Stranger in a Strange Land

Rating:
Summary: not just entertainmemt
Review: This book is not just some novel you pick up and read simply tokill time. If you're looking for that may I suggest ... orsome other mediocre exuse for a writer. But if you want to think, tofeel, to experience and/or embrace new ideas and ideals this book isfor you. This book is about love and life and all that lies inbetween. Open your mind if you wish to understand.

Rating:
Summary: "Stranger" must be read in context.
Review: Charles Manson was said to be a fan of this book. With the "free love" themes and the pre-women's lib attitude found here, it's not surprising, but that should not deter you from picking up a copy of this book.

There are themes here that will make some people uncomfortable, but these should be read in the context of the times in which it was written.

It's the early Sixties. America is fascinated by beat poets, Lenny Bruce, and the ideas of feminism are only beginning to germinate in society. Using his Harshaw character, Heinlein fantasizes about a world where women are at his sexual beck-and-call, willingly, confidently, and unquestioningly. Harshaw has total independance from the outside world, and the power to protect his interests against a repressed society. Harshaw really is Heinlein's mouthpiece when he discusses religion, philosophy, and a social structure that many people in the hippie community found quite alluring at the time.

If this book is read in context with the times of the early Sixties, many of the themes will be entertaining, thought-provoking, and intellectually stimulating.

If you read this book with a contemporary frame of mind, you set yourself up to be disappointed. Some may say that this book has not withstood to tests of time since we have evolved with a greater respect for women than is described in this book. I don't see it that way. I see this book as a glimpse into the mind of a writer who lived at a time when artistic creativity was just about to explode. Heinlein had the brazenness to pull off a work that is uncompromising and epic in scope just as this creative explosion was taking place. For that, I believe it deserves our attention.

Rating:
Summary: Evidently, a love it or hate it novel
Review: I, before purchasing, read through a good portion of the reviews provided by Amazon.com's customers. There were two things that stuck out to me: 1) This book undergoes a drastic change roughly half-way through and 2) It is a love it or hate it book. I find, from reading other opinions of the book, that it is truly a love it or hate it book, but I did not see a drastic change. Maybe it is because I just finished reading some philosophy, or that I am used to this type of novel, but i thought that the plot flowed quite well. In conclusion, it is a love it or hate it book, but i suggest it tpo everyone. For, if you are in the "love it" category as i am, the book is an amazingly refreshing one. Also, if you somehow fall into the "hate it" category, it is not that bad, and you will probably at least find the begining intresting.

Rating:
Summary: Adolescent fantasy, adult themes
Review: Stranger in a Strange Land was and is Heinlein's most controversial work. It was written at the beginning of the end of his career, when his protagonists were created using cookie cutters. Still, for its assessment of religion(s), Stranger had no equal in any literature, before or since.

Read as a story, Stranger is a tale that gets started on the right track but ends up following a tangent into adolescent fantasies about sex, riches, and hedonism. Read as an analysis of religion, the story remains a classic social commentary by one of the more capable commentators.

If you want moving science fiction, read Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. If you want one of the novels that moved science fiction, read Stranger in a Strange Land.

Rating:
Summary: Hyped and overrated
Review: I was sorely disappointed in this book, after hearing about it so much. The religious and philosophical ideas all sound rather contrived and unbelievable. The characters are cookie cutter and unbelievable, and are trapped in the pre 1960's gender expectations. The dialogue is terrible - Heinlein tries to make his characters sound clever, but the result is disappointing and unrealistic. Above all, Heinlein tries to shoehorn all his ideas into the book, and it ends up reading like "Heinlein's Greatest Hits" - look at me! I'm Robert Heinlein. Look at how smart I am!

I finished this thing and tossed it down the bin right afterwards.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent examination on human society
Review: I have always heard this was one of the great works in Science Fiction, but had never gotten around to reading it until now. I was not disapointed. Like all truly great sci-fi, there is a message to be learned about ourselves as a society. What that message is may differ from person to person, but it is there. I have not read such a compelling examination on the human race since the great Frank Herbert. But what makes this a great book to read is Heinlein's ability in encompassing this complex examination in good story telling. I won't weigh you down with characters, names, and plot. The least you know about the specifics of the story the better. I feel this work will have its biggest effect when you jump in with no pre-conceptions.

Rating:
Summary: Heavy-Handed and pedestrian
Review: This book starts off reasonably interesting, and I had hoped to read a book rife with futuristic politics and personal hubris. But it soon degenerates into a rather mundane diatribe for or against religion--it's hard to tell--and, while I usually enjoy such books that discuss these issues, Heinlein doesn't pull it off effectively. Heinlein seems to spend the first third of the book being interesting, then switching to soapbox mode. Such methods do not a good book make.

Still, the characters are reasonably intriguing; the three girls and other workers who live with Judal are more fleshed out, in my mind, than Valentine Michael Smith or Jill.

This would be an excellent read--if it were about 200 pages shorter.

Rating:
Summary: Heinlein speaks rightly.
Review: This book is a masterpiece in science fiction. It overcomes the tendency that many writers have to go on and on about technogology, and instead delves deeply into the human psyche. It explores the questions of what it means to be a human, what makes us unique and the nature of love and conflict. I found that it reached out to me in particular because it summed up many views I already had in a manner much more eloquently than I myself am capable of, especially on the nature of God. I grok the fullness of this book and cherish it.

Rating:
Summary: A modern myth for the New Aeon
Review: Thou art God. That is the message of this book. It is a truth so alien to our culture that it may as well have come from Mars, and so Heinlein personifies it as a Martian/Human name Velentine Michael Smith. Embedded in a delightful story is some very indulgent propaganda that, for all its didacticism, is thrilling. One leaves the book feeling empowered, as though they have been reborn. To be read at least once a year, preferably around the Spring Equinox.

Rating:
Summary: I grok it now!
Review: As a huge fan of Science Fiction, I had heard about this book for many years and always meant to try it, but somehow never got around to it. I finally bought it one day and couldn't put it down!

In order to fully enjoy this book, though, you have to take into consideration the time period when it was written. Some of the views and statements tend to be sexist towards women, but that is how society viewed women when Heinlein was writing. It also contains LOTS of dialogue between Valentine Michael Smith and Jubal Harshaw. If you don't like dialogue then this book may drag along for you.

Many of the ideas expressed by Heinlein throughout the novel can be taken as extremely controversial--even today--let alone 40-plus years ago when he wrote it. But, despite their controversy, you can't help but see the logic and perhaps necessity of those ideas. At least if you take Michael's point of view.

The ending (don't worry, I won't give it away!) was, if not exactly predictable, a bit expected and unsurprising. But it certainly didn't ruin the novel. My biggest fear is that someone will get the bright idea to try and turn this into a summer blockbuster movie and ruin it for everyone!