The Gods Themselves (Isaac Asimov)

[helen99]

I found it! There was a science fiction story I'd read very long ago that had affected me profoundly (I'd identified with one of the characters), but I'd forgotten the title of the story and the author. This makes it a bit difficult to find a book. I only knew the names of three of the characters, "Dua, Tritt, and Odeen". I'd searched on these names some time ago (probably years ago), but got no hits. Just now, I remembered to do another search on those names, and this time there were hits and I found the book. Dua, Tritt, Odeen, and their strange world appear in Part Two of Isaac Asimov's three-part book, "The Gods Themselves". FOUND IT!! It's on its way home...

Yesterday at the bookstore I found another short story I'd lost track of called "Mimsy Were the Borogroves" by Lewis Padgett.

These are both stories that I read long time ago, but I still remember them like vivid, wonderful dreams. I call these kinds of stories my "spirit stories".

One by one, I'm finding these stories that struck that kind of chord...

Comments

[mmsword.livejournal.com]

Wow that's kinda weird. The Gods Themselves is my favorite Asimov book, hands down. Mimsy Were the Borogroves became a strange obsession of mine a few months ago when the trailer for the movie caught my eye. Short story was much better, naturally, but the movie was fun.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

That is kind of strange. Stranger still, rialian just happened to have recently read "Mimsy were the Borogroves" (a while before the movie came out), so to my surprise, he knew what I was talking about and thought it was a great story. I hadn't known "Mimsy Were the Borogroves" had been made into a movie when I found it last night, or that anyone I knew had read it. I think I actually have "The Gods Themselves" somewhere around the house, but rather than trying to find it I just got another copy.

Edit - Wellp, never underestimate my powers of finding things. I just found it, at the bottom of one of 10 stacks of sci-fi paperbacks, with each stack being about 40 books tall

[helen99.livejournal.com]

...and the stacks were located at the back of my closet.

Sounds like a great place for a gateway to form...

[mmsword.livejournal.com]

The day any bibliophile fears: When you've completely covered every flat surface in your house with books and realize that books themselves form flat surfaces....

[helen99.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that's how the owner of Barbarian Books got started...

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I know preciesely the feeling you mean. Since I got on the internet, I've finally be able to rediscover most of the books I read many years ago and which made a profound impact on me, but which I forgot the title and sometimes the author.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

The internet has been the only way I have been able to find most of them. I was able to find some of them at used bookstores, but not knowing the title and author was sort of an obstacle there. Searches for character names only became possible with the worldwide search engines at our fingertips now.

Some of the books I was looking for have been out of print for a very long time, and were obscure pulp paperbacks when they were in print, so even knowing the titles and authors didn't always help. The ability to search used bookstores located as far away as New Zealand has allowed me to find some books that I thought didn't exist anywhere (and to talk to someone from across the dateline and receive email datestamped with a future date...)

[fishy1.livejournal.com]

Can't find my collection with 'Mimsy' in it, but i remember liking the story...

Congrats on finding things

[helen99.livejournal.com]

I just got that collection (The Last Mimzy). It's a large-ish blue paperback, if that helps.

It's not often that I can actually find a book I'm looking for. At least all the gardening books are more or less in one place, and most of the sci-fi is in my room...