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A review by perilous1
The Man who Sold the Moon by Robert A. Heinlein
2.0
2.5 Stars
Alternate Title Suggestion: A Series of Unscrupulous Bureaucratic Events
I picked this up after a very pleasant binge of 3 of Heinlein’s short stories—all of which involved some redemptive aspect and/or theme of overcoming a disability set within his Future Histories series. This was an altogether different experience.
Very aptly named, The Man Who Sold The Moon is a 14 chapter book about a rich man named Delos D. Harriman who becomes obsessed with the idea of going to the moon. (Gaining possession of the moon seems to go hand in hand with this fixation.) Along with his business partner, he sets about gathering investors, finagling legalities, negotiating red tape, pushing the boundaries of engineering, and manipulating the media to his advantage. He essentially abandons all else in his shameless, single-minded quest.
I generally liked the writing style, and there are a number of pithy quotes... but I couldn’t connect with this nearly as well as I did with some of Heinlein’s other works. Harriman, while incredibly clever and business-savvy, has a large-scale used car salesman quality to him that voids relatability and empathy. It’s difficult to find bureaucracy interesting, particularly when I don't have much reason to care about any of the characters and whether or not they succeed. Aside from this, the pacing is slow and the tension is low nearly throughout the book. And consistent with some of the author’s other works, physical descriptions are sparse--sometimes non-existent.
Not Heinlein’s best work, in my limited opinion.
Favorite Quotes:
-"Intangibles are the most honest merchandise anyone can sell. They are always worth whatever you are willing to pay for them and they never wear out. You can take them to your grave untarnished."
-"The whole principle [of censorship] is wrong. It's like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can't have steak."
-“There is nothing in this world so permanent as a temporary emergency."
Alternate Title Suggestion: A Series of Unscrupulous Bureaucratic Events
I picked this up after a very pleasant binge of 3 of Heinlein’s short stories—all of which involved some redemptive aspect and/or theme of overcoming a disability set within his Future Histories series. This was an altogether different experience.
Very aptly named, The Man Who Sold The Moon is a 14 chapter book about a rich man named Delos D. Harriman who becomes obsessed with the idea of going to the moon. (Gaining possession of the moon seems to go hand in hand with this fixation.) Along with his business partner, he sets about gathering investors, finagling legalities, negotiating red tape, pushing the boundaries of engineering, and manipulating the media to his advantage. He essentially abandons all else in his shameless, single-minded quest.
I generally liked the writing style, and there are a number of pithy quotes... but I couldn’t connect with this nearly as well as I did with some of Heinlein’s other works. Harriman, while incredibly clever and business-savvy, has a large-scale used car salesman quality to him that voids relatability and empathy. It’s difficult to find bureaucracy interesting, particularly when I don't have much reason to care about any of the characters and whether or not they succeed. Aside from this, the pacing is slow and the tension is low nearly throughout the book. And consistent with some of the author’s other works, physical descriptions are sparse--sometimes non-existent.
Not Heinlein’s best work, in my limited opinion.
Favorite Quotes:
-"Intangibles are the most honest merchandise anyone can sell. They are always worth whatever you are willing to pay for them and they never wear out. You can take them to your grave untarnished."
-"The whole principle [of censorship] is wrong. It's like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can't have steak."
-“There is nothing in this world so permanent as a temporary emergency."