Stranger
I've read Stranger in a Strange Land several times. Each time, I'm amazed at the imagination Heinlein displayed while writing. Several years ago (I don't remember exactly and I'm too lazy to get my butt upstairs to look since I hauled it down here to type)the unabridged edition came out. Apparently the publishers made Heinlein take out over 1/3 of the book to make it more "publishable." After Heinlein's death, his widow renewed the copyrights and resubmitted the original manuscript for publication.
When you consider that the 1st edition (diluted by 1/3) was printed in 1960 - and we hadn't even landed on the moon yet - the imagination is amazing. I realize we've had flying cars in books for a long time, space flight even...but the depth of Heinlein's descriptions occasionally blows me away. I feel the same way about the Ship Who Sings and some of the other books like that. I find myself wondering, is something like the lifestyle/space flight Heinlein writes about remotely possible? I don't mean the ritualistic commune stuff...but flying cars, grass carpets, automated kitchens (I'd love me an automated kitchen!!!)...that sort of thing. I'll never know in this lifetime, but maybe one day...
When you consider that the 1st edition (diluted by 1/3) was printed in 1960 - and we hadn't even landed on the moon yet - the imagination is amazing. I realize we've had flying cars in books for a long time, space flight even...but the depth of Heinlein's descriptions occasionally blows me away. I feel the same way about the Ship Who Sings and some of the other books like that. I find myself wondering, is something like the lifestyle/space flight Heinlein writes about remotely possible? I don't mean the ritualistic commune stuff...but flying cars, grass carpets, automated kitchens (I'd love me an automated kitchen!!!)...that sort of thing. I'll never know in this lifetime, but maybe one day...