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Summary: If you put down this book you should be shot.
Review: Heinlein at his best. There's a little more action in this bookthan in some of his others, but it still contains all the originalideas that brand Heinlein's writing. Juan Rico, at his family's objections joins the military to earn his citizenship in a society where it must be earned. What started off as a one-term tenure turns into a career as Juan grows to love his new life. The courses in moral philosophy must be some of the most enlightening parts of this book. They may entertain the reader, but I'd hate to be any student in one of those classrooms. A 10 is too low a rating for this book. 10^10 is more like it.
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Summary: Not a shootem' up space opera
Review: I've read this book innumerable times, and still get chills atthe end of the first chapter. Exploring the coming of age of a youngman, this book is not about fighting and warfare. I've also read all of the reviews here... the reviewers that call this book ultra-right wing are missing the point completely. The fact that only service veterans can vote is *NOT* because that is the best possible society, but because it works.
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Summary: Old-time, outstanding Sci-Fi!!
Review: This book is an old and cherished friend. I would include itin any list of top books, including "The 10 Best I Have EverRead." Highly recommended!! For those reviewers who try to cop out with 'crypto-fascist', try to keep in mind that the point of view is that of a recruit (and later an officer) in a combat-arms military regiment. Hardly the place to hold daily elections, is it?? This is the granddaddy of the entire militaristic sci-fi genere, and very optimistic in its assumptions. However, optimism in the military does (now) have its place, i.e. the Allied performance in "Desert Storm". For an excellent counterpoint to "Starship Troopers", try Joe Haledman's "Forever War". It is as pessimic and dark as Heinlien is patriotic and (dare we say) heroic.
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Summary: History of Moral Philosophy coursebook ...
Review: I've read and reread this book several times over the pasttwenty years, and I always find something new to enjoy in it. Ifinally got my wife to read the review once she became a fan of the TV show "Space: Above and Beyond", which had many similar themes: honor, duty and valour in the face of overwhelming odds to defeat a vicious enemy. Why the controversy? Hey, Heinlein's not for wimps! He books reflect some of his beliefs -- he didn't particularly like religiosity (cf Job: A Comedy of Justice or his short story "If This Goes On ..") and certainly had nothing against open sexuality (cf Time Enough For Love). He didn't like bootlicking politicians or social engineers much -- and that's not popular in the age of political correctness. As a matter of fact, much of the novel is about why we fight when we do fight. As some other reviewers have mentioned, it's a bit militaristic. (Hello. It's about WAR, OK?) It does propose some unique (at least by today's standards) ideas for governing ourselves -- if you don't serve your country, you cannot vote or hold office. (And that's ALL you can't do. You can still have your normal civilian life like most of us do today. Service is not compulsory, and you can leave boot camp any time.) Finally, it's really a classic because it answers the quintessential question all great SF tries to answer: What makes us human? Why will humans refuse to surrender when all seems lost? How valuable is one life when compared to the loss of, say, one thousand? or one million? Why do we return for our dead on the battlefield? And why should we honor those who serve? I believe it's must reading for any serious SF fan. I wish I could count reading this novel as part of my service to my country and my race (human). I'm almost 40 now, too old to serve physically, but this novel's made me regret the fact that I never tried. Enjoy!
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Summary: Heilein at his goose-stepping, paternalistic worst
Review: Heilein wrote some pretty good SF, however he also wrote a lotof trash. RAH was probably at his best in short-fiction (as can besaid about most of SF), and there are many SF gems to be found among those works. The worst element of his writing is at the fore in this book, Heilein standing on his soapbox and beating the reader over the head with his simplistic politics. It's no wonder that this book has appeal with its simple solutions to complex problems (a hallmark of RAH's work), especially at a time when the pendulum has swung well over to the right. The question is; would this book even be remembered, let alone held in such high regard by many, if it wasn't written in the genre of SF. I strongly doubt it.
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Summary: Heinlein Achieves Real Insights Through SF Paradigm
Review: This book is neither a slam-bang hard SF novel nor a morosestudy in extreme philosophy. It is the best book on communitarianismI have yet read. Yes, I really mean that and, yes, I do understand what communitarianism is, having met and shared a beer with Amitai Etzioni. Simply put, Heinlein uses the device of a science fiction novel to make some trenchant observations about how free people can preserve community by returning to the intellectual and social roots of responsibility. Good fiction has to use an extreme edge in order to break the reader free of preconceptions. Much as Swift did not advocate eating children, Heinlein does not propose a manifesto of militaristic government. But in his discourses about the nature of Marxism and the flaws of liberal parenting, his analysis is simply better than anything I have encountered in traditional circles of political philosophy. The book is still relevant as a 'gedanken' experiment in weighing just how well we really uphold citizenship and test our institutions. Heinlein has produced a work that is the benchmark of the best science fiction, in that it reaches past its genre origins and provokes the reader to real thought. Dr. Etzioni may not agree with my placing "Starship Troopers" alongside his "The Spirit of Community". But if the object of writing is to motivate people towards re-examining how they view their inner nature and the community about them, both merit a solid read.
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Summary: Bye, Bye Amazon.com
Review: Well, now the book stores are telling us what to read, based ontheir own narrow-minded political ideologies. So much for on-linebook-selling. Heinlein does not recommend "beating" children, nor is his book a product of anti-communist paranoia. By the way, everything we were afraid was true was verified when the KGB files were opened several years ago. This is the best of Heinlein's Hugo Award winners, and we are now, indeed, living through the "Troubles" that brought about the society depicted in his book. Makes you want to go back and read it again, doesn't it?
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Summary: C'mon!
Review: I read this book in 1977 and 20 years later I am stillwondering where all the "action" is in this book everyone is talkingabout. I think its just a big pile of SH-T. Its all politics and philosophy. Do yourself a favor, and just see the movie.
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Summary: Book vs. Movie
Review: There are several recommendations here to read the book beforeseeing the movie -- and I wonder why. Generally in such situations,having read the book first (especially having read it recently) makes me hate the movie version. I'd rather see and judge the movie on its own terms, and then decide whether to get deeper into the story with the book. Concerning "Starship Troopers", I read it years ago and considered it a good yarn. I was bothered, however, by its philosophy, which seemed not far short of fascist. Still, I was glad to see that someone was going to make a movie of it. (_Any_ sci-fi movie is better than feel-good pablum like "Little House on the Prairie", which I hear is also headed for the big screen.) I first saw a trailer for "ST" last fall and thought it would be out in the Christmas glut, but it dropped from sight. Now it reappears as a summer release. I'll go see it -- and I may even reread the book at some point. Thanx to those who have recommended other sci-fi books to read.
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Summary: Surely one of the all time Science Fiction classics
Review: This book is surely one of Heinlein's finest works. Publishedin 1959 it is still as fresh as the day it was written almost 40 yearsago. Over the past 25 years I must have read this book well over a dozen times, my enjoyment of it never deminishing. I can think of only one other book that compares and that is Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War". Both must surely be among the staples of any Science Fiction diet. The concerns of the day which may have fueled Heinlein's imagination are firmly (we hope ) behind us, yet this detracts nothing from the extremely good story telling, and above everything else Heinlein was a superb story teller. I won't relate any of the tale here, but simply say that if you have never read the book buy it and read it, you won't be dissapointed. If you have read it in the past but no longer have a copy, buy it and read it again. It is every bit as good as you remember it. Alan Russell
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