Scroll down for the English version.Un Sherlock Holmes su Solaria Apri un libro di fantascienza e ti ritrovi a leggere un giallo classico, di quelli alla Sherlock Holmes (con tanto di citazione nel testo) o con i personaggi di Agatha Christie. Qualcuno è stato ucciso in un pianeta lontano e il detective Baley parlando con i sospettati, osservando e con delle semplici deduzioni arriva a scoprire il colpevole per poi smascherarlo nella riunione finale. Cosa c'entra la fantascienza? Non molto. È solo un'ambientazione fuori dall'ordinario, completamente inventata dall'autore e che di conseguenza gli dà completa libertà d'azione. S'inventa un pianeta dove gli uomini vivono così lontani gli uni dagli altri tanto da non sopportare la presenza altrui. Del delitto non rimane nulla quando il detective arriva dalla Terra e ciò permette di sviluppare una storia fatta di ragionamento e deduzione, senza prove materiali, che in un futuro fantascientifico avrebbero dovuto svelare in un attimo un caso del genere. Ma siamo nel 1957 quando Asimov scrive questo romanzo, senza le avanzate tecniche di criminologia forense che esistono adesso, ed è quindi stato un bene che l'autore non abbia cercato di usare qualche strumento fantascientifico, che col passare del tempo avrebbe reso irrealistica (se non risibile) l'intera storia. E invece così, anche dopo più di 50 la storia continua ad essere abbastanza credibile, salvo qualche dettaglio (librifilm e robe simili). Il modo in cui viene narrata però ne tradisce l'età, insieme alla stessa tematica del robot antropomorfo (che al giorno d'oggi non è più visto come un campo di particolare sviluppo futuro, fatta eccezione per l'intrattenimento) con le sue leggi così rigide, e ne fa un romanzo quasi per ragazzi. Unica eccezione è il discorso sociologico, che viene inserito a metà romanzo, che è sicuramente di un certo spessore, almeno a livello teorico. Lo è un po' meno se si considera il motivo per cui tale materia viene scomodata, cioè il paragone tra una Terra del futuro, dove un Uomo agorafobico vive costantemente separato dall'esterno e circondato da una folla di simili, col pianeta Solaria, dove gli esseri umani hanno a disposizione spazi immensi e non si vedono mai di persona. Ciò che si apprezza è lo sforzo di fantasia dell'autore e si può intravvedere quanto egli si sia divertito ad immaginare delle realtà così irreali e irrealizzabili. Ma il bello della fantascienza è anche questo: l'intrattenimento di chi scrive che si trasmette a chi legge, con tutti i ragionamenti da esso scaturiti, senza necessariamente doverne tirare fuori qualche insegnamento applicabile alla realtà. Perché si tratta di finzione ed è bello che lo sia. Commento sull'edizione. Nella nostra lingua c'è un bel modo verbale che in inglese non esiste, cioè il congiuntivo. Sarebbe il caso di ricordarsi di usarlo più spesso.A Sherlock Holmes on Solaria You open a science fiction book and you find yourself reading a classic crime novel, with the style of Sherlock Holmes (with a citation in the text) or with the characters of Agatha Christie. Someone was killed in a distant planet and Detective Baley by talking with the suspects, observing and with simple deductions gets to discover the culprit and then to expose him in the final meeting. What has science fiction do with it? Not much. It's just a setting out of the ordinary, completely invented by the author and therefore it gives him complete freedom of action. He invents a planet where people live so far away from each other so as not to tolerate the presence of others. Nothing remains of the crime when the detective arrives from Earth so it helps to develop a plot of reasoning and deduction, without evidence, that in a sci-fi future should reveal such a case in a moment. But we are in 1957, when Asimov wrote this novel, without the advanced techniques of forensic criminology that exist now, so it was good that the author did not try to use some sci-fi tool, which over time would make the whole story unrealistic (if not laughable). Instead in this way, even after more than 50 the story continues to be quite credible, except for some details. The way it is told, however, betrays their age, along with the theme of the robot (which nowadays is no longer seen as a particular field of future development, except for entertainment) with its strict laws, and almost makes it a novel for teenagers. The only exception is the sociological theme, which is inserted in the middle of the novel and which is definitely of a certain depth, at least in theory. It is a bit less like this when you consider the reason why this matter is bothered, that is the comparison between an Earth of the future, where agoraphobic humans live constantly separated from the outside and surrounded by a crowd of other humans, and the planet Solaria, where humans have immense spaces at their disposal and are never seen in person. What I appreciated is the effort of the author's imagination and you can glimpse how much he is amused to imagine these so unreal and unattainable realities. But the beauty of science fiction is this: the entertainment of the writer that is transmitted to the reader, with all the arguments arising from it, without necessarily having to pull out some lessons applicable to actual reality. Because it's fiction and it's nice that it is so.
This is the second book in Asimov's celebrated Robot series (It's sandwiched between The Caves of Steel and The Robots of Dawn), and I think it suffers a bit with the transition from Earth to another planet, in this case, the Earth-like Solara. In the first book, the actual caves presented were fascinating. Mankind had journeyed underground and set up cities, which in itself was interesting. I also found the case more engaging, too, as it centered squarely on R. Daneel, which is the central robot of the series. That book featured a world distrustful of robots, while this book features a planet that relies on them. It's a nice change of pace and I applaud Asimov for trying something different, but it's just missing something with its absence of crowds and city life. Plus, R. Daneel plays a lot less heavily in this story than he did in the last one (Though, I do see the correlation between robots and slavery--the protagonist frequently calls them "boy"--more so in this one, which presents an intriguing new element to these stories that wasn't present in the first).The case this time is also much less interesting than it was in Caves, as it feels more like something you would find in a cozy mystery rather than a sci-fi novel. Other than the aspect of "viewing" and "seeing" in this book, and the robots, of course, this doesn't seem like the adventurous exploration of sci-fi mystery like the first one. And that's probably because we're stuck with the more human elements in this story than the last book. I'm interested to see how the final novel in the series fits it altogether, given that ending, but I'm also a little less intrigued after this book. Oh, well.
Do You like book The Naked Sun (1993)?
I read this book the first time in my teens and I loved it, particularly the robot character, R. Daneel Olivaw. In the 50s, computers, robots and space travel were really things of science fiction. I reread this book late last year and still enjoyed it. Computers, robots and space travel now are all real. So in a sense it's a case of comparing what used to be fiction to a new reality. Asimov passes this test well. He even touches on the concept of virtual reality when a woman, seen nude in a video phone conversation, maintained that it was completely acceptable since it was only "viewing" and not really "seeing."
—Daniel
4.5 stars. I just re-read this story after first reading it years ago. This is the second book of the Robot series taking place shortly after the excellent The Caves of Steel. Like The Caves of Steel, this story is structured as a murder mystery though this one is set on the Spacer world of Solaria. Again, Elijah Bailey is reunited with his robot partner Daneel Olivaw to investigate the murder, thus time of a Solarian scientist. Asimov continues his exploration of the contrast between Earth culture and Spacer culture by showing us a Spacer world that is the complete opposite of the over-crowded, claustrophobic Earth. Solaria has a rigidly controlled population of only twenty thousand with a robot population of over two hundred million that cater to their every need. People are conditioned from birth to despise personal contact and live on huge estates. Communication is done via holographic telepresence (called viewing, as opposed to in-person seeing) and personal contact is the society's strongest taboo.Asimov, always a master of big idea science fiction explores the problems that result form a society so rigidly controlled and isolated from human contact and he does so, as always, very well. This is an excellent read and I highly recommend the entire series.
—Stephen
4.5 stars. I just re-read this story after first reading it years ago. This is the second book of the Robot series taking place shortly after the excellent The Caves of Steel. Like The Caves of Steel, this story is structured as a murder mystery though this one is set on the Spacer world of Solaria. Again, Elijah Bailey is reunited with his robot partner Daneel Olivaw to investigate the murder, thus time of a Solarian scientist. Asimov continues his exploration of the contrast between Earth culture and Spacer culture by showing us a Spacer world that is the complete opposite of the over-crowded, claustrophobic Earth. Solaria has a rigidly controlled population of only twenty thousand with a robot population of over two hundred million that cater to their every need. People are conditioned from birth to despise personal contact and live on huge estates. Communication is done via holographic telepresence (called viewing, as opposed to in-person seeing) and personal contact is the society's strongest taboo. Asimov, always a master of big idea science fiction explores the problems that result form a society so rigidly controlled and isolated from human contact and he does so, as always, very well. This is an excellent read and I highly recommend the entire series.
—Stephen
