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\title{Readings \#6}
\author{David Golombek}
\date{\today}
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{\large \underline{Flowers For Algernon} by Daniel Keyes}

Flowers For Algernon jumps out and grabs your emotions in a chain
within the first couple pages, and doesn't let go till the very end.
Although I'm still uncertain that \underline{Flowers For Algernon}
(henceforth FFA) should ever have been made into a full novel, even in
its expanded version the story remains very compelling and powerful.
The style of writing is absolutely amazing, ranging the near
hillarious spelling and punctuation, up to the terse style of a man
with much on his mind, back down slowly too the original level.  

For depressing stories that hit right at home, FFA is one of the best
stories I've ever read.  Although I'm unlikely to ever go through a
similar situation, the parallels to growing older are extremely
strong.  The loss of physical dexterity, the loss of memory, the
slowing of mental processes, even though not as great as what Charlie
go through, are certainly real.  Nowdays, mathematicians and
physicists are frequently said to be past their prime by fourty!  The
rest of their lives is just an attempt to build on thoughts made while
they were younger.  

The equally important plot of social ostracization of Charlie both
when he is stupid jand then later smart is equally well done.  The
frequent call of ``pulling a Charlie Gordon'' is all too familiar in
our world.  The terror of Charlie's co-workers is somewhat
understandable for being something so far out of the ordinary, but
still deplorable.  On the other hand, one of the few happy scenes of
the story comes when Charlie's co-workers defend him when he comes
back to work at the end of the story.

Overall, FFA is just a truly amazing story, one of the best I've ever
read.  The number of plots it covers in such a short space (especially
in the short story), and the justice it does to each is amazing.  This
novel is truly a modern masterpiece.


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{\large ``Prisoner of a Sort'' by Michael Coyle}

There were two parts of this story I liked; I thought the description
of prison and a malevolent jailkeeper, and the concept introduced in
the final paragraph of a UN examiner were both very well done.
Unfortunately, the connection between these two parts was very tenous,
leaving me questioning where the plot was headed for most of the
story.  Aside from these problems, the story itself was well written,
and if I understand the original meaning correctly, the overall
concept is quite interesting.

The connection between computers and the rest of the plot is very weak
--- why VAX's, why still email, why not monitor what is done on the
computer, why let the prisoners hava access to them at all?  They
seemed like they were randomly thrown in to show Larry being harrassed
by Moby (a very good name, nice explanation).  Communication with Siva
could have been handled in other manners.  I don't think the computers
need to go, but if they stay, they really need to be integrated more
tightly with the rest of the story.

The concept of a spy to see if a country is ready to be admitted (or
left in maybe?) the United Nations seemed interesting, but I think it
deserves more treatment than just as a one-line ending.  Maybe build
up to it more during the story by explaining the role of the UN in the
world, how it might be really important (but difficult) to become a
member nation.  At least give some political background to explain why
this country presumably wants in.


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{\large ``I, Moreau'' by Joshua Kutin}

Although the basic thesis of this essay is interesting, the writing is
quite poor, and the evidence for the thesis is poorly presented.  The
thesis is well presented, and the general flow of the paper is good,
leading it to a fairly convincing argument for the thesis.  There are
several awkward sentences and poorly aranged paragraphs, all of which
make the paper feel a bit rushed.

The argument presented that Wells predicted so many other things that
he must have predicted robots as well falls very flat --- no one is
perfect, and there are a lot of other major things that Wells didn't
predict (ie the ``Submarines and Underwater Cities'' mentioned in the
paper).  The following argument about Wells later on deciding that
{\it Moreau} {\bf should} have been a robot story strikes me as very
probable, and is perhaps the best explanation of Wells's later
disregard for the novel that I've heard.  The expansion of this into
``{\it Moreau} should have been a story with robots'' is well done.
I thought the quick rewrite of the plot with this new thesis was good,
and the analysis of themes is accurate.  The noted problem of lack of
moral outrage against a ``computer program'' as Moreau has been recast
is minor, and his relocation could easily be explained by industrial
spying or the ability to get cheap programers.

Unfortunately, after this good stream of arguments, the paper goes
into an analogy with Asimov's Three (Sometimes Four) Laws of
Robotics.  This argument is interesting, but spending three pages on
it feels like overkill.  Asimov's three laws are well enough known to
be summarized, and the connections are obvious enough to be covered in
a paragraph.  The final section, on ``four archetypal relationships
between human and robot'' seemed a bit contrived --- I could do the
exact same four relationships between humans and aliens basically, and
I don't think that saying {\it Moreau} is really an alien contact
story is going to hold water all too well.


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