Goodreads | Stranger in a Strange Land

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dead Foster, Digby	3	05/12/2008 06:48PM

Christy rated it:

07/04/08

bookshelves: readinglist2--sf, religion-and-atheism, science-fiction-and-fantasy

This is a book that it seems like I should like. It deals with issues of religion, including a strong critique of religion as we know it, presents socially progressive ideas about sex and relationships, and relies upon a fundamentally humanist, individualist philosophy.

In the end, however, I can't get past a few things to really like this book.

1. The word "grok." I understand the meaning and significance of the word within the book and I understand why Heinlein chose to ...more This is a book that it seems like I should like. It deals with issues of religion, including a strong critique of religion as we know it, presents socially progressive ideas about sex and relationships, and relies upon a fundamentally humanist, individualist philosophy.

In the end, however, I can't get past a few things to really like this book.

1. The word "grok." I understand the meaning and significance of the word within the book and I understand why Heinlein chose to create a new word to carry this meaning, but "grok"? It's an ugly word and it gets used about 150 times too many in the book.

2. The use of mystic religious concepts and practices. Heinlein critiques traditional, human religions, but he is unable or unwilling, finally, to leave behind the trappings of religion, relying upon them to bolster his argument. This bothers me because it feels like manipulation, like a man trying to have it both ways by using the religiosity and losing the religion. Michael admits that his philosophy, his truth, "couldn't be taught in schools" and says, "I was forced to smuggle it in as a religion--which it is not--and con the marks into tasting it by appealing to their curiosity" (419). He admits that he is manipulating his audience (just as Heinlein manipulates his) as well as admitting that the people he is trying to save are no more than marks, dupes to be conned. This is entirely too cynical for my taste and does not accord with the whole "Thou art God and I am God and all that groks is God" philosophy.

3. The sexism of the text, which is inseparable from its heteronormativity and even homophobia. Despite Heinlein's progressive (especially for the time) ideas about sexuality and desire, he reinforces the gender dichotomy repeatedly, putting women and homosexuals in their place as he does so. Sometimes this is obviously negative and hard to miss, especially for a modern reader: "Nine times out of ten, if a girl gets raped, it's partly her fault" (304). At other times this is done with apparently positive statements: "Male-femaleness is the greatest gift we have--romantic physical love may be unique to this planet" (419). A statement like this one is troubling not because of its emphasis on romantic physical love but because of its insistence on the male-female gender dichotomy as a necessary component of that love.

A more substantial example arises when Jill discovers that she likes to be looked at it, that it makes her feel desirable. She says, "Okay, if a healthy woman liked to be looked at, then it follows as the night the day that healthy men should like to look, else there was just no darn sense to it! At which point, she finally understood, intellectually, Duke and his pictures" (302-3). The realization that she likes to be looked at is fine as far as it goes, although the immediate leap from there to pornography is definitely a problem (pornography of course having huge and unavoidable issues of power wrapped up in it that this analysis neatly sidesteps). Following Jill's realization of her own desire to be looked at, Mike comes to see that "Naughty pictures are a great goodness" and they go together to strip clubs to enjoy the live version. However, "Jill found that she 'grokked naughty pictures' only through a man's eyes. If Mike watched, she shared his mood, from sensuous pleasure to full rut--but if Mike's attention wandered, the model, dancer, or peeler was just another woman. She decided that this was fortunate; to have discovered in herself Lesbian tendencies would have been too much" (307). Here, Heinlein brings together his progressive, free love ideas about sex itself with his more traditional ideas about gender roles and his leaning toward homophobia. The conclusion Jill arrives at here is that a) sex and desire are good, b) women are the spectacle, never the spectator, and c) lesbianism is completely taboo, even for someone who is otherwise interested in opening herself up to sexual love in its many forms. This one scene simply brings together these ideas that recur throughout the second half of the book. Repeatedly, it is made clear that homosexual behavior is a danger for Mike to avoid and that women's role in sexual behavior is essentially passive.

4. The emphasis on self, whether in self-love, self-pleasure, self-control. There are two basic ideas here. One is stated by Patricia Paiwonski, Mike's first convert, who says, "God wants us to be Happy and He told us how: 'Love one another!' Love a snake if the poor thing needs love. Love thy neighbor . . . . And by 'love' He didn't mean namby-pamby old-maid love that's scared to look up from a hymn book for fear of seeing a temptation of the flesh. If God hated flesh, why did He make so much of it? . . . Love little babies that always need changing and love strong, smelly men so that there will be more babies to love--and in between go on loving because it's so good to love!" (288). Love is wonderful, love is a good goal, but this is a love I am suspicious of, for it is a love based on feeling good, based on happiness. There's nothing wrong with feeling good and being happy, of course, but if feeling good and being happy are the primary goals of life, then that opens the door for abuses of others in the name of love or happiness and seems a rather meaningless goal in and of itself. Hedonism alone is not enough for me.

The second basic idea is Mike's final message to the people: "The Truth is simple but the Way of Man is hard. First you must learn to control your self. The rest follows. Blessed is he who knows himself and commands himself, for the world is his and love and happiness and peace walk with him wherever he goes" (429). Again, this is not a bad goal--for once, finally, Mike brings a message of personal responsibility to add to the free love and grokking that has constituted most of the rest of the book. However, to expect the rest to follow from that kind of responsibility and self-control is just silly. This is The Secret, this is "name-it-and-claim-it" theology, this is bullshit. Like the idea that God wants us to be happy so if we all try to live for our own happiness, it will all work out, this is a philosophy that believes that YOU are the center of the universe, that everything will work out for the best.

This is the complete opposite of the philosophy provided in Kurt Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan. Vonnegut also emphasizes love and finding a kind of happiness, but in his universe, those things are refuges in the midst of chaos, small things we can each do to make the world we live in a little better, a little more livable, not means to become masters of the universe. For Heinlein, God moves from out there to in here, validating each individual person's individual desire and decision; for Vonnegut, there is no God, not out there and not in here. For me, that is much more appealing....less

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Donovan rated it:

10/25/07

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in March, 2007

recommends it for: zealots, believers of metaphysics

For me, it would be a more apt title if it were “Strangeness in a Strange Book.” Of all the books I’ve read on the list so far [and I’ve skipped around, been reading them as I can find them], I enjoyed this one the least. Overall, I was enjoying the ideas the book was putting forth about religion and politics and community prior to Mike’s intellectual ascent [descent?] as a Man rather than a Martian. I was extra disappointed with it because the premise the book set up in Sections One a...more For me, it would be a more apt title if it were “Strangeness in a Strange Book.” Of all the books I’ve read on the list so far [and I’ve skipped around, been reading them as I can find them], I enjoyed this one the least. Overall, I was enjoying the ideas the book was putting forth about religion and politics and community prior to Mike’s intellectual ascent [descent?] as a Man rather than a Martian. I was extra disappointed with it because the premise the book set up in Sections One and Two seemed very interesting and then, somehow, everything became weirdly psychedelic and communist with a side of evangelicalism thrown in.

Once he became Man, I became more and more uncomfortable with the book. I don’t know. Maybe I’m repressed, but I doubt it. Some of it probably stems from the fact that I didn’t live through the Free Love Era and the boom of Communism. Both have always been, for me, fabulous ideas that did not work; so to read about them working seems both contrived and naïve. Some of it also stems from the fact that I think Heinlein wanted to think he had some insight into the sexual feelings of women and I think he missed the mark by a long shot. Of course, you can’t win many points with me when one of your main female characters says, “Nine times out of ten, if a girl gets raped, it’s partly her fault.” [pg. 304] Plus, I’m not into losing my individuality, regardless of whether or not it makes me a member of a peaceful society.

I had the brilliant idea while reading this book to put in little markers about what I wanted to talk about. Unfortunately, it’s now about 2 months since I finished it and I no longer remember why I put the markers on some pages. I marked the section where Mr. Heinlein points out the ritualistic cannibalism in Christianity, but I forget what point I was going to make about it. I also marked the passage about Jubal’s feelings towards Fosterites and other Earthly religions. I think Heinlein was using Jubal as the adherent to Science as a religion, setting up all belief systems currently at work on Earth, pre-Martian Man, to be resolved under the power of human mental oneness i.e. “grok.” I put a marker on a page that used “grok” a lot and I think it was to remind myself to make the same point Liz made about “grok” sticking in her head and becoming really annoying. [Just wait till Ringworld for new words that will stick in your head.]

At one point in the book, I stuck a Post-It note on which I wrote, “I suppose I take it for granted that reading comprehension requires a certain level of knowledge and a certain level of common sense.” The pages to which it was stuck referenced things like Julius Caesar, the S.S., and Hemophiliacs. I realized that if I didn’t know what those things were a lot of this book would not make sense to me. It wasn’t just Stranger in a Strange Land that cause this revelation though. I was reading Ulysses by James Joyce at the same time, and, if it hadn’t been for my love of Irish ballads and history, I would really have had NO CLUE what half that book was about.

I’m always intrigued by the levels of future advancement presented in sci-fi. It’s very interesting to see what predictions have come to pass, what things are still distant dreams for us, and what things are totally wrong. On pg. 229, Heinlein mentions a star exploding and Earth not noticing. Right before I read that, I’d just finished reading an article in the Smithsonian about how astronomers have systems set up to alert them when a super nova is occurring so that they can observe the gamma ray bursts. But we still don’t have flying cars.

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Joe rated it:

(review of isbn 0441790348)

06/23/08

Read in June, 2008

I remember reading _Stranger In A Strange Land_ as a young high school student in the late 70s. At the time, the story appealed to my changing state (as an adult, I think I can finally admit that the adolescent young man who read this book the first time, did so because my friends told me it was filled with lots of sex scenes). I also remember that despite Heinlein's writing found it a difficult book to read as a result I "skipped" around looking for the "good" parts (which...more I remember reading _Stranger In A Strange Land_ as a young high school student in the late 70s. At the time, the story appealed to my changing state (as an adult, I think I can finally admit that the adolescent young man who read this book the first time, did so because my friends told me it was filled with lots of sex scenes). I also remember that despite Heinlein's writing found it a difficult book to read as a result I "skipped" around looking for the "good" parts (which are all in the second half of the book).

However some (other) passages in the book did leave an impression on me during that first read. Heinlein's railing against the parochialism of the Church (and the Catholic Church in particular) was certainly instrumental in shaping my views on religion and partially contributed to some of my more existential leanings (I'd also note that the criticism leveled at Heinlein for passing off his impressions/views/ideas as fact is certainly warranted).

So, when I found myself stuck in the Charlotte, NC airport for 5 hours this weekend (awaiting a 5 hour flight home to LA) I surprised myself by deciding to buy the Ace (trade paperback) version of _Stranger In A Strange Land_ and re-read it -- in retrospect, I am ambivalent that I
took the time to re-read the book.

The protagonist, Valentine Michael Smith, is a child born on Mars to two of the crew of the first human expedition to that planet; he is raised by the Martians when a catastrophe wipes out the adults of the expedition. Years later, another expedition to Mars results in contact with the Martians and Michael's return to Earth, completely innocent of knowledge about the planet. The greater part of the novel details his attempts to understand human nature from his Martian philosophical perspective (which is rather like that of Eastern philosophy); these end
in his foundation of a new religion to help human beings achieve their full potential which hitherto has been impossible because of the straitjacket of human culture.

The book makes me think, which now (that I am considerably past my adolescence) I appreciate much more. It can be slow in parts (most of the book is dialogue with very little or no action), but (and I'm not sure if it is my age, or the fact that Ace added back in 30,000 words to this edition that weren't in the copy I read 30 years ago) much more readable than the first time through.

Some parts, especially in the second half of the text, result in disturbing thought patterns, even now. The concept that all human morals are arbitrary (which is how the "Martian" Valentine Michael Smith views them) and that anything that leads one to "grow closer" is good -- also leads down a slippery slope where moral objections to murder, and other heinous things, can be downplayed (in the name of the collective growing closer). While these attacks on Western culture don't seem quite as shocking as they must have been back in the 1960s, other parts of the book are just preachy and long-winded. The international intrigue and world government sub-plot of the first half of the book are more interesting to me now than they were on my first read (but ultimately unfulfilled as Valentine Michael Smith escapes to become the messiah like character of the second half of the book).

It would be easy to write this classic of science fiction off as a novel of the hippie era and relegate it to the dustbin (and history could still do that). However, the somewhat unique premise of analyzing human culture from an alien point of view as well as the fact that the novel forever broke (maybe bridged) the barrier between science fiction and mainstream literature, put it into the classic (must read at least once) category. By all means, read it and form your own opinion. Or better yet, (re)read Starship Troopers :)...less

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Dash rated it:

03/06/08

bookshelves: science-fiction-and-or-fantasy

Read in January, 1989

recommended to Dash by: My father
recommends it for: Amy, you've gotta read this one & tell me what you think

Can you grok it?

I feel I should preface this review with the following information divulged upfront. This book was pushed on my by my father when I was around 16 years old. For good or bad, these were the circumstances under which I first read it, and this may have contributed to my being predisposed to enjoying the read. Before reading "Stranger" I had read half a dozen or so of Heinlein's so-called "juvenile" or "adolescent" novels, including "Have Spaces...more Can you grok it?

I feel I should preface this review with the following information divulged upfront. This book was pushed on my by my father when I was around 16 years old. For good or bad, these were the circumstances under which I first read it, and this may have contributed to my being predisposed to enjoying the read. Before reading "Stranger" I had read half a dozen or so of Heinlein's so-called "juvenile" or "adolescent" novels, including "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel" and "Starship Galileo". It is somewhat difficult for me to review these books since it has been so long since I have read them, but I must say that I enojoyed them thoroughly when I read them as an adolescent. I feel that I am qualified, finaly, to review "Stranger" now as I have read both vesions, having read the originally published severely edited version and the later released "unedited" version, I much prefer the later.

Upon my second reading of this novel, I was somewhat dismayed at the degree of misogyny therein. I was especially surprised at not noticing it the first time around. I would say that the primary reasons that I so loved this book were the way it mocked organized religion, promoted polyamorism & "free love", and was, at its core, just a very well-crafted science fiction tale. I admit that Heinlein does get a bit preachy from time to time, and some of the dialogue is offensive to many from many angles, but where it is abrasive I feel it is so in a likeable way. There are occassional exceptions to this, but I found it to be refreshing in most cases. The book is written largely in a dialogue manner, so most of the opinions and statements contained therein reflect the predjudices and social mores of the characters themselves.

The message that I most empathized with in this novel was his championing of the individual and alternately pointing out the downfalls of becoming a blind follower. Just the idea of pushing yourself beyond the percieved limitations of body and mind is captavating and inspiring.

Now that I am all grown up I would place myself, politically, far from Heinlein, although I do have a bit of a libertarian streak. I am a very "liberal" person generally, and am a pacifist, vegan, mother nature loving hippie sort of fellow. I have always thought back on the Heinlein that I read as a teen as mostly pointing out the absurdity of unbridled militarism and militiristic propaganda. I find it fascinating that some see him as being militiristic in his writings. I have not read all of his books, but from what I have read I got a wholly different impression.

I think it is interesting what the original publishers deemed too controversial and offensive enough to require editing.

Individual freedom and liberty - the negative effects of organized religion on society - sexual freedom for all -
these are the themes I can relate to and endorse contained in "Stranger in a Strange Land"!...less

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Steve rated it:

(review of isbn 0340837950)

01/06/08

I have not yet read the fairly recently released unedited version which is said to be much better and substantially longer. The first published seems to be an obvious allegory to Christ's coming.

Here we have a strange man with strange ideas not of money and acquisition which has always been a part of human orientation but a Christ-like man who owns little to not nothing, and is of heart resoundly imbued with pure love. He attracts some because he comes from a place geographically (Mars) and...more I have not yet read the fairly recently released unedited version which is said to be much better and substantially longer. The first published seems to be an obvious allegory to Christ's coming.

Here we have a strange man with strange ideas not of money and acquisition which has always been a part of human orientation but a Christ-like man who owns little to not nothing, and is of heart resoundly imbued with pure love. He attracts some because he comes from a place geographically (Mars) and personally (Love) that they do not know the way he does.

Jubal Hershaw is his interpretor, protector and disciple of sorts. Just as with Jesus, Michael Valentine Smith, the Martian is crucified and exploited by the many for economic purposes (The Fosterites in this instance) and the established order see him as a threat of his time.

He has powers of miracle like Jesus and participates in ritual to make his points and live his life. The Fosterites use him and his magical abilities to make money off him before he realizes their abuse. He is trusting and gullible more than Christ perhaps and does not understand the exploitive nature of man.

He unceasingly promotes love and unity but the masses do not understand him. So what else is new? You rarely see Christians touting the fact that Jesus did not endorse the quest for riches and wealth.

The Martian has a Mr. Spock-like evolved character with the power to make bad people with evil intentions, disappear on the spot. No pain - they just vanish and can not stand up to the force of his love. He generate energy by sitting on the bottom of bodies of water like swimming pools and holding his breath. He bonds with people by simply sharing a glass of water with them whereby they become water brothers.

The concept of the waterbed was apparently spawned from this book as was the word of deep, deep understanding known as "Grok".

I think the book does not hold for newer readers as time goes on because we have changed so dramatically. It is hard to relate unless you understood the time it was written and the turmoil we were going through with Viet Nam. The core concepts however do withstand the test of time.

What Heinlein and his wife foresaw as potentials in writing this book are now realities such as with the Falwell movement etc.

The concepts will always stay with me. They are profound. It helps us see the relentless love of Christ and how it can stay with us in another telling light.

I firmly wish everyone would read this and be able to keep in mind the time it was written so that they too may Grok the power of love and "drink deeply" of it. I think more distant people may not get it and think of this as more SF than anything and may tend to trivialize it, but again, it is probably because of the time it was conceived and was addressing.

http://www.wegrokit.com/strang......less

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Will rated it:

(review of isbn 0340837950)

12/29/07

Read in December, 2007

The Man From Mars, the main character, starts out as a fascinating, strange and fragile creature. Born on Mars and raised my Martians, creatures vastly different from ourselves, he has no point of reference for understanding human language and culture. Hell he can't even cope with our gravity! His early interactions with "his own kind" are fascinating. What makes someone human? We generally think of it as a matter of species, but the Man From Mars lacks any of our traits beyond the phy...more The Man From Mars, the main character, starts out as a fascinating, strange and fragile creature. Born on Mars and raised my Martians, creatures vastly different from ourselves, he has no point of reference for understanding human language and culture. Hell he can't even cope with our gravity! His early interactions with "his own kind" are fascinating. What makes someone human? We generally think of it as a matter of species, but the Man From Mars lacks any of our traits beyond the physical. He doesn't even think like us. Hilarious, poignant, and disturbing interactions ensue. Brilliant stuff, really.

Spoiler: Sadly, it turns out he's a superman. Seriously, the man of steel wouldn't last a second against this guy. And he's richer than Bruce Wayne. And a philosophical genius. Yawn. Supermen make for boring literature. Take a lesson from the Greeks and give them a weakness or two.
End Spoiler

This book has a stellar start, introducing fascinating concepts aplenty, promising to expound upon them in luscious, ground-breaking detail. Alas, it was not to be. Heinlein does not delve deep enough. He promises an exploration of the nature of language and symbols, especially the untranslatable concept. The verb, "to grok" gets a healthy exploration of it's nuanced meaning(s) early in the book. To drink, to grow closer, to think, to learn, to know, to eat, to cherish, to hate, to become: all these English verbs share meaning with, or are encompassed by, the Martian concept of grokking. But Heinlein doesn't go any further than this. He chooses to tell, rather than show, when it comes to the Martian language. Supposedly many of the great insights he is writing about can only be understood if one first learns Martian. Well, then teach us some, gorrammit! Do we need to get Professor Tolkien on the case?

Heinlein has some great insight into what laughter is, and what purpose it actually serves. Sadly, his own sense of humor gets very tiring after a while.

His notions about sex and community are quite cool to me, at first anyway. Then it kinda degenerates into 1960's-style softcore porn, complete with the literary equivalent of soft-focus lenses. Also, Heinlein's attitudes towards women are so dated as to be truly aggravating.

In summary, Heinlein really hits the mark on a lot of topics. Sadly, he raises some brilliant questions that he doesn't bother to answer. Those answers he does give are often unsatisfying. Much of it has an odor of "hippie space magic."

Ok, so I actually liked the book, on the whole. I loved the first half, and found some real gems in the second half. It deserves it's place in the sci-fi canon. Maybe some lively/thoughtful discussion will help me put it in perspective.
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Me added it

04/22/08

Read in April, 2008

This book took me awhile to read, more then I truly anticipated. I found it wasn’t the content, I seemed to have flew by the first 400 pages, but then I noticed I had to re-read the end all because I found I didn’t pay too much attention. When the end happened as it did I was completely flabbergasted. I didn’t expect it at all; it still shocks me in many ways. Again I find I’m not much of a thought provoker, mostly because I care not so much of mostly almost everything, if that makes any...more This book took me awhile to read, more then I truly anticipated. I found it wasn’t the content, I seemed to have flew by the first 400 pages, but then I noticed I had to re-read the end all because I found I didn’t pay too much attention. When the end happened as it did I was completely flabbergasted. I didn’t expect it at all; it still shocks me in many ways. Again I find I’m not much of a thought provoker, mostly because I care not so much of mostly almost everything, if that makes any sense. I found it interesting how I picked up a lot of ideas in this book and how it actually got me thinking on ample amounts of opinionated ideas throughout the novel. I found this all the more intriguing; most books don’t get me to do this ‘thinking’ and Heinlein did just that, in a simply complex manner.

The whole novel appeared to me as a philosophical science fiction type of mumbo. Never would have crossed my mind to read it. So I thought I’d cover some of the concepts that gave a greater impression. Sexuality, the one presented concept that I’m sure I couldn’t comprehend in any specific matter at all. The Martians had no concept of ‘growing closer’, or gender relationships as a whole. As Mike learns he seems to understand that’s what we humans are unique and lucky that we have the greatest gift of all. It seems to me Heinlein is presuming the notion of sex is greatest and deepest understanding to how we humans could ever communicate the ‘grokking’ of one another. I can’t say that’s how it is in my nonsensical perception of it all. Not in the least bit I find that having sex is the greatest gift of mankind.

The Martians way of philosophy and how they perceived different concepts I didn’t comprehend. Heinlein presented it in a way that Martians couldn’t be understood by humans. I still can’t really compress the idea of ‘thou art god’ Mostly it was Christian based, theological form of literature really I can’t hold an opinion of. I know what I only know.

I could go on forever but there wouldn’t be enough space for my not so important ideas. The last thing bit which found attention-grabbing, would be obvious similarity between Mike and ‘Jesus’. The way the book ended completely confirmed my founding. It seems to have occurred to me just as when Mike started his church. The whole concept of peace and love, and mostly his supporters were reactionary to his teachings. Conservative may not be the right word in terms of the implications, but the underlying themes were pretty much redundant in my conclusion. ...less

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Jason rated it:

(review of isbn 0441790348)

11/07/07

Read in April, 2004

This book starts off as the typical SF novel of the 50s. A crewship heading to Mars from Earth etc. However, by page 3 they are all dead. We learn of a guy named Valentine Michael Smith as the [love child] of two of the ship's crewmates. This man comes to Earth as basically an idiot who later learns to "grok" or understand a little about human culture. He develops powers, forms relationships, forms a church and longs for the truth whatever that may be. His intelligence vastly increases...more This book starts off as the typical SF novel of the 50s. A crewship heading to Mars from Earth etc. However, by page 3 they are all dead. We learn of a guy named Valentine Michael Smith as the [love child] of two of the ship's crewmates. This man comes to Earth as basically an idiot who later learns to "grok" or understand a little about human culture. He develops powers, forms relationships, forms a church and longs for the truth whatever that may be. His intelligence vastly increases and he seeks to help humans discover the truth and realize their own natures. Repeatedly throughout the book he utters the statement "Thou are God." This seems to be one of the book's themes. That the idea of God is within all of us because we are all essentially God. This story is revered in many Science Fiction cirlces and is kind of a cultural icon to earlier groups like the hippies. For me though the story just didn't groove. There were too many dull periods when one of the characters would sermonize on philosophical points. I love philosophy but these characters were sermonizing on how Judeo-Christian culture is defunct and that the old moral norms do not apply to our day. This is somewhat true but at the same time seems to be a justification for letting anything go as long as it feels right. (...) free love, and down with anything that tells us how we should behave. This message seems to be outdated and one of rebellion against so-called oppressive times of the past. Therefore, I found it hard to get really interested since it seems like old hat. Another point about this book to its credit is that you don't have to be a big SF fan to read it. There's not any activity taking place on other planets or in space. There are some SF-like gadgets but for the most part the story centers around characters and plot. Some of the characters are interesting. Like the old lawyer Father-figure Jubal and like Mike (The Martian) himself. However, as I said I thought some of the settings and places of the characters got rather dull and then the last part of the book when it goes into depth about the church formed by Mike and his followers carried on way too long. Despite these points there are some nuggets of wisdom contained in the book and there are also some funny happenings in the book. But for the most part I was rather puzzled by what the fuss concerning this book was all about. It's okay. Perhaps I didn't "grok" it in fullness. ...less

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Jason rated it:

02/15/08

bookshelves: favorites, sci-fi-fantasy

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: people who think sci-fi is weak sauce

Reread this for the fourth or fifth time. As always, a page turner with excellent insights into human nature. This time I tried to pay attention to the supposed "sexist" nature of Heinlein's ideas and the "religion" that Mike creates. I suspect that people who object to the book on these grounds haven't fully grasped the utopia that Heinlein envisions. It's really quite an honest, wholesome society Valentine would like to establish (Jubal gives the best arguments for the skep...more Reread this for the fourth or fifth time. As always, a page turner with excellent insights into human nature. This time I tried to pay attention to the supposed "sexist" nature of Heinlein's ideas and the "religion" that Mike creates. I suspect that people who object to the book on these grounds haven't fully grasped the utopia that Heinlein envisions. It's really quite an honest, wholesome society Valentine would like to establish (Jubal gives the best arguments for the skeptics who can't shake their Western prejudices, and they are hardly challenging ideas to grasp).

Granted, Heinlein has a tendency to objectify women, but to me he always seems to do so in the most tongue-in-cheek manner, with an awareness that he's being a bit ridiculous. On the other hand, the fact that very few of his female characters ever object to the way the men treat them (or at best, their admonitions are equally playful) makes his worldview a little cloudy. Yet all of these issues tend to revolve around sexuality, not women's actual roles in society. Often, women are appreciated and respected in his novels (this one, not so much, though they are hardly undervalued). Perhaps all of this is due to his era, coming out of the forties and fifties and the dream of the nuclear family. But seriously, read "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and you'll discover a society that treats their women better than we could ever hope.

I don't know, I'm still having trouble with this, but overall I think that Heinlein's sexism is harmless. He's a humanist at heart and those who would like to discredit his works on sexist grounds are willfully ignoring his more important themes.

I lowered my rating by one star. I still love Heinlein, but I think my taste has refined and his writing just doesn't cut it anymore. Most of these stars are for originality, readability, and ideas (however tediously or obviously presented).

Older Review:
The ancient language of Sanskrit is considered to be actual physical manifestations of the things represented by the words. Similarly, in this book, Michael teaches the Martian language, and humanity learns how god works.
I love that Heinlein sweeps the reader along in the first half with his ever-brilliant storytelling and then turns a novel with an already great plot into a story of ideas....less

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Bloodanna rated it:

(review of isbn 0441790348)

07/23/07

bookshelves: read_for_school

Read in January, 2007

I read this for a class (Reading in Science Fiction), with all the good reviews and the fact that it's own cover hailed it as "The Most Famous Science Fiction Novel Ever Written" I couldn't wait to read it. Now, I can read a good book in a matter of days depending on how many pages it has and what's going on; this book took me nearly six months to finish.
While it had a good idea with the character of Valentine Michael Smith and his origins, his growth, it was poorly executed. The foc...more

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Morgan rated it:

05/28/08

bookshelves: scifi

Read in May, 2008

This is the second Heinlein book I've read, and hopefully, the last. It's interesting to read this book in the context of it's supposedly historical influence on the 60's free-love movement, and the origin of the term 'grok' which shows up amongst the geeky stuff that I read. Other than that, I found myself severely rolling my eyes at least every other page.

On the free-love, polyamorous relationship thing, I felt he could have explored this much more. For example, during Ben's initiation i...more

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Megan rated it:

07/10/08

Much like the character Ben, I found myself wondering what in the hell was going on in the Nest. Then I started thinking about it as if from the perspective of a free spirit, 60's hippie, and it made sense. I was very eager to read this book because I thought the basis of the story was pretty cool-a human, raised by Martians, then returning to Earth and trying to understand Earth culture. Who doesn't want to understand Earth culture. I probably shouldn't have been surprised when the story tu...more Much like the character Ben, I found myself wondering what in the hell was going on in the Nest. Then I started thinking about it as if from the perspective of a free spirit, 60's hippie, and it made sense. I was very eager to read this book because I thought the basis of the story was pretty cool-a human, raised by Martians, then returning to Earth and trying to understand Earth culture. Who doesn't want to understand Earth culture. I probably shouldn't have been surprised when the story turned out to be a Christ-tale, but I guess I was. I suppose I should say I was a little let down by it, just because I was hoping for something besides a retelling of the crucifixion. However, it was interesting to see the birth of the 'religion' Mike created. Because WHAT IF humans all got in touch with their psyche? WHAT IF we could do anything we set our minds to, literally, even changing how we look, nevermind making tons of money...of course the culture would change. It would be inevitable.

Some of the things my good ole cynical mind raised an eyebrow at were: the need for money in the storyline, not just a little bit of it, but money beyond comprehension. I still don't quite get why one section of the book was spent establishing Mike as not only famous, but rich, powerful, humble, and handsome. We know he was trained to grok goodness, so really, why did anything else matter? It isn't like anyone could hurt him unless he let them. I also had to roll my eyes at the four girls who just happened to be hanging around, ready to be impregnated by Mike. Again, beautiful, smart, accomplished-I kept wondering if the story would have been any different if they were ugly, dull, and infertile, but still good people. One last thing, I had to constantly keep myself from letting my views of cults and feminism influence the story as I read.

So not what I expected, but still interesting. It definitely gave me some things to think about. I just kind of thought money and beauty wouldn't matter if you were elevating yourself to a higher plane of thought....less

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Amelia rated it:

03/16/08

Read in March, 2008

Dash and King...well, I have finished the book and damn both of you for putting me through that! Honestly I was thinking at the end of section two, "I really am enjoying this, I don't know what King's problem is!" Then I turned the page! Part three was supreme torture and Part four wasn't much better. By part five, I just wanted it to end!

*************Extreme Spoiler Alert**************************

Dash told me I wouldn't like the end, he was wrong. By the end of section fi...more

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Jonathan rated it:

05/28/07

Read in January, 2001

recommends it for: Anyone seeking an insightful and thought-provoking read.

Stranger isn't Heinlein's best, but it's better than most of the books you're likely to read in your lifetime. It chronicles the life and struggles of Valentine Michael Smith, the only human born on another world - Mars in this case.

As is pointed out early, Michael isn't really human. Genetically, of course, he's a man, but he was raised on Mars by Martians after being orphaned. His whole idealogy and personality centers around this.

A young adult Michael is "rescued" and ret...more

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Lisa rated it:

03/26/08

bookshelves: 1-star, american-lit-general, sci-fi

recommends it for: No one.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

First off, what this book is ultimately about is the idea that an ideal life is one in which we combine the central tenets of Christianity with partner-swapping and group sex. But just like communism and the dashiki, the 60's proved that a bad idea is a bad idea, and no amount of drugs is going to make it work.

Nevertheless, the first half of this book is really very good. A martian-born human arrives on Earth and has to learn to function in a world to which he's wholly unaccustomed. Mea...more

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Josh rated it:

05/18/08

bookshelves: science-fiction

For those not "in the know," this book actually has two versions: the original publication and an "unabridged" version that came from Heinlein's original manuscript before editing cut out 60 thousand or so words for the first publication. Truth be told, the two versions are very similiar despite one being a longer; however, I think I still prefer the unabridged version. It seems richer.

The run-down (non-spoilered): Earth sends a mission to Mars with four married couples f...more

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