Customer Reviews

The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories (Doubleday science fiction)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am *not* just popping off when I make that statement. "The Bicentennial Man" contains within it all the best of Asimov's writing, and a theme (a robot decides it's time to become more of a man, and does whatever it takes to realize his dream) that has the elements of courage, love, devotion, friendship, and determination that any truly great story could have. The other stories are excellent, but buy the book for "The Bicentennial Man." You *won't* be disappointed.

Bicentenial Man, now made into a movie? It was one if Asimov's better works, but not his absolute best. Near the end of his career, Issac started pulling all his novels together in the last books of his Foundation Series. To fully appreciate his work, Foundation, Foundation & Empire and Second foundation are required reading. Also Caves of Steel presents the theme of the "human" robot. If you want to grok fully the Foundation conclusion. I Robot would also be very helpful, if you enjoy Asimov.

Check out the musical interpretaion by The Alan Parsons Project, I Robot. It is a tribute, if you will, to the book. By someone else who obviously HAS read it.

I found the story of a robot wanting to become more human fantastic. We take for granted all of the things that we experience and feel...and a robot wanted to experience the same things we did. I found it touching when he wanted to do what we find either dull or average. To him it was all new and wonderful.

Years ago this was released as (Bicentennial man & other short stories) and this is not a full novel of the life of Andrew Martin. There is another book out there called (The Positronic Man) which Isaac Asimov co wrote with Siilverber that was a full novel version of this short story. though I think this is a wonder book of short stories by Asimov I just hope must understand it is not a full novel version of that story.

In my opinion, "The Bicentennial Man" is the best science fiction short story ever written. Andrew is a robot owned by the Martin family and he is loyal as the laws of robotics dictate. However, he is also very unusual, his positronic brain allows for thoughts far beyond what other robots can conjure. He is so unusual that the manufacturer discontinued all manufacturing along that line to avoid the possibility of creating another.
Andrew's goal is to become human and over serious political and social opposition he finally manages to be granted full status as a human. However, before he can achieve that pinnacle, he first must arrange for his "natural death." It is a compelling story of what it means to be human as well as how humans interact with each other and face their fears of other intellects.
The remaining stories in this collection of short science fiction stories by Asimov are also good, just outclassed by the quality of "The Bicentennial Man." This is the fourth time that I have read this book, roughly once every ten years since it was first published. It remains one of my favorite books and I will certainly be opening it again in another ten years.

There have been several groundbreaking works of Science Fiction that have brought the genre to its present glory of that of today.
The heartfelt story of an unordinary robot named Andrew who wishes to become a human being; or more a person under philosophical terms is an extraordinary achievement that has sparked great interest into the genre.
The story is one of great peril as Andrew a robot fights for acceptance in society, then fights for the right to freedom to later wanting to look human and to be accepted in society. Striving for humanity is his ultimate goal.
Living two hundred years and experiencing the loss of the members of the Martin family brings a touching heartfelt meaning to this robot story.
Isaac Asimov writes with creative flair, bringing out the emotions of everyone involved. He mindsets the extraordinary feelings of Andrew, the robot and gives him a unique personality with realistic goals.

This is a great story. One I would recommend to new readers of science fiction and old readers who want to recapture the esscence of what the genre is all about. Besides, it's a quick and enjoyable read for those with not much spare time.

Highly Recommended!

I was disappointed because this is the collection of short stories containing The Bicentenial Man. I got it confused with The Positronic Man, which is the full length novel of the same story

The seller was fine, but it was frustrating that I got this for someone as a gift and it wasn't what I meant to give them.

This collection centres around a few strong stories, but there are several others Asimov wrote on request for varying venues from communication industry and music industry magazines, to science fiction magagazine anniversary celebrations. These are pretty minor, in general, compired to the title story, and The Life and Times of Multivac, etc. There is also a revised poem, in here, it seems.

The author does write an intro about the situations described above and how each story came to be.

Bicentennial Man : Feminine Intuition - Isaac Asimov
Bicentennial Man : Waterclap - Isaac Asimov
Bicentennial Man : That Thou Art Mindful of Him - Isaac Asimov
Bicentennial Man : Stranger in Paradise - Isaac Asimov
Bicentennial Man : The life and Times of Multivac - Isaac Asimov
Bicentennial Man : The Winnowing - Isaac Asimov
Bicentennial Man : The Bicentennial Man - Isaac Asimov
Bicentennial Man : Marching In - Isaac Asimov
Bicentennial Man : Old-fashioned - Isaac Asimov
Bicentennial Man : The Tercentenary Incident - Isaac Asimov
Bicentennial Man : Birth of a Notion - Isaac Asimov

Girlbot creativity communication.

3.5 out of 5


Outer space undersea visitor has tuhrrorist plan. Extemporaneous Jupiter project plan convinces laser wielder to desist.

4 out of 5


Advanced robot creation assignment.

3.5 out of 5


Mercury Project problems.

2.5 out of 5


Supercomputer overlord subservience breaking point.

4 out of 5


Feeder selection cull surprise.

4 out of 5


Robot evolution legal test case.

4 out of 5


Crazy wave anti-suggestion.

3 out of 5


Black hole signalling.

3 out of 5


Robot double talk.

3 out of 5


Time machine steerage problem Gernsback visit inspiration.

3 out of 5





3.5 out of 5

from the back cover of the 1976 Fawcett Crest paperback edition

STRANGER IN PARADISE A family affair becomes a problem in an age when parents who repeat are perverse and the perfect brother is an only child...
THE BICENTENNIAL MAN An upwardly mobile robot, endowed by his creator to himself create art, learns about life the hard way when he decides the time has come to be more of a man.
THE LIFE AND TIME OF MULTIVAC A mega-computer that girdles the world finds that it can manipulate the destinies of all of the people - almost all of the time...

THE PRIME OF LIFE
FEMININE INTUITION
WATERCLAP
THAT THOU ART MINDFUL OF HIM
THE WINNOWING
MARCHING IN
OLD FASHIONED
THE TERCENTENARY INCIDENT
BIRTH OF A NOTION

Collection of short stories written in the late Sixties or early Seventies. Asimov reverts to a couple of his previous themes, settings, and series here ~ several robot stories, for example ~ in fine style. The title story, i suppose it's the basis for the Robin Williams film i haven't seen, is the rather unsatisfying telling of a robot's limiting itself ever more narrowly in the search to become human; this has always, to my mind, been one of the poorer stories in the collection: Andrew's motivation is not clear, the actions of the people around him are far more acceptable than his; the ultimate definition of "human" as whatever the World Legislature decrees is highly unimaginative and extremely unworthy of the Good Doctor. Of the other stories in the collection all please me to one degree or another ~ as Asimov always does ~ though not all are all of the same quality: "The Tercentenary Incident" far outweighs "Stranger In Paradise" and "The Life And Times Of Multivac" "Waterclap".