Rating: 
Summary: Heinlein at his best
Review: I've no doubt that Starship Troopers is Heinlein's best novel, but Stranger in a Strange Land is almost as good. And if you thought Heinlein had a lot to say in Starship, wait to you hear what all he has to say in Stranger. It's the story of a man, Valentine Michael Smith, who was born on Mars, grew up among the Martians, and then came back to Earth. This is the story of how he learns and what he does. And it is Heinlein's theological treatise. I found I liked parts 1 and 2 better, where Mike learns about humans and their culture. After that the book goes real heavy into the religion Smith creates. There it bogs down a little, feels a bit dated, and has the tendancy to be somewhat hypocritical of itself. But those are just a few minor flaws. This book is well-written, and one of my favorites.
Rating: 
Summary: Stranger in a Strange Land
Review: Engagingly written, but incredibly chauvanistic and terrifyingly homophobic. Skip it.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest!
Review: Stranger is the greatest book I have ever read. Mike's journey from a socialogical child to a demi-god presents many powerful ideas about human relations, social mores, and love. These ideas are presented in a much more fluid manner than other social commentaries (such as The Cider House Rules), and is extrememely enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Pompous demagoguery of the highest order.
Review: A novel that begins with the promise of cultural exploration instead quickly devolves into heavy-handed philosophical prolesthetizing masquerading as social commentary. In typical Heinlein fashion, the author thinly veils the outright declaration of his hedonistic and anti-theistic views in stilted dialogue. Furthermore, he characterizes any and all viewpoints that contradict his own as "narrow-minded" and "opressive" while pretending to be an open-minded champion of free inquiry. One might argue that this book is worth reading because of the impact it made upon the hippie culture of its day; I would remind such a person that Chairman Mao also made a significant impact on hippie culture.
Though this book serves as a good example of the bloated, sophomoric philisophical tracts that posed as science fiction throughout much of the sixties, I would not reccomend it to anyone looking for good reading. It is pompous, long-winded, morally backward, intellectually deficient, and eminently dull. A monumental waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: "Stranger" encourages reading between the lines
Review: Some of the things in this book are a little outdated...if not somewhat questionable in a realistic sense (as is communism which looks good on paper but has no practical application) but this does not detract from the brilliance of Heinlein. "Stranger in a Strange Land" is a wonderfully told story about love and the beauty/tragedy of humanity. Heinlein's use of archetypes makes this book easy to relate to and, ultimately, a timeless treasure. I had read this book in highschool and it is still one of my favorites. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the sci-fi genre but craves a more "philosophical" plot.
Rating:
Summary: Best book ever?
Review: This book is a must read. Enough said. If you like Heinlein or not, you need to read this. It is one of the most original, and well written books I have ever read. This is one of those books that will make you truly think. It questions everything about the world, and makes you question it as well. I really love this book, and I would have to say its the best book I've ever read. Definetly worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: The 438 Pages that WILL Change Your Life (Or Outlook on It).
Review: There can be no incredulity concerning the vast amount of intellectual insight Heinlein embodies within STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. This oeuvre, though ambiguous in several areas, is a piece that may go unsurpassed in its intricate analysis of the human psyche. Heinlein portrays each human emotion and behavioral characteristic in a new light by use of a well-formed cast of characters. Heinlein's main character- Smith- is as surreal as a protagonist can possibly be, but Smith contains psychological being so unlike that of humans that is easily believable that Smith contains a Martian mind. Smith's thought processes depict a whole character and an intricate outlook on human behavior. At times when reading, one finds oneself wondering whether Heinlein was actually an alien anthropologist due to complex analysis of Martian behavior. Such insight into the modern psychological being has never been easily explained to the average being until now. Furthermore, when considering the paradox of human emotion with its continual changing nature, it is noteworthy that Heinlein was able to create a novel of this magnitude.
Another point that reader must commend Heinlein upon is his unique development of each character's intellectual standpoint. Readers must acknowledge one of the more familiar habits of underdeveloped books to fully appreciate Heinlein's effort and thought into the creation of his characters. Characters within underdeveloped books present one state of mind. Yes, in the beginning characters can start out with seemingly separate ideas and thought processes - and though this could be the case, most main characters' thought processes and intellectual standings vary within a few degrees of one another. This flaw eventually leads to the "mulch" or coalesce of all the characters' intellectual individuality into one mass of thought. This mass becomes the burden of all main characters as they lose their individuality and become the author dictating a story in a non-objective view. Suddenly, a high-quality story finds itself demoted to a simple pamphlet of the author's views. Heinlein must have been aware of this danger because the intellectual identity of each main character varies in scale- as random dots on a piece of paper. The identities of the characters also present different views giving the author- the "unseen God" of the book- an almost objective perspective. Of course, there will always be the main theme of the author, which the book is founded upon, but the difference between superior works and their inferior counterparts is the variety of opinion, intellectual experiences, and wisdom of each main character. As a final note, Heinlein also uses subtle persuasion of the "less educated" character by the "more educated character" in various dialogues to ease the book's theme towards his underlying message and therefore persuade the reader into his thinking. Unlike forcing his views upon the reader, Heinlein allows the reader to find his/her own way into understanding and support the theme.
Finally, Heinlein not only has created a fully formed set of characters- but also a realistic future. Even though STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND was created in the later 50's, when reading the book today, the future presented is so pragmatic that one could determine it plausible in about five to ten years.
In the end, there is nothing more an author can give his/her readers than what Heinlein has presented in a STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. This book is easy to understand and opens the world in a new perspective for both the educated and the average being.
Rating:
Summary: Read With An Open Mind In Order To Grok
Review: To those of you who have yet to read this book and are going to buy it no matter what I say, I have one piece of advice to you: READ IT WITH AN OPEN MIND. You cannot just read the words or the plot ... you have to understand the book. Read with an open mind and absorb yourself in this book ... (trust me, that is not hard). Be one with the book, as they say. You are not just reading about a man raised by Martians, you need to know how to think like a Martian to read this book. The first half of the book teaches you how to think like a Martian, while the second half of the book brings you into the mind of Mike. Read this book with an open mind or else you might suffer serious symptoms ... such as thinking the book is ridiculously untrue and silly! (Very serious symptoms.)Heinlein used so many writing devices in this book it is incredible. Ever read all the praise on the back? Well, all the satire and humor and touchingness they describe on the back of the book is entirely true. This story, in all it's seriousness and symbolism, was able to make me laugh quite a few times with the witty dialog of Jubal and the quick news remarks you'll find if you look close enough. Some parts are out right hilarious. In any case, this brilliant guy was able to incorporate so many things ... so many different emotions ... into one story that you get everything you get out of ten books all wrapped up in one. Enough said for that. Grok is a word you will hear a lot, and it takes the entire book to fully understand the meaning of the word. In brief, it means to understand completely, fully, and know the essence of it. "I grok its fullness" is a phrase you will hear a lot from Mike. Open your mind ... grok it! Jubal disappoints me a bit in the treatment of the female characters ... they are secretaries secretaries secretaries ... also known as slaves. He just kind of calls them out, and they do nothing but type all day. But I suppose, being the time that the book was written, that was a fairly accurate portrait of society, and more than anything this book wants you to look at society. The sexist attitude all the male characters, (with the sole exception of Mike), have isn't what I would have written. Then again, as I said, read with an open mind ... look into that time period. Robert Heinlein has such a grudge against society (I love it) and more specifically religion. But rather than criticize a religion he creates a new one, (the Fosterites), and show utter foolishness within it. Maybe he is making a mockery of Christianity, or possibly religion in general. I am not sure what exatly he is trying show us in that, but the satire is great nonetheless. The purpose in reading this book is not about some science fiction Martian adventure ... IT IS A LOOK AT THE SILLINESS OF SOCIETY. Mike points out so many faults and flaws as he goes along, (and even falls into some traps himself). READ WITH AN OPEN MIND AND THIS BOOK WILL NOT ONLY FORCE YOU TO LOOK DEEPER INTO SOCIETY, IT WILL GIVE YOU AN ENTIRELY NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE WORLD. Any book that can do that is mighty impressive.
Rating:
Summary: A mixed novel; some originality, has not aged well
Review: This novel is probably Heinlein's most famous work. It was first published in 1961 and I think this fact is significant. Sometimes, literature does not age well. Heinlein has written other novels (e.g. "Starship Troopers" was published in 1959; still highly relevant; read my review of it) that have aged much better than this, so you may want to read one or two of his other novels before you decide whether or not you like his work. The novel is divided into four sections that have titles that remind me of a biography of a saint or some other sort of religious figure. Part 1 is called "His Maculate Origin." Part Two is called, "His Preposterous Heritage." Part Three is called, "His Eccentric Education." Part Four is called, "His Scandalous Career." Lastly, Part Five is called, "His Happy Destiny." This gives the reader some hint about where Heinlein is taking the story and as such is somewhat helpful. I agree with another reviewer that the initial premise of the book is very interesting both as a plot device and as a story. Michael Valentine Smith (he is the "Stranger" in a strange land) is a human raised on Mars; he is biologically human but philosophically Martian. Native Martians are never physically described but there are some hints about how their society is set up. Due to some interesting legal decisions, it is discovered the Michael is heir to a vast fortune and that he is possibly the ruler of Mars. Initially, Michael finds human culture enormously difficult to understand. However, he manages to get some help. He carries out talks with the politicians and has his rights secured. The ideas in the novel were no doubt very popular in the 1960's. Michael stresses what might be called 'free love', pantheism (e.g. all his disciples create each other with the phrase "Thou Art God"), religious pluralism and an incredible optimism that heaven can be created on Earth. There is also a dose of Heinlein's trademark libertarianism in some of Michael's views. In part Four, Michael starts up a religious institution to teach people the Martian language and the Martian way of doing things. However, as other reviewers have said, by this point, the novel seems to degenerate into a soapbox for Heinlein to voice his ideas. The way that Heinlein argues for religious pluralism is extremely weak sophistry likewise for his arguments in favor of some sort of "new sexuality" where sex bonds all sorts of different people, with no apparent rules. There is no explicit homosexuality but the new sexual morality proposed would probably admit it. Understanding the "message" of the novel is a little tricky. There are some valid observations about how religious institutions are founded and sustained. Indeed, the Fosterite Church strikes me as the ultimate American religion. It combines the "new" revelation (an idea that Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses use), an overwhelming emphasis on 'Happiness' and it is extremely emotional. While there was potential for examining how Earth would react to the discovery of an alien race, it is not really explored. I think the message that Heinlein intended to communicate in the novel is that love, brotherhood etc can create a utopia but established interests will always prevent it from forming. I personally found "Starship Troopers" a more interesting novel; the next Heinlein novel I read will probably be, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress." My overall impression is that this novel's story starts out well but morphs into a soapbox and that it is overrated. Yet, keep in mind, it probably one of the most popular SF novels since World War 2 and most people have extremely polarized opinions about it.
Rating:
Summary: Quasi-terrestrial tour-de-force
Review: Voluminous critisms and laudable exhaltations have already been applied to this monumental novel. However, to truly enjoy this book one must suspend their critical judgement for Heinlein's era influenced jargon and only then can the reader encounter a plot brought to life with vibrant, eccentric characters, a nuanced, absurdist view of reality, and for the time -with some relevance even tody- controversial philosophy. His commentary on religion will make one laugh and ponder. His view on love will leave the reader intrigued. It's a book that was ahead of its time.
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