The uzbekistan state world languages university english faculty II

2.2. Reviews and reviews of the work "The End of Eternity"

The novel "The End of Eternity" by the famous American science fiction writer A. Azimov is an example of a virtuoso game with space and time. This is one of the best and most exciting books of the writer, who considered himself first and foremost a science fiction writer, being at the same time an unsurpassed popularizer of science and its history. He also acted as a compiler of science fiction collections, wrote detective stories, was a commentator on Shakespeare, Milton, Byron and even the Bible. The striking versatility of A. Azimov's interests makes the circle of his readers unusually wide.
So what do we know about time travel and time paradoxes? Isaac Asimov knows much, much more than everyone. The End of Eternity is a book about time travel and influencing the course of events. One immediately recalls a crushed butterfly that led to world cataclysms, the murder of one's own grandfather, and so on - that's just compared to what happens in Asimov's book, it looks like sheer pampering in the sandbox. Everything is much more serious here. In the novel, a huge, like a baobab, tree of options grows, branches of alternative realities, forks of missed and realized opportunities, converging and diverging chains of events.
The Stone of Interference, which has fallen on the mirror surface of Reality, causes diverging circles of Deviations on it. Two such stones cause a layering of Deviations, their multiplication, at the junction of which the number of alternative realities increases exponentially. The third stone, which fell with a delay, can cause Deviation no longer in Reality, but in its alternative reflection, that is, cause not just Deviation, but Deviation from Deviation.
In general, the book in a sense resembles lectures on economic statistics: in both cases, my brains heated up to a dangerous limit, convolutions tossed and turned, thoughts and ideas revolved like gears, working almost to the point of wear and tear. I am constantly haunted by the feeling that just a little bit more, just a little bit more - and I will "jump off": I will stop understanding and get confused, but no - over and over again the brain copes. However, again and again, readers manage to go through a thin wire of brilliant insights. Magical, wonderful feeling.
Having arranged such a sprawling tree of realities, Asimov grafts onto it the same sprawling tree of plot, filled with various trifles, second and third plans, distracting maneuvers and other details.
And each - each - of these details and trifles develops along a complex mathematical trajectory, interacting with others and ending in some completely mind-exploding, but absolutely logical and verified with pharmaceutical precision way. There are dozens of them, reading a book is like deriving some complicated mathematical theorem, but no theorem has ever been so fascinating and exciting.
But that is not all! When you are ready to sign the genius of the author who wrote such a great novel, the author himself will only chuckle and announce that the warm-up is over.
Time to start the real story. And then everything will start all over again. Events will gain a new momentum and the mathematical waltz of alternative realities will spin with renewed vigor, so much so that everything that happened in the previous part will seem to you the same crushed butterfly.
The first part of the novel surpasses all known books about time travel. The second part is superior to the first. And then the third part begins...
Strictly speaking, the novel is not divided into parts - it is presented as a single, integral narrative in which all elements are organically woven into each other. Just at a certain point in time, as they say, new details emerge that make you look at what happened earlier from a new angle. And then more details emerge that once again turn everything upside down.
"The End of Eternity" was written by a scientist, a lot of incomprehensible terminology, descriptions of the technical details of fictitious mechanisms. But as soon as you figure out what all these employees of Eternity are doing, and what this Eternity itself is, how the story will capture the whole.
So, in some not too distant future, humanity invents the so-called Eternity. This is a certain organization that exists outside of time and space, along which wells of time are laid, through them you can get into any period of time between the invention of this Eternity and the Hidden Years, until the end of the novel it is not very clear who hid them, and why - Eternity is still limited, but, believe me, Asimov explains this very clearly. Eternity exists for a good purpose: to calculate changes in reality and carry them out in such a way as to minimize all adverse factors: wars, poverty, epidemics, destruction. Calculators and Extras calculate all this, but carry out changes in Technique, which, for example, can go to a certain year and point in space to shift a box of tools in a spaceship, so that in the end it crashed, but humanity after that as a whole got better. The protagonist is an unusual technician Harlan, who is very interested in Primeval times, that is, times when Eternity did not yet exist. Because of this passion of his, he is drawn into a whole series of intricate intrigues that even the biggest lover of detective stories cannot see through until the very end of the novel. But besides the interesting plot, the novel is also full of all these interesting fantastic little things about traveling in time and space, when there is a possibility of colliding with yourself, when there is a possibility of changing reality so that there is nothing close to you in it, when in a fictional future all sorts of weirdos show up. The story of the Senior Calculator was very hooked, There are serious issues raised in this work. Does the end justify the means, is it possible to sacrifice hundreds for the sake of millions? Do some people and machines have the right to decide for others what is best for humanity? Nobody likes technicians, they personify the violence in history, they were made scapegoats, but all of Eternity is to blame for these changes in reality, and not just the one who finally pulls the trigger. And the deepest question that is so often raised by the Strugatskys is whether it is worth interfering with natural history in an attempt to do good? Wouldn't that make it worse? Yes, Eternity seeks to prevent all adversity, troubles, wars and other troubles, but the life of mankind without mistakes becomes like oatmeal on the water: even, calm, none. Humanity cannot evolve in such a gray impersonal space. And in general, with such an approach to humanity, like that of Eternity, people seem to be a huge sticky impersonal mass, from which, with all the desire, it is impossible to isolate a single person. But they are people, just like the Eternals.
A good, deep novel that leaves behind a thin veil of the fragility of everything real. What if someone out there is now designing reality in such a way that you and I will disappear?
Quite an interesting sci-fi novel about the vicissitudes of time, proclaiming the highest values ​​of humanity's freedom to choose its own path and aspiration to the stars. Beautiful ideals that should be admired from afar, because upon closer inspection they begin to seem at least dubious. Frank Herbert said that you only fully possess what you can destroy, and in this sense, Asimov's Eternity does not seem to be the worst of the alternatives to mankind. Moreover, in essence, the author proposes to replace the awl with soap, because humanity is by no means a collective mind, and the decision, say, to drop a nuclear bomb on someone is not made by a universal referendum, but exactly the same analogue of the Council of Times. As for the aspiration to the stars, here we recall the words of another science fiction writer, Clive Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia: "Let us pray that the human race never leaves the Earth, spreading its evil everywhere." One can argue with this, but Asimov puts some purely Darwinian flavor into the dream of conquering space - to multiply and occupy all nearby habitats before others come in large numbers. There is no time for stellar romance. Interestingly, the plot of the novel is wrapped in such a way that the wedge is knocked out by the wedge, and it is proposed to get rid of one “evil” with exactly the same evil, only on a much larger scale, and the fate of humanity from the hands of a few is completely handed over to the hands of one. but Asimov puts some purely Darwinian flavor into the dream of conquering space - to multiply and occupy all the nearby habitats before others come in large numbers. There is no time for stellar romance. Interestingly, the plot of the novel is wrapped in such a way that the wedge is knocked out by the wedge, and it is proposed to get rid of one “evil” with exactly the same evil, only on a much larger scale, and the fate of humanity from the hands of a few is completely handed over to the hands of one. but in the dream of conquering space, Asimov puts some purely Darwinian flavor - to multiply and occupy all nearby habitats until others come in large numbers. There is no time for stellar romance. Interestingly, the plot of the novel is wrapped in such a way that the wedge is knocked out by the wedge, and it is proposed to get rid of one “evil” with exactly the same evil, only on a much larger scale, and the fate of humanity from the hands of a few is completely handed over to the hands of one.
The novel itself is an almost classic detective story in the endless kingdom of distorting mirrors of Times and Realities, full of secrets and mysteries in the spirit of the inexplicable disappearance of mankind in the distant future and the Hidden Centuries preceding it, the road to which, for unknown reasons, is closed even to the Eternals. As in any really good detective story, the author scatters a bunch of oddities along the way, allowing attentive readers to put together a couple of pieces of the puzzle on their own, but even the smartest gophers will get a bumper in the face at especially sharp plot twists. To Asimov's credit, he does not leave the reader to the mercy of fate, but takes him by the hand and guides him through all the labyrinths of temporal paradoxes and winding corridors of his perfectly thought-out universe.
Entertainingly and, even more importantly, very simply, Asimov reveals to the reader the secrets of Eternity, a world where the history of mankind is not some boring straight line, but a whole set of puzzling multidimensional matrices describing the transformations of reality. Asimov's universe is slightly reminiscent of Everett's interpretation of quantum mechanics, which was published only two years later. The only difference is that in the novel, probable realities are unequal. Each change made in the time continuum brings to life a completely new reality, and the rest go into oblivion. And somewhere there, sheltered by biofields from the convulsions of the mutating world, sit the Eternals - self-proclaimed gods, over and over again redrawing the canvas of history in their own way.
Indeed, some minimal impact, like a box being moved from shelf to shelf, can easily turn the tide of history. And now some civilizations have fallen, while others have risen, millions of people have lost the right to be born, hordes of others have risen from non-existence, and still others have changed so much that it is just right to consider them completely new personalities. Of course, all this is done in the name of the happiness of mankind, which our demiurges equate to the measured existence of an animal from the zoo - no wars, no epidemics, no cataclysms. Meanwhile, it is in the struggle and trials that humanity has achieved almost everything that we are now proud of. The common good of the Eternals is an integral value, not taking into account the personalities behind the dry lines of the summary statistics. You involuntarily expect to find in the face of Eternal monsters, adherents of unthinkably distorted ethics, whose aspirations and moral imperatives are no closer to any of us than, say, the inner world of a mantis beetle, if such a world, of course, exists at all. But no, we have quite people in front of us: they argue over scientific theories, slowly intrigue, fight for power and influence.
And now, having introduced the reader to the initial disposition, the author begins to unwind the plot, gradually adding intrigue, adventure, a detective story and a love line. But behind all this amusement, all the same questions of a philosophical and ethical persuasion are clearly visible and through it develop. To show the viciousness and deceitfulness of a certain system through the insight of its faithful adherent, especially if the insight is caused by heartfelt feelings for a beautiful woman - the move, of course, is slightly worn out and somewhere it can even be considered a cliché, but Azimov turns out surprisingly well. Among other things, among the most powerful images is a library of dead books, wiped off the face of the universe along with the realities that contain them. To explore the development of one and the same personality in different deviations of the same society through the prism of creativity is a very interesting idea. Really, the original reality without time travel has been altered due to interference from the future. The Eternals passed on to their ancestors the technology and knowledge needed to create timewells. But does it not turn out that the effect is ahead of the cause? Asimov uses here the metaphor of a circle, which can be drawn indefinitely, outlining, however, an invariable contour. A drawn circle has no beginning or end, that's right. But after all, sometime in the very, very beginning, we first touched the paper with the tip of a pencil and started drawing, right? unchanged outline. A drawn circle has no beginning or end, that's right. But after all, sometime in the very, very beginning, we first touched the paper with the tip of a pencil and started drawing, right? unchanged outline. A drawn circle has no beginning or end, that's right. But after all, sometime in the very, very beginning, we first touched the paper with the tip of a pencil and started drawing, right?
The Eternals simply do not have the right to decide the fate of mankind, if only because they themselves are just people. But Andrew's motives are somewhat different, and are not even connected with blind love for Noyce, but with the desire to give humanity freedom. That is, the hero understands that the best option is to let people burn themselves over and over again on their own mistakes, to move forward, paying with blood for every step. But having exchanged stagnation and peace for development, albeit with uncertain prospects, the hero did not stop thinking in terms of utility.
"The End of Eternity" is a captivating narrative with a twisted adventure plot, behind the facade of which there are deep reflections on the topics of sociology and ethics. "The End of Eternity" is a novel that should be used to learn how to create worlds that are interesting for the perception of readers.
"The End of Eternity" is a work in which you can more than clearly and clearly see what the composition of the novel should be. In the vicissitudes of the plot, neither the main characters nor the reader should get confused. The author reveals the maps and features of the created world gradually, but not tediously, making closer to the finale so easy to bite your lips with excitement - how will it all end, where will this road lead?
Harsh Eternity, calculations and observations, decisions to change reality - all this, it would seem, is so exciting, but at the same time terrifying. Suddenly, one day you wake up not the same person you were yesterday, and you don’t even know about it? The novel also touches on the important topic of ethics. To change the reality and lives of people in the name of the highest good - what is it, the lack of rights of the future or salvation? What to do if small but fatal mistakes are inevitable? To live and work without knowing happiness and love - is this the end or the rejection of a phenomenon unnecessary to humanity?
Despite its not too large volume, the novel is monumental. The system of times and realities written out by the author is amazing. And this is not just entertaining science fiction, but a really deep work filled with important philosophical ideas. A rare author will be able to consider human problems so naturally, keep in suspense throughout the story and not leave indifferent. While reading, you are so deeply immersed in the described journey through the wells of time that it is very difficult to return to reality. A huge plus of the book is the presence of intrigue. Most importantly, this is a book about choices that each of us must make at one time and which will affect at least one life - our own. In Asimov you can find, if not answers to your questions, then, in any case, reasoning, a conversation about these things,
A book that is very difficult to write a review. It is difficult, because, it seems, the ethical problems are similar, but not quite. And the solutions are similar, but still different. In "Foundation" there is an attempt to influence the future from the past, and here it is an attempt to influence the future from the future, no matter how silly it sounds. The question of whether it is worth influencing natural history in any way is resolved in the two works somehow differently. Here, the author clearly says that it is not worth it. In "Foundation", however, it seemed to be the right thing to intervene and push the story somewhat in the desired direction. But how and to whom to determine what is desirable and what is not? The question remains open. The main thing is not to be tormented by the pangs of choice, but having made a choice, do not regret anything, do not try to turn back the clock. Live today. Tomorrow and yesterday do not belong to us.