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kineticace 's review for:
Stranger in a Strange Land
by Robert A. Heinlein
This review is for the 1991 re-release, which is the original manuscript before the publisher demanded edits for the original 1961 release. It adds about 150 pages that may or may not be worth it.
This is my second Heinlein novel (the first being “To Sail Beyond the Sunset”) and while I like this one more, I still can’t say I enjoyed it much. Both novels have the similar themes of an elevated society within our own that is founded on sexual promiscuity, here culminating in a quasi-religious cult with cannibalism thrown in (and in “Sunset”, in a woman finally bedding her own father). The good thing about these themes is it forces you to analyze your own perspectives and determine where your morals come from. The bad thing is reading 500 pages from these perspectives makes you feel a bit insane by the end.
The final parallel I will draw between this and “Sunset” is the aged character who explains the world to the other characters, who accept the diatribes as law. There is no difference of opinion at this point, everyone must accept this older and more educated character as understanding the world at an elevated level.
This novel can be broken into two parts: one, when our man from mars is brought back to earth and cannot interact with the world around him; and two, where he has begun to “grok” human society and finds his role. The first part is interesting, a sort of political thriller as our human protagonists save and gain effective control of the man from mars, an undeniable asset. The second is where the quasi-religious, “elevated” society is explained to the reader where all the stakes are gone and we are left with the humor and occasionally draining perspectives of our characters. If you couldn’t tell yet, I found the first half enjoyable and the second exhausting. Try it for yourself if you’re interested but I’ve found that science fiction has progressed significantly in the 60 years since this was first written.
This is my second Heinlein novel (the first being “To Sail Beyond the Sunset”) and while I like this one more, I still can’t say I enjoyed it much. Both novels have the similar themes of an elevated society within our own that is founded on sexual promiscuity, here culminating in a quasi-religious cult with cannibalism thrown in (and in “Sunset”, in a woman finally bedding her own father). The good thing about these themes is it forces you to analyze your own perspectives and determine where your morals come from. The bad thing is reading 500 pages from these perspectives makes you feel a bit insane by the end.
The final parallel I will draw between this and “Sunset” is the aged character who explains the world to the other characters, who accept the diatribes as law. There is no difference of opinion at this point, everyone must accept this older and more educated character as understanding the world at an elevated level.
This novel can be broken into two parts: one, when our man from mars is brought back to earth and cannot interact with the world around him; and two, where he has begun to “grok” human society and finds his role. The first part is interesting, a sort of political thriller as our human protagonists save and gain effective control of the man from mars, an undeniable asset. The second is where the quasi-religious, “elevated” society is explained to the reader where all the stakes are gone and we are left with the humor and occasionally draining perspectives of our characters. If you couldn’t tell yet, I found the first half enjoyable and the second exhausting. Try it for yourself if you’re interested but I’ve found that science fiction has progressed significantly in the 60 years since this was first written.