Book Review: Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
Despite job burnout, spring cleaning, home renovations, and my own writing, I finally managed to finish what is arguably Heinlein's greatest novel.
Valentine Michael Smith is the Man from Mars. He was the first human born on the red planet, his parents both crew members of the Envoy, an expedition thought lost seven years before a second vessel, Champion, followed. The crew of the Champion discovers that Mars is, in fact, inhabited and brings Valentine Michael Smith, “Mike” as he becomes known, back to Earth.
Enter journalist Ben Caxton and nurse Jill Boardman who hatch a plan to free Mike from the hospital where he is kept under military guard. Jill manages to successfully liberate Mike (dressing him in drag as a nurse) and learns that by sharing water with him, she has become a “water brother”. Doing so forms an almost unbreakable bond that if severed could cause Mike to willingly discorporate (which equates to dying in our limited human understanding).
Grok that?
But when Ben Caxton vanishes, and with the authorities on her trail, Jill turns to retired physician-lawyer turned loafer-writer Jubal Harshaw and his three lovely assistants, Dorcas, Anne, and Miriam (all of whom become Mike’s “water brothers”). While staying with Jubal, Mike learns about life on Earth, women, politics, and most impressionably, religion.
Meanwhile, the crafty Jubal strikes a deal with the military to leave Mike alone and in exchange, offers the Secretary General of the military power of attorney over Mike’s apparent fortune (Mike is after all the heir apparent of Mars itself based an obscure law cited by Caxton and later, Jubal). The safe return of Caxton is also part of the deal. Soon, Caxton also becomes a “water brother”.
Before finally striking out on his own, Mike attends a Fosterite religious service which is essentially a casino/church cult. With Jill at his side, Mike finally leaves the confines of Jubal’s home, travels as a carnie magician, learns how to spot “marks” in a crowd, then eventually—and somewhat scandalously—starts his own “cult” using his training as a carnie, his experiences with the Fosterites, and his concept of bonding through the sharing of water.
There are many details left out of this review. Stranger in a Strange Land is a challenging book to summarize. I also do not wish to reveal spoilers. While the book is a product of its time, especially in the way that women are treated (one of Jill’s lines explicitly states that it’s partly a woman’s fault if she’s raped), the story of Mike’s evolution from a lost creature to a cult leader is astounding, told as only Heinlein can. I can see why this book became a favorite among the hippies in the sixties.
All I can say for now is that I grok. Perhaps not in fullness, but waiting is.
