer much in the way of emotional support or attention). I do not blame Edna for feeling discontent though.

During their time at Grand Isle, Robert and Edna become closer and closer—to the point that Adéle Ratignolle (a very close friend of Edna’s) warns him to stay away from Edna lest they start to believe they could become more than friends. But it is already too late because Edna’s heart has already made its way to Robert. Adéle, who is the paragon of what an ideal woman would be, provides a stark contrast to Edna. Edna is not a bad wife, but she is far from matching Adéle’s doting adoration and care for Mr. Ratignolle and their children. Along with her budding love for Robert, Edna starts to feel as though maybe she is not cut out to fit this mother-woman role.

When the Pontelliers return to New Orleans, Edna starts to take up more room, rejecting the standards she tried so hard to fit herself in. When Mr. Pontellier goes on a business trip and the children go to stay with his mother, Edna decides to move to a small cottage they own, called the pigeon house. There, her agency and independence are kindled and eventually ignite an affair with a man named Alcée Arobin (there are no inappropriate scenes; Chopin only describes an occasional kiss).

One might ask why Alcée comes into the picture when Edna loves Robert. The unfortunate answer would be that Robert ran off to Mexico in pursuit of some business opportunity, though this was a thinly veiled attempt to distance himself from Edna and his feelings of attraction to her. Alcée (a lady’s man with a distinct pattern of chasing married women) provides the physical satisfaction that Edna was missing. But Edna does not feel any sense of love or emotional connection to him. Robert is the one she loved. When he returns, Edna’s life will be forever changed.

Marshmallow is reading The Awakening by Kate Chopin. — Marshmallow is reading *The Awakening* by Kate Chopin.

Marshmallow’s Review: This was a fascinating book. I really enjoyed reading about what life was like back then, and I felt as though Chopin had actually transported me there to witness it. I will say that I found Edna’s treatment of some of the servants quite infuriating (she is not abusive, but definitely demeaning). Regardless, this book was worth the time I put into trying to understand it. Initially, much like my endeavors with A Tale of Two Cities, reading the first couple of chapters was grueling. But after I got accustomed to the writing style of the time period, it was relatively easy to read.

I read The Awakening in my English class, so I did do a deeper analysis of this book than I might have done otherwise. I noticed that the titular “Awakening” could represent one of many things (her rebellion, her sexual relationships, her artistic pursuits, etc.) or perhaps all of them together. There is also the consistent image of the sea. This motif serves to represent independence, death, freedom, life, rebirth, rebellion, and more. Really, anything can represent anything—it is all up to the reader what they get out of the book. I found this book to be a source of gratitude for me. I am really glad that Edna’s world of repression and dissatisfaction has been partially torn down over the years since this book’s publication. The idea of a mother-woman that so defined and constrained her life has loosened its grip on women today.

The ending came as a bit of a shock to me. I was hoping for the resolution of the story to go one way and it went off a cliff in the other direction (metaphorically, I mean, due to the surprising nature of the end). I will not say much more. But I think the ending Chopin chose sends the most meaningful message and it is quite open to interpretation.

I wonder if it is possible that the whole story is a dream and that Edna imagines her whole affair with Alcée and the drama with Robert. She does have one part of the book where she starts imagining something and perhaps she never stopped? This is a bit of a stretch, but I find such mental investigations intriguing.

I would also mention that this is a very psychologically interesting book as well. Chopin does an excellent job of showing Edna’s psyche and why she feels the way she does. The reader’s emotions follow the same arc as those of Edna’s. I was saddened to come to the end of the book.

This particular edition of the novel contains many short stories by the author; however, I have not read them yet; so far I have only read The Awakening. That is the only one I can speak about in depth. But I can definitely say that I would highly recommend reading it to all!

Marshmallow’s Rating: 98%.

Marshmallow rates The Awakening by Kate Chopin 98%. — Marshmallow rates *The Awakening* by Kate Chopin 98%.