Did anyone else feel changed after this book?

[Mark]

I remember my high school English teacher gushing over this book--it is a GREAT book but not a life changer. Something like the Bible might fit that bill.

[Tracy]

I haven't read this since I was about 13 in the seventies. I do remember feeling different when I read it but I'm not sure if I would feel like that now. I think 13 was a great age to read this.

[G.L.]

Like most people here, I first read SiaSL when I was a teen. At the time it had a huge impact on me. I interpreted it as being very mystical and very spiritual. When I read it again, some 25 years later, after reading a great deal of mysticism and practicing meditation for several years, I found the book left me disappointed. It struck me more as a long Socratic dialogue about Libertarian philosophy and, with the exception of some rather New Age Groking, not very mystical or spiritual at all. However, I did still enjoy it. Michael Valentine Smith is a great character and the fish out of water story of a “Martian” returning to earth is a wonderful hook.

[Darren]

I've read it several times, maybe its why i like spending so much time at the lake in water worship, someday may we all grok!

[Jeanie]

Ali wrote: "This was the book that really opened my eyes to the problem of sexism in science fiction. The only thing that changed within me was a new sense of astonishment at how many people are willing to tu..."
MAYBE now, but not at the time it was written. Keep in mind that he always intended to entertain while he hoped that his readers would see something more in themselves and the world.

[C.M.]

In its day, I think it was exceptional. It fit the 60's so perfectly Grok became a common expression in college. I'm afraid to reread it now, because it would probably feel dated. I hope not.

[Robert]

I thought the views of humor were a bit off. He desribes them as smiling, but never laughing. If I was in a room with people who smiled but never laughed, I would get out of that room pretty fast. We laugh at things that have nothing to do with cruelty. We laugh at a kitten playing with a piece of string. Laughter is just part of being human. Much of humor is simply a reaction to getting something other than what we expected. Take the old joke "Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana." Not a speck of cruelty, but we laugh. Even when we do laugh at people's misfortunes, we do it when it isn't real. We might laugh at an old slapstick movie, but we wouldn't laugh if those things really happened.

[David]

It was a big deal to 'grok' back in the late '60's. I grokked a lot! / But I suspect it'd be a lot different now...so much so I am not inclined to look back.

[Jim]

I was changed after reading this: I abandoned my goal of reading all of Heinlein this year. Preachy, erratic and not good science fiction. I read 17 of his novels in published order and this one (the extra long verson) cemented my impression that he was not worthy of the accolades - here were much better authors of the era. I haven't summoned the stubborn resolve to finish the quest of reading all of the cranky old S.O.B.'s work...I don't think I could force my way through another tome like this one.

[Susan]

I still use the word 'grok'!

[Saski]

I read it almost forty years ago and I remember distinctly that it had a profound effect. It was also the only book on my shelf that people didn't return. I finally had to quit replacing it so I don't have a copy now and don't know how I would feel it I were to read it now. I read a review above that mentioned sexism and homophobia and perhaps there are such elements (think though about the milieu in which it was written).

However, there are sections that I remember clearly and bits of vocabulary I still use (yes, above and beyond 'grok').

[Tamara]

I remember reading this book as a teen, for fun. It was the very first time I'd read anything that I viewed as opposing my fundamentalist values. The first time I read it, I remember being shocked. I read it again recently and picked up on several things I was too naive to understand. Then, as now, I thought it amazing how the author was able to write a fiction piece that had such a profound effect on such a wide variety of people. :-)

[Jason (jasonb)]

Frank wrote: "After finishing this book, I felt quite odd. I absolutely loved the book, but it's been a couple weeks and I still feel "different". Maybe more content or something, but I've noticed I appear fri..."

You grok what he was writing.

I remember the first time I read it at 15, definitely felt changed. Started to think differently about religion.

I read it again a couple of years ago about 25 years after the first time. I came away with a stronger sense of what I am supposed to be.

My views on religion haven't changed but my beliefs have. I'm now a buddhist. That's my take away.

[Jamie]

Phenomenal book, phenomenal writer. Heinlein redefined the genre. Starship Troopers was also enjoyable, as was The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Stranger in a Strange Land was obviously his masterpiece, and its stamp on the English language will never be forgotten. Do you "grok" me?

[Darrel]

Yes, this book changed my life. I read it at 40 then again at 61. Both times it brought a refreshing sense to life and sexuality. It actually informed me as I wrote my most recent book, Sex and God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality. Heinlein, while still a child of his age, was able to rise above it in many ways and show a view of humanity that we have difficulty seeing. Only through the eyes of a Martian can we see much of what we are and can become.

[Jeremiah]

I really didn’t care much for the book. I can see why it was influential during the 60s, but that is not a time period I want to go visit. Check out my review for my full opinion. I’m sure most won’t agree! haha

[John]

Frank wrote: "After finishing this book, I felt quite odd. I absolutely loved the book, but it's been a couple weeks and I still feel "different". Maybe more content or something, but I've noticed I appear fri..."

I read it when I was 14 the first time which truly caused me to re-examine many if not most of the axioms in my life. I read it the second time in my 20's and was much more moved by the ending - I agree it is more humane to kill a man (woman) thank lock them in cages.

I also appreciate Christianity more fully but understand what a bizarre and even barbaric practice it must seem to other cultures.

[Adam]

I definitely want to read this one. My friend was in a kick of giving me audiobooks to listen to even though I'm really a visual guy. This was in the batch. By the time I'd gotten through it and was into Snowcrash, I realized listening to books just didn't cut it for me. Lucky for Snowcrash, I stopped listening to the audiobook and got a hard copy. Bad for Stranger in a Strangeland, I got the gist of what was happening but it didn't make a real lasting impression. The copy I bought recently has been glaring at me, so I think I should put that next on my list for this year.

[Marcel]

When reading it in my teens it was an eye opener, like wtf?!?!? and I believe that it influenced me strongly in a number of ways...

Reading it around 30 I found it annoying and flat. I found it chauvinist, homophobic and too American.

Now with nearly 40 I just finished reading it again, and I am again, very impressed by it, now understanding that a lot of the annoying things are there because it is an 'old' book out of the 60s and you have to read them in context. I also suddenly understand where a lot of the ideas are coming from, be it Yoga, Buddhism, etc...
What, today, I find annoying though, are the parts in the 'Studio' with Foster and his colleagues. I feel they are pointless and make a book with an interesting message to something less relevant, important, ridiculous even... so I have bothered thinking about these parts... for now...

[A.J.]

Check out TRAMP ROYALE about Heinlein and his wife on an around the world tour, their take on the various politics of the day makes for an interesting read and he really seems like he was quite a gentle soul. It is the Heinlein's as strangers in a strange land.

[Ric]

Yes and no.
From an anthropological and biological point of view it did reinforce my theories about sex and marriage. Read my review on book on the reviews too. thanks.

[Rd]

I first read this book back in the sixties - maybe when it first came out. It is still one of my all time favorite books. It certainly changed the way I look at any religion and particularly at Christianity as performed by many U.S. "church" today. Anyone who thinks this book is sexist - certainly should try reading John Norman's Gor series. It should be noted that most of those that bash this book are women - and perhaps that makes it understandable - but you'll note that women play a definite role - not all that subservient - often leading roles. If you don't like the sex how do you stand the majority of ads on the 'boob tube'? or most any movie on the screen today? and "Thou art God" - you make your own world you live in - you make it by the choices you make.

[Donna]

Mark wrote: "I remember my high school English teacher gushing over this book--it is a GREAT book but not a life changer. Something like the Bible might fit that bill."
I was a Christian when I was assigned this book by my HS honors English teacher back in the '70s. After reading it, I felt like I should go wash my hands and rinse out my mouth.

I am no longer religious, but think teachers should note the potential for alienating a layer of students if they insist on assigning this novel and making them "find the Christ figure".

[Becky]

It changed my mind about the concept of humor. How often, our jokes are made at the expense of others and can be hurtful. It did raise my consciousness on that score

[Bruce]

It definitely juggles up ones ideas of society and is quite thought provoking.

[Steele]

Frank wrote: "After finishing this book, I felt quite odd. I absolutely loved the book, but it's been a couple weeks and I still feel "different". Maybe more content or something, but I've noticed I appear fri..."
I hadn't realized how much this book affected my life until after this last time I read it a few months back. It helped me form the ideas about poly relationships and life in general. My 18 year old is reading it now!

[Susan]

I still use the word 'grok'.

[Edward]

I don't remember how I felt after I finished reading it the first time, but I'm sure it must've made me think fairly deeply about things. It's decades later, and I'm still influenced by it.

Two days ago I was asked if I perform the songs I've written in clubs. I said, "No. I'm only an egg." He didn't know the reference, but he understood what I meant. :)

I remember hating the ending when I first read it, but that didn't lessen the impact it had on me that (for better or worse) affects my writing to this day.

I think the concept of "thou art God" was ahead of its time - and still is - whether Heinlein even knew what he was saying or not.

[Kristine]

Robert Heinlein was my favorite author as a teen. This book was my favorite! I had just moved from Illinois to Texas, and I did feel like it was another world. Repeated reading revealed more depth as I got older. The themes of compassion and unconditional love weren't preachy, and the ultimate sorrow seemed part of the human condition.

[Melonknee62]

I think this book opened my eyes to the diversity of life and the uniqueness we all hold within. I loved it so much and will always remember it as a life changing book much like The Hobbit was a life changing book for me. Some books truly are awesome!

[Doc]

Yes. I had been a Heinlein fan and read many of his books. "Stranger" made me wonder if I would ever read another.

[Doc]

Kenneth wrote: "Does anyone ever come into these discussions, who reads a book for pleasure? I don't care, what Heinlein's view was on equality, or on religion. He wrote lively, interesting stories. If I don't lik..."

I read books for pleasure. I found none in "Stranger."

[Lee]

I read it when I was much younger, like many here, and it indeed had a profound effect on my life. I started having water ceremonies, and grokking stuff.

Aside from the spiritual/philosophical aspects of the book there are a lot of interesting science fictional ideas put forth. I always though the concept of a "Fair Witness" was something we should adopt.

Sure, there are things you can pick apart about it, but there's also a lot of great stuff in there too.

I've also seen it said that Heinlien intended it as a satire of the hippie movement, and was bemused that so many embraced Valentine's philosophy.

[Darrel]

Lee wrote: "I read it when I was much younger, like many here, and it indeed had a profound effect on my life. I started having water ceremonies, and grokking stuff.

Aside from the spiritual/philosophical as..."

He could not have written it as a satire on the "hippie movement" as that did not come along for 15-20 years after he wrote it. Rather, it was an influence on that very movement. Many a hippie tried to emulate aspects of Stranger.

[Bookworm]

I read it in the late 1990ties and reread it in 2023 - and was surprised of how annoying it was on the 2nd read!

Heinlein's output (often labelled as libertarian) always inspires political and social debates. However, imo, it often comes across as preachy.

I have to praise the Scotsman Ken MacLeod, who has initiated one of the most comprehensive and thoughtful stagings of political debates in SF. MacLeod, as an avowed socialist, obviously also sympathises with other viewpoints such as libertarian thinking, and his novels are more the setting for real debates about political beliefs than sermons like Heinlein's, for example.

Maybe it was that contrast by reading MacLeods "Fall Revolution" and afterwards, Heinleins "Stranger..."

[Hurkle Durkle]

It is always refreshing to change the angle and look at all the mundane, well-known things in life with the temporary 'new eyes' that this book grants you while reading it. Any good book with alien/foreign characters would spark that childlike sense of wonder in me when I see the world as if for the first time.
I am super keen on this effect and try to simulate it whenever possible. It shakes the external status quo and my natural rigidity nicely. The feeling accompanying this effect is invigorating and thought-provoking. I can relate to OP about this in a heartbeat.

Secondly, with this book, I encountered the concept of religion as a form of societal organization. I am not religious at all and perhaps I was not impressed or enraged or whatever the effect of reading it would be on a hard-core Christian/Muslim etc. Instead, I learned that one can accomplish a massive societal change through religion or another similarly formed cult.

And finally, yeah, I guess that all the freestyle sex in the story was a good catching point for any person stepping into adulthood. I read the novel in my teens/20s and it seriously got my eyebrows dancing on my face. :D

It is a good book that has long sparked debate. Nice one, Mr. Heinlein!

[R. Scott]

Timothy wrote: "No. It was boring and preachy. Maybe if I had read it in my youth?" It was recommended to me, and I was looking forward to it, and while I thought it was well written, it neither moved me nor stayed with me. I thought I must have missed something everyone else saw. I probably just set my expectations too high, but thought, what is the big deal here?