Rating: 
Summary: A delightful, and contradictory, sci-fi classic
Review: If you have read Frank Herbert's "Dune," you will probably find that this novel by Robert Heinlein is very similar. Both revolve around Messiantic characters who upheave the societites they live in. However, Heinlein's novel is more lighthearted and humanizing than the often cold and aloof style of "Dune." Many people have commented on the odd medley of beliefs in Heinlein's novel: he espouses open sexuality, communism, nudism, and religious tolerance, but compares women to "cherished housepets," and rails against the "wrongness" and "tragic inbetweenness" of homosexuality. His views may seem contradictory, but after all, it was written in 1961, when America was breaking away from old beliefs and struggling for a new identity - a time, in other words, of many contradictions. "Stranger in a Strange Land" simply reflects this transition from the family values and Red Scares of the Fifties to the Flower Power of the Sixties. Everybody, conservative or liberal, will find something in this book that is personally offensive. Read it anyway. It is a fascinating tale and an inciteful allegory.
Rating:
Summary: Learning to question
Review: Much has been written about Heinlein's ideological purpose but for this review, I am going to ignore it and focus solely on the book, on merits. A caveat: keep in mind this book was published in the 1960s so adjust your time context accordingly. The vanilla science fiction tool is to stage human encounters with aliens and then play out the interaction. In a twist, Heinlein has a pseudo-alien look at humans. Valentine Michael Smith (VMS), though human, has grown to adulthood in such alien circumstances as to be effectively an outsider with no experience of human beings or Earth. The circumstances of his growing up on Mars and learning his unusual abilities are glossed over in the book as they are but a device: the focus is humans as they appear to this star-child. And childlike he is indeed, in the best sense of the word as he tries his level best to understand the human systems of religion, superstition, social customs and so on. You do not need to agree with Heinlein's views (some of which are pretty dated and annoying) to appreciate this look in the mirror. Just as a child's favorite question is "why?", so too VMS encounters human relationships, the seamier side of organized religion, the numerous taboos and fears of humanity and asks "why?". The enchanting part of this is that the "why?" is not judgmental but only an attempt to understand. Sure, the book can be annoying at times when Heinlein gets carried away and the ending is in many ways a contradiction to the rest of the book. For all that, this is not a book to be missed. The best way to approach this book is neither as science fiction nor philosophy. Enjoy the story without reading between the lines, but do learn to ask "why?" yourself, just as VMS does.
Rating:
Summary: Grok it
Review: This story is as relavent today as it was when it was published. We live in a society where moral values are dictated by authority. We are told that things are bad or evil, even if they are unharmful to others. Like much of Heinlein's work, this story is very strong in the first 75% and loses some steam in the end, where he injects the plot with bizarre developments and handwaving. However, the anti-establishment theme resounds many years after putting the book down. Pick up this book, and read it, and keep reading it until you grok it.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much philosophy - not enough story
Review: I've heard it said that if you haven't read 'Stranger in a Strange Land' you really haven't read Robert Heinlein. I've read a number of his books, and his best in my mind is probably 'Starship Troopers'. But I'd never read this one, so decided to do so. Let me say that I agree with the general reviews I've seen on here. The first 1/2 of the book is a wonderful story about a boy raised among Martians, who develops some extraordinary powers and is then brought to Earth where he struggles to understand the human race. It had so many great things about it. Suspense, Humor, Action, etc. Jubal Harshaw (my favorite character in the book) was also one of the chief reasons to like this story. The problem is that the book just dissolves after the first 1/2. When Michael Valentine Smith leaves Jubal's home, he goes through a number of incarnations, first as a carnival huckster, then finally ending up as a 'New Age' messiah. The similarities to the life of Jesus are inescapable. My problems with this aren't merely that I strongly disagree with Mr. Heinlein's philosophies that all religions are equally valid and that all of them are 'made up' to one degree or another, but instead my problem is that he spends the better part of the book writing endless philosophical dialogues that have nothing to do with anything other than trying to force his viewpoints down our throat. I think that everyone has a right to their opinion, and I think that Mr. Heinlein certainly had the right to put his opinions in his own novel. I can further see why this book was so popular in the 60's (especially the 'Thou art God' line). But, for me, this really wasn't a novel as much as it was a philosophy book with a bit of story thrown in as vehicle to let the author tell you what he believed. It's fine that he did so, but I think the book suffers as a result. The 3 stars are for the first 1/2 of the book. If he had kept the rest of the book like the first, he would easily have scored 5 stars from me. But, unfortunately, the last 1/2 of the book ruined the first.
Rating: 
Summary: Not such a strange land now....
Review: I read this book first when I was 14. It blew me away. I've read it many times since and when the expanded version was printed I bought that and read it too. Many years later I can see elements in the book that I totally missed as a younger reader.I also know a lot more about Heinlein and know that he never intended to start a new religion, endorse cannibalism or advocate living in extended family type communes....he was just trying to get people to really think about elements of our world that we take for granted. Valentine Michael Smith is born on Mars and brought up by Martians who give him special, mystical skills. When he returns to Earth as an adult he is seeing our world from a unique viewpoint; that of a human who is not aware that he is a man. His innocent queries and problems point up some of the flaws and false values of modern society. His solutions are not meant to be taken literally but just to make us think. Heinlein was good at that....
Rating: 
Summary: Man I hated this "classic"
Review: I picked this up last year as part of my attempts to educate myself on the classic sci-fi novels. Before I started in on Ray Bradbury I tackled this. It even made that Billy Joel song that was so popular in middle school. How could it go wrong? 50 pages in I was hoping the bad writing got better. It did not. Most of the novel is simply bad preaching disguised as a sci-fi novel. I wasn't bothered by the ideas in the book as some defenders might want to suggest. I've participated on discussion lists about polyamory and religion. So I found nothing new here. Maybe if Heinlein could construct more than a straw man argument for the other side his preaching would be easier to swallow. As bad as the so-called story is, the so-called characterizations are even worse. I had hopes for Jubal at first, but he proved to be less of a character and more of a caricature. (...) . I still recommend this, despite the fact I hated it. You cannot have love without hate. And maybe if you are still 13 years old this will seem like a revelation. Time and experience have revealed this true nature of this novel to me.
Rating:
Summary: Not for a first time Heinlein reader
Review: Stranger is a very stange book. It is not a bad book, but it is strange. If you are a first time reader of sci-fi or of Mr. Heinlein, I would avoid the one. Consider instead the Moon is a Harsh Mistress (or any of Heilein's other masterwor).
In a way this book is like a good dark beer. For first time drinkers (ie readers) the taste and texture of this book might be enough to put yourself off on Heinlein forever. Don't let that happen! Start out on some lighter works, then someday sample the thick-rich (if some what peculiar) flavors of Stranger.
Rating:
Summary: GROK=APPRECIATE
Review: I am especially writing this review as a reply to S.P Brady who thinks that he didn't like the book because of the word GROK. Well, if you can judge a book by a mere repetition of a word then I must say you're a genius. I don't think GROK was too bad a word to be used. I hope you will GROK the authors imagination instead of complaining over a small matter.
Rating:
Summary: Seeing Is Believing....
Review: This was the first Science Fiction book I had ever read and fortunately it turned out to be the best. The best part of the book is the first half and the ending. Who could have guessed that the man from Mars would be preaching humans about Love and Friendship.
I also agree to what Danny said about the book on his review. It looks rather too long but you don't want to miss a thing. Keeps you turning the page to see what happens next. For a person who is not into Science Fistion this book is the way to go and might even change your views.
Rating:
Summary: Strange book to say the least
Review: 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.
| 
