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Summary: ST: Book-Moral Philosophy Movie-Morally Conflicted
Review: THE BOOK --------------------------------------------------------------------- Starship Troopers is a military, not political, manifesto. It explains in an entertaining way why humans fight. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- As in the classic Foundation series (by Isaac Asimov), much of the action is behind the scenes. Instead of a grandious vista of an interstellar war, Robert A. Heinlein presents the conflict of species from the viewpoint of Johnny Rico, an enlisted man in the earth's defense force, the Mobile Infantry. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- During his trials and tribulations in school, training and battle, Rico begins to consciously understand why he initially joined the service. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Perhaps the inspiration for Ender's Game (by Orson Scott Card), Starship Troopers pits humanity against the communist society of Arachnids - a hive-based race of spider-like creatures. The Bugs attack, and with no direct communication between the two races, the fight is afoot. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Warning: The ideas in this book mightily offend civilians on the far left of the political spectrum. The in-your-face challenge by the author to their dearly-held socialist beliefs can result in such misdirection as that given by Amazons primary reviewer. The "official" review distorts the viewpoints and applications of the "moral philosophy" which permeates the book. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Trust not in the reviewer; and, please, don't take my word for gospel either. Read the book for yourself. Whether you agree with the politics or not, you will have the opportunity to learn why humans "who are willing to put themselves between their blessed home and war's desolation" are true citzens of their society. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE MOVIE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Well if you ever read a book before you saw the movie, you know that the book is better. In this case, the book is also morally superior to the movie. (e.g. in the movie, disabled comrades are often killed outright; in the book, soldiers in the MI willingly sacrifice themselves to save their fallen brethren.)
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Summary: The movie, and the Amazon reviewer, desecrates a fine book.
Review: The only connection between the recently released movie and this book is the title, and a few character names. I have read the book three times in the past few years (1st time in '90), and I knew that the story could not possibly be told accurately in a movie. I went to see the movie purely for escapism and the special effects, but I left afterwards feeling gut-kicked, as if my hero had been disgraced by no fault of his own. Not only did the movie not follow the book at all (when I say the character names were from the book, that is all I mean--just the names, not the actual characters), the movie added things that were never in the book. (The love triangle in the movie has no reflection in the book.) It is sad to think that some people will see the movie before, or even in place of, reading the book. Even the Amazon reveiwer above, mentions things that have no connection with the book at all. "...when anti-Communist paranoia was reaching fever-pitch...." What does that have to do with the book? "
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Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I loved this book Heinlien really outdid himself this time. I have read alot of his books and this one really stands out. The movie doesn't even do justice to this book. If you saw the movie and thought it was cheese read the book and I promise you will not be able to stop.
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Summary: Reality Check
Review: Hello!ARE YOU AWAKE? Heinlein's STARSHIP TROOPERS was Meant to provoke thought and controversy. It is not a perfect political manifesto and was never intended to be. RAH was always ahead of his time with his ideas - check his other works such as THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS, FARNHAM'S FREEHOLD, DOUBLE STAR, BEYOND THIS HORIZON or STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. The politics put forth are no more palatable but none the less possible. There lies the heart of the matter for a man educated as a Navy officer and engineer - anything is possible IF sufficient resources and motivation are present. The question of how to get there(and would we want to) from here was left as an exercise for the reader. Do you get it yet? Heinlein wrote for the teen audience because they are the leaders of tomorrow and their minds are open enough to accept,consider, perhaps even understand the ideas and warnings in his writings and because they didn't "know it can't be done". RAH's books are not meant to please everyone (engineers quickly learn this difficulty) but love it or hate it, you Will think about it. ST(the book) fills this role very well.
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Summary: Shame On Amazon Review
Review: The perfect ten for me. It stayed there (at the top of SciFi) for 30+ years (since I discovered Heinlein after coming to the US from Communist Yugoslavia). The book is NOT for wimps and those who do not allow thinking and exploration of ideas and possibilities. Shame on poor Amazon.com reviewer for his imbecilic insertion about "anti-Communist paranoias". Not that it has ANYTHING to do with this great book but Heinlein saw clearly 50 years ago what Amazon's reviewer still can not or does not want to see.
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Summary: HEINLEIN'S CLASSIC LIVES ON!
Review: Few books have held my attention as strongly as this novel. The time RAH spent in the Navy shows through and brings this story to life. If you enjoy military sci-fi you must read this book. I would like to note to those who complain there aren't enough battles, that most of characters' time is spent in training, prepreation, and waiting for battle. . .ask someone who has served, how much time they spent fighting.
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Summary: Resonates with those who've served.
Review: Anyone who's been throough basic training will be touched by Heinlein's intelligent and thoughtful treatment of a classic coming-of-age theme, as will those who searched as a teen without knowing waht they were looking for. Heinlein's classic page-turning style will engage and challenge the reader on the import of every subject from historical ethecs to mathematics. Take a poingant and insightful look into the heart of a soldier and come away with a new understanding of what it means to serve.
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Summary: Starship Troopers fascinating but flawed
Review: The reviews here prompted me to reread ST and Joe Haldeman's _The Forever War_. ST is one of the most thought-provoking books I have ever read. It has forced me to examine my views on the nature of freedom and duty, the social consequences of those views, and the relationship between the military and society. This slim volume raises a great number of important and intriguing questions. However, it is terribly limited. First, it isn't a novel, but, for lack of a better term, a fictionalized scenario, like the what-if pieces in Tom Clancy's non-fiction. There is no characterization and little plot. The book is a description of an imaginary army and its values. Which is fine, and useful, but not to be confused with literature. This is where _The Forever War_ is greatly superior - ST's Johnny Rico is a device for making political observations, while FW's William Mandella is a person. As a political tract, ST is at best half thought-through. We don't see the civilian world of the book, partly because Heinlein's concern is with the military, but mostly because he hasn't considered the implications of what he espouses. While I agree with much of Heinlein's criticism of contemporary society and share his views on military reform, I think that in practice his values of self-sacrifice would fall victim to his notion that political power grows solely from the barrel of a gun. Haldeman, working from almost exactly the same plot elements, shows more political and social sophistication. We see the military-industrial complex needing an enemy to maintain growth and power, and manufacturing such an enemy from materials at hand. We also see how the military and the wider society shape each other in response to the other's needs. However, FW was intended as a critique of Vietnam-era America, and it's much easier to criticize than to attempt to posit a solution, as Heinlein does. Having read the two, I pulled out S.M. Stirling's _The Stone Dogs_ for a re-read. I think Heinlein's Federation could look a lot like the Draka, Stirling's South Africa-as-superpower. In both, the Citizen class are educated, upstanding, courageous paragons of virtue living attractive, prosperous lives based on a commitment to military service. Stirling shows us the slave labor and butchery of dissidents behind the pretty picture: with Heinlein we have to figure it out for ourselves.
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Summary: Read the book first, see the movie second (or not at all)
Review: I'm ashamed of American movie makers... they DESTROYED a perfectly good book.. I notice some people upset at the fact that it's not "SF" enough for them. Give it a rest, it was meant as a political statement, if anything, and he used SF to sell it. Great book, a lot less violent than the movie.
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Summary: Starship Trooper - Revisited
Review: I've recently re-read this book (again) and I'm delighted to see the resurgence of popularity of this book; this just has to be my all time favourite of this Heinlein's period SF for kids (with the possible exception o "Have Space Suit Will Travel" - I'll make up my mind one day) It's been criticised as being "too gung-ho" and the political philosophy behind the story is certainly severe; but it's one of the few intelligent descriptions of war and soldiers that I've come across. This reads as a very "Politically Correct" book in some lights, deliberately non-sexist, non-racist which is remarkable for it's time - as another reader commented earlier. The most remarkable section of the book, for me, is the description of basic training "Boot Camp" which will ring true for anyone who has been in the services; the "calculated frightfulness" and overheard frailties of NCO's is well observed as is the apparent mildness of authority when training is "finished". Originally written for children - teenage boys really - it has enough substance just below the surface for most ages.
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