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comment by kurmit
kurmit  ·  4085 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Last Question By Isaac Asimov

I've always loved the simplicity, and interestingly enough, the ambiguity towards the end of the story. I think it's so key to making the story as powerful and timeless as it is. Any more detail would be frivolous; it would detract from the story rather than add to it.





user-inactivated  ·  4084 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Why do you consider it to be an ambiguous ending? Maybe I'm missing something, but I feel like there's only one way to interpret it.

kurmit  ·  4084 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I may have used the wrong word. I didn't mean ambiguity in the interpretation so much as I meant in the execution of the ending. Asimov doesn't delve into wild explanations as to how entropy ends up being reversed, or how any of these complicated things come about; that's not the important part. I like how he does it, with simple statements:

    And it came to pass that AC learned how to reverse the direction of entropy.
user-inactivated  ·  4084 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yeah, I get what you mean. That he only explains some magic-like science when it pertains to the plot.