"Asimov, Isaac - 1988 Polish Interview With Isaac Asimov" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asimov Isaac)

SW: Have you heard about any plans concerning screenplays for "Foundation"
novels?
IA: Oh, every once a while somebody talks about doing it, but so far nobody has
ever managed to dig up enough money for it.
SW: Do you like the covers of your books? Do you have any input in their design?

IA: No, I don't have any input into that. Publishers take care of that entirely.
They never ask any questions and I never offer any advice, because my artistic
talent is zero.
SW: Do you have a favorite SF painter?
IA: Well, there is a number of painters that I like very much. To name just a
few: Michael Whelan and Boris Vallejo are between my favorites. I'm impressed by
them, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything - I don't know that I have any
taste in art.
SW: Have you ever tried to paint something yourself?
IA: No, I can't even draw a straight line with a ruler.
SW: What do you think about current trends in SF?
IA: Well, to tell you the truth, I was brought up in an earlier, simpler day and
I have never broken away. In other words, the novels I write in nineteen
eighties are very much like the novels I wrote in forties and fifties - they
tend to be a little old fashioned. Fortunately the readers read them anyway...
SW: Do you like Fantasy? Tolkien stories?
IA: I like Tolkien himself - I've read it five times. I don't read much these
days, honestly. When you write as much as I do, you don't have enough time for
reading. Oddly enough, when I do read, I tend to reach for murder mystery and I
look for old fashioned murder mysteries. I'm a very old fashioned person...
SW: What about comic strips? Would you agree with an opinion that this is also
art?
IA: Yes, it is. I don't have anything to do with it, but if somebody wanted to
convert one of my stories into a comic strip, I'd only ask that it be a good
one. That's all.
SW: What sort of SF do you like most?
IA: What I like most is rather old fashioned science-fiction. I find it
difficult to understand modern stylistic experimentation, so, I'm afraid, I look
for simple stories of the kind I write myself.
SW: Most of the readers are also looking for this kind of writing...
IA: I'm glad if they are, because they can find it in my stories and I will be
able to make a living.
SW: Do you have any favorite SF writers?
IA: My favorite is Arthur Clark. I also like people like Fred Pohl or Larry
Niven and others who know their science. I like Harlan Ellison, too, although
his stories are terribly emotional. But I don't consider myself a judge of good
science-fiction - not even my own.
SW: What about mainstream writers?
IA: Mainstream writers I don't read much of, I'm afraid. I read mostly
non-fiction: new books on science, mathematics, things like that. Most of the
stuff I write, except for my novels, is non-fiction. I have to keep up with
science. And that is most of my reading.
SW: Do you have any vision of what the near future of Mankind has in store?
IA: I have several - some bad, some good, depending on what we do. I can see a