baby_sauron 's review for:

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

2.0

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Fun snapshot into the past's imagination of the future. Easier to grow food on the moon than in India. Lack of gravity improves human longevity rather than reduce it. Computers are large and borderline analog. Payphones. Printouts abundant. Sensors and information sparse. Gender ratio on a penal colony causes women to dominate male harems -- but appropriate conduct is to wolf whistle greetings and to expect women to be emotional and blather. "She's a good fem, knows when not to talk"  (rough paraphrase)// commentary on

breasts of a dead loved one

// Wyoh regularly being used as the stand-in for dumb reader. Author's belief in libertarianism in such an extreme environment as the moon is borderline comical but refreshing. Characters simultaneously eschew official titles, structure in the name of avoiding pomp, loss of individuality, and authoritarian infringement on individual liberties.  The same characters repeatedly avoid consensus, accountability, and wield authoritarian power -- some of which is done with knowing hypocrisy.