“Youth” is a story about two young boys on a farm who find and capture strange animals. They hide the critters from their parents, hoping to use the unusual animals to join the circus and get away from their boring and mundane lives. Despite their efforts, the animals refuse to eat anything they bring them and the boys fear that they will soon perish.
Meanwhile, their fathers discuss the state of current affairs and the recent contact of aliens from beyond their plant. They are trying to figure out whether they should trust the strangers or be worried about attack or invasion. They plan to meet the aliens as soon as they land and try to feel out their intentions. However, the aliens seem to be running late.
To tell you any more would give away most of the story, but I found this tale both intriguing and still relevant to today. We all talk about motivation, but what is proof without action? We can learn more about people by the way children act and are treated then we ever can through proper channels.
“Youth” is a surprisingly complex short tale, with a deep core of thought provoking reasoning. What is our motivation? Where is our growth? What do we consider valuable? These questions and more are brought to light in this story by Isaac Asimov.
Read the story and check out the illustrations here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31547/31547-h/31547-h.htm
Author Bio
One Comment
In my college days I was a huge Asimov fan. To me that was REAL science fiction. My favorites were the Robots trilogy. I’m thinking of having my son read them and write a review about them. Thanks for the review!