Tramp Royale

Rating:
Summary: A travelogue written by a non-travelogue writer
Review: I read this book thinking that I liked the travelogue of Mark Twain and that I like Robert Heinlein. Perhaps Heinlein himself was thinking of Twain when he wrote it. Unfortunately, he is not Mark Twain.

When Twain wrote, he talked of even a simple thing, like going through customs, and made it humorous. When Heinlein writes about going through customs, he is merely telling you how annoying it is in different places. He talks about how different countries should make customs easier for travelers or else the country could lose money. This kind of goes without saying. I would hope that Robert would tell us a bit more on his interpretation. I really don't need his opinion of economics.

This book feels more like a collection of musings rather than a well thought out book. Some of the incidents sound like they could be interesting or witty, but Heinlein just touches on it and continues on. The only thing I really found amusing was his persistence in looking around the seedier places of each town.

If you are not a fan of Heinlein, and then I would, emphatically, not recommend this book. If you are a fan, then I would recommend it just to say you have read it. It is a dated book and does not make a lot of sense today. Read it just to see what his reaction to the world is.

Rating:
Summary: Dated but a good window to the past and abroad
Review: This account of the trip taken across the Southern Hemisphere by Robert Heinlein and his wife was fascinating for me, although dated in its observations (it was written in 1954 afterall). He enjoys Chilean and Uruguayan hospitality, compares the Peron regime of Argentina to the Pendergast machine of Missouri, and admires Brazilian style capitalism. He travels on to South Africa, where he's appalled by apartheid, and encounters great hospitality and a entrepreneurial spirit he admires in Singapore. The squalor of Indonesia horrifies him, but he admires Australia's egalitarianism, while at the same time criticizing its "trade unionism gone wild". His most scathing criticism was for New Zealand, which he dubbed the "dreary utopia". Heinlein often mixed a dose of politics and social commentary in his works. This is no different. This book is a great read for Heinlein fans or those with politics somewhat right of center. Non-Americans or fairly liberal Americans will probably be put off by his constant statements on traveling abroad, foreign policy, international relations etc.

Rating:
Summary: For Robert Heinlein Fans
Review: This out-of-date travelogue, written in the 1950's by one of the most decorated science fiction writers and published posthumously, was clearly published for the ready market of Robert Heinlein fans thirsty for anything written by the Grand Master.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and all Heinlein fans will too. His wit, pragmatism, and personality shine throughout the book-even when covering the more mundane subjects such as the quality of hotels to the red tape involved in traveling. I especially enjoyed getting a glimpse of his wife's personality as well. They make for some of the more humorous vignettes in this work.

The last chapter is probably the best where Heinlein takes off his gloves, so to speak, and allows himself to become a political pundit and talks about what he learned on his trip. This, for me, was the most interesting part of the book. Nothing there will surprise Heinlein's fans gleaning his political/social viewpoint in his novels, but it was fascinating nonetheless.

This book frankly is not for a general audience. I can't imagine that anyone not a fan of and familiar with Heinlein's works would find this book particularly interesting.

It's a must read for Heinlein fans. But of course, everything he wrote is a must read for his fans.