Rating: 
Summary: Always store beer in a dark place.
Review: The great ancestor Long has too many tales to tell and too little time to tell them. The death of Heinlein was a massive loss not just to the Sci-Fi world or even just the literary one. In Lazerus Long - most likely a a wishful alter-ego of the author - Heinlein (mostly) closes the circle of his many characters summing them into a curmudgeonly character who lives all his lives to the fullest. Stranger in a Strange Land was required reading in my day, thank all powers. Otherwise I would never had the nerve to slog through all the tales, attempting to tie all the characters into this one man. But the rewards are as endless as the stories. Far-fetched? Maybe. But if the right scientists were allowed to pursue the reasearch avenues available -- WITHOUT government interference, rejuvenation might be more real, less fantasy. Me? I'd like to make it through another 55 years in the hope that minds and government meddling would change, humanity would reach the stars, and I would be first in line to volunteer for a colonization journey.Mixed in with the myriad story lines (the tale is really a string of short story pearls) are comments from Long imaginary notebook (also published as a separate book). If the ten commandments are considered the basic rules of civilization, then the "notebooks" form the explanatory footnotes on how things really operate. Stories or Notebooks, take your pick. Settle in for very long read. It does drag in places, but much of what Heinlein envisioned all those years ago is beginning to show through in science, not fiction, today. An eccentric of extraordinary vision and tremendous curiousity, Heinlein had the last laugh. Pity they couldn't rejuvenate HIM.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Heinlein's best, too long and boring
Review: I've read most everything Heinlein wrote, and of what I remember well, I've liked most of it. Time Enough for Love though is boring and for me, was unfinishable. The back cover of the edition I have states it is his "longest and most ambitious." Well, in this case, length isn't a strength. In fact, even in Stranger in a Strange Land (Heinlein's greatest story and arguably the best SciFi story ever), the story loses its way 1/2 way through. Shorter would have been better in both cases.
True scifi and Heinlein fans will need to read this anyway. I'd suggest a steady diet of caffeine to make your way through it.
Rating:
Summary: Warning: Reading this book will make you THINK...
Review: it will haunt you and follow you for years to come. If you are unwilling to question the way you look at yourself and your society do not read this book.
This is the further adventures of Lazarus Long, AKA Woodrow Smith, Aaron Sheffield etc. who has figured in other Heinlein stories. He is a member of the Howard families, a group of people who have been selectively bred for longevity. The story picks up long after humanity had traveled to the stars (long after many of Heinlein's previous works). Lazarus has returned home to die, he is tired and convinced that in his 2000+ years of life has 'done it all'. His decendants are not ready to see him go and try to convince him to rejuvenate again. He relates stories of his past and comments on what he has learned along the way.
The novel switches among various stories from Lazarus' past and the 'present', punctuated with his observations on life in general.
If you are a Heinlein fan this may be the best book you have ever read. If you are unfamiliar with Heinlein you might enjoy this more if you start with some of his earlier works. This one can stand alone but would make more sense if you have read some of the Future History stories.
As with almost all of Heinlein's work this one shifts gears along the way, starting as one story and ending as another. Also Heinlein has a tendency to go off on tangents. If you are a fan this is delightful, if not you may find yourself wondering how this author managed to avoid an editor.
This book will force you to think. Think about yourself, your society, your morals and all those things that you know are true. It should be added to Lazarus Long's list of things that everyone should do before they die.
Rating: 
Summary: Rub her feet
Review: I rather wish that, like Mr. Scott, I had read this novel when I was ten! My life might have been more interesting. Suffice it to say that the moral structure (or lack thereof?) Lazarus Long operates in has contributed to my outlook on life a great deal. I found the book altogether liberating for reasons I won't give away here. My only criticism is that the overly egregious sexuality of the later chapters seems like a self-indulgence on the author's part. But maybe I'm just being a prude. Clear away some free time, read this book, and decide for yourself. The between-chapter sayings alone are worth the price of admission.
Rating:
Summary: Heinlein's Best? Maybe
Review: In Time Enough for Love Heinlein reintroduces a character and concepts he's written about before. As the novel opens, Lazarus Long, oldest living human, is near death, sick and dispirited. Considering that he is 2356 years old, this may not be surprising. However, in the society Lazarus lives in, death does not have to be the solution. In an effort to convince Lazarus, also known as "The Senior," to undergo rejuvenation (again), the head of the government strikes a bargain. The Senior's wisdom and experiences are too important to be lost if he chooses to die. The Chairman, Ira Weatheral, agrees to visit Lazarus every day to record his knowledge for posterity. In exchange, Lazarus agrees not to use the suicide switch in his room. The first time Ira fails to appear, the agreement is off. In the meantime, other staff members are working furiously to discover something new and unique to pique The Senior's interest and give him further incentive to live. Thus begins a long, wandering tale of the various events in Lazarus' life.
The details of Lazarus' long and illustrious life are discussed in a meandering, flashback fashion, while the current ongoing efforts to save his life are interwoven throughout. At some point midway through, it appears as though Heinlein tires of this style and fastforwards to a future time. Lazarus has evidently chosen to live and the book now centers on several of the inducements developed as encouragement during his darker days, including time travel.
Heinlein's character development is always interesting and this book is no exception. He introduces a variety of unique individuals with strong personalities, both women and men. Unfortunately, some people may be put off by the way this book wanders from topic to topic. At times it seems contrived and Heinlein introduces several concepts that may offend some readers. If you've never read anything by Heinlein, this may not be the book to start with. In my experience, readers either really like this book or really hate it. Personally, I've read it so many times and have found something new to enjoy and think about each time. I'd recommend it for mature readers, but it's not for the fainthearted.
Rating:
Summary: Still on my nightstand
Review: This book was on my nightstand in 1974 (when it was first published in paperback), and it's still there now. (Same copy, too; the old dollar-ninety-five Putnam edition has held up amazingly well. Different nightstand, though.)
I was born in 1963 and learned to read very early. Like Spider Robinson, I lost my literary virginity to Heinlein (in my case, to _Stranger in a Strange Land_ and _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_). To this day I think that _Mistress_ is one of his three absolutely magisterial novels (the other two being _Double Star_ and _The Door into Summer_).
Heinlein also wrote a number of novels that were _very close_ to magisterial, and some of them have been (in my case, at least) more profoundly influential than his Three Greatest. _Stranger_ is one of these, and so is _Time Enough for Love_.
Heinlein published this one after bouncing back from major surgery (having been somewhat incapacitated while writing _I Will Fear No Evil_, which his wife Virginia helped to edit). The old master had his off days, but he's at the top of his form here.
As you're probably aware, this lengthy work is a future history of Lazarus Long (born Woodrow Wilson Smith), the Senior of the Howard Families and the oldest human being alive (well over two thousand years old at the time of this tale). Lazarus is one of Heinlein's best realized characters; I'd recognize his red hair, bulbous nose, disarming grin, and wild grey-green eyes if I passed him on the street.
And I'd immediately put my hand over my wallet. Lazarus is an unsavory character -- a raconteur, swindler, adventurer, sybarite, pragmatist . . . and, above all, _survivor_. He exemplifies everything Heinlein thought it would take for humanity to spread to the stars (besides the Libby-Sheffield Para-Drive, of course), and his amoral self-interested practicality is what's kept him from _getting_ killed even if (as is suggested in this book) he got an initial boost from a mutation in his twelfth chromosome pair.
But boy, you're going to want to haul off and whack him, because he's an ornery, slippery old scoundrel.
He's a helluva lot more colorful than Valentine Michael Smith (Heinlein's other attempt to create an character who could comment on human culture from the outside and let Heinlein indulge in some fictional iconoclasm). And he's a helluva lot more fun.
Plus you'll get to meet the rest of the Long family (including two or three -- depending how you count -- sentient computers).
And Lazarus's reminiscences include several marvelous tales that could have stood as novels in their own right: the Tale of the Man Who Was Too Lazy to Fail, the Tale of the Adopted Daughter (a glorious story that also features the Montgomerys, the most chillingly realistic 'bad guys' anywhere in Heinlein's entire oeuvre), and the Tale of the Twins who Weren't. (And there are two sets of Excerpts from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long -- collections of aphoristic musings that Heinlein readers liked so well that they've actually _been_ published separately.)
The result is a long (no pun intended) meditation on what it takes to survive -- and why anyone would want to.
I read this book when I was ten, and I'm afraid it wasn't altogether a 'good influence' on me. (If you want to know, ask me privately sometime -- and I don't promise to answer truthfully.) If you're tired of 'good influences', try reading it. I've got my issues with Heinlein, but he's one of the great iconoclasts of the twentieth century.
For that very reason, some readers should _avoid_ this book; it's guaranteed (and indeed designed) to offend you by rubbing your nose in the fact that your mores are _not_ 'natural laws'. But if you're the sort of person who will enjoy Heinlein, you'll dive right into this one and never come out.
Lazarus had previously appeared in _Methusaleh's Children_ and reappears in three further late-period Heinlein novels (_The Number of the Beast_, _The Cat Who Walked Through Walls_, and _To Sail Beyond the Sunset_). But if you want to meet him, I'd recommend starting here: the later ones won't make sense without this one, and I don't think _Methusaleh's Children_ represents Heinlein's best writing.
This does. The whole thing is wonderfully staged; the narrative switches back and forth between voices, the dialogue just crackles, and the action (when there is any) will make you jump off your seat once in a while.
This is Heinlein in control of his craft. If that interests you, don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the all time great SF novels
Review: Time enough for love is a loose memoir of one of Heinlein's most memorable characters. The story covers highlights of Lazarus Long's 2200 year life. The story telling and characterizations make this novel a brilliant tour de force. You find yourself rejoicing for the triumphs of his life, while at the same time sharing the pain of a man who is doomed to live while those he loves die. For any fan of Heinlien;s this is a must read. For any fan of science fiction in general I highly recommend this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Above all, a human book
Review: Heinlein, in his philosophy and approach to life, reminds one of the late American writer, Vardis Fisher. Both were self-made men, both very private, both happily married and both dealt with subjects regarded as (even today) taboo. Both men sensed that the underlying foundation of modern culture were edifices rising from our evolutionary psychology - love, death, sex, religion, power, dreams...the things that make us human. The two were quintessentially Americans, optimistic, willing to tackle difficult and uncomfortable subjects. They recognized the power of the spirit and its overwhelming influence on our very being. Vardis's Testament of Man purposely flows along a Judeo-Christian path. Heinlein alludes both directly ("Stranger in a Strange Land", "Job") and indirectly ("I will fear no evil", "Number of the Beast") to the world of the spirit. This is yet another of the Lazurus Long series, each quirky and totally unique. We are provided a brilliant soliloquy of eternal life, an old man remembering (and enjoying) his youth. It is almost as if Heinlein had projected himself into the role of Lazurus. He touches on such subjects as religion, incest, love,
politics, metaphysics and the joy of being human. The humanity of his writing explains its success and approachability. Read this along with the others in the series.
|
