Reading Challenge #12 - Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein
I first read Stranger in a Strange Land back in my early teens, twenty or more years ago. I think I may have read it more than once during that time. I vaguely recall being aware of the book's reputation, but not entirely understanding why it had such a reputation - I enjoyed it, but I thought other Heinlein novels were better. My opinion of Heinlein's oeuvre has changed considerably in the decades since then, and according to my records the last book by him I read was in 1996. And that was a reread of I Will Fear No Evil. Well, yes, I did read Starship Troopers last year, but I didn't read it for enjoyment, so it doesn't count - see here.
Throughout my science fiction reading career, Heinlein has never been a favourite sf author, although I've read around two dozen of his books, many of them more than once. I also owned around a dozen of them - although I purged my book-shelves of all but a handful early last year.
Which is a long-winded way of saying that, despite its reputation, I had relatively low expectations for this reread of Stranger in a Strange Land. Heinlein's 1940s somewhat patronising dialogue-heavy prose style no longer appeals to me; his politics certainly don't appeal. So what to make of the sf novel that, along with Dune (a personal favourite) and The Lord of the Rings (I really should reread it one of these days), was beloved by college students around the world in late 1960s and 1970s?
First, the plot. A mission to Mars comes a cropper, and a second mission sent twenty-five years later finds a single survivor living among the Martians: Valentine Michael Smith, the son of two members of the first mission's crew. They return him to Earth. Smith is Martian in all but physiology, and he introduces his Martian way of thinking to the people around him. He also proves to have "magical" powers. For a while, he stays with Jubal Harshaw, a cantankerous multi-millionaire, who has opinions on everything. Smith leaves him to see more of the world - well, the USA of the time - and then creates a charismatic church. But society at large - well, the society of the USA of the time - does not want to hear his "message", and he is torn apart by a mob. His church and message survive in his followers.
So. The good stuff. Stranger in a Strange Land is surprisingly readable. Heinlein's prose is like beige - it's not colourful, it doesn't stand out as either good or bad. Some people think all novels should be written in beige prose. I happen to think that's a waste of English. Why does the language have such a large lexicon if all you're going to use are the blandest words in it?
(Rest of post on It Doesn't Have To Be Right...)
Throughout my science fiction reading career, Heinlein has never been a favourite sf author, although I've read around two dozen of his books, many of them more than once. I also owned around a dozen of them - although I purged my book-shelves of all but a handful early last year.
Which is a long-winded way of saying that, despite its reputation, I had relatively low expectations for this reread of Stranger in a Strange Land. Heinlein's 1940s somewhat patronising dialogue-heavy prose style no longer appeals to me; his politics certainly don't appeal. So what to make of the sf novel that, along with Dune (a personal favourite) and The Lord of the Rings (I really should reread it one of these days), was beloved by college students around the world in late 1960s and 1970s?
First, the plot. A mission to Mars comes a cropper, and a second mission sent twenty-five years later finds a single survivor living among the Martians: Valentine Michael Smith, the son of two members of the first mission's crew. They return him to Earth. Smith is Martian in all but physiology, and he introduces his Martian way of thinking to the people around him. He also proves to have "magical" powers. For a while, he stays with Jubal Harshaw, a cantankerous multi-millionaire, who has opinions on everything. Smith leaves him to see more of the world - well, the USA of the time - and then creates a charismatic church. But society at large - well, the society of the USA of the time - does not want to hear his "message", and he is torn apart by a mob. His church and message survive in his followers.
So. The good stuff. Stranger in a Strange Land is surprisingly readable. Heinlein's prose is like beige - it's not colourful, it doesn't stand out as either good or bad. Some people think all novels should be written in beige prose. I happen to think that's a waste of English. Why does the language have such a large lexicon if all you're going to use are the blandest words in it?
(Rest of post on It Doesn't Have To Be Right...)