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Summary: Heinlein vs. Religion
Review: Abundant in traits that make him so enjoyable (fearlessness in facing down sacred institutions, a wry sense of humor) and sparse is habits that sometimes hinder him (preachiness, shallow female characters), Job: A Comedy of Justice is one of Robert A. Heinlein's best novels. Heinlein's protagonist is Alexander Hergensheimer, a minister from an ultra-conservative, theocratic world. After a firewalking ceremony in Polynesia, he finds that he has crossed-over into a parallel universe far less morally stringent than his own. Despite this, he falls in love with one of its denizens, the fiercely independent Margrethe. Soon, Alexander and Margrethe are catapulted from alternate reality to alternate reality, trying to decipher the cosmic joke that has been played on them. Meanwhile, Heinlein explores a spectrum of human eccentricities from blind faith to cultural shock to the chosen's relationship to the heathens. Job is the sci-fi master at his most comedic and insightful.
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Summary: Hilarious, Satirical, and Blasphemous... Great!
Review: Warning: those closely staid in their religious beliefs may find this book wholly (holy) offensive... yet for everyone else, Heinlein's tale of a reluctant saint, his temptations, trials, and tribulations, and his pagan bigamous wife is one of the grand master of science fiction's most enjoyable works.Alec Graham's life is changes when he walks across coals as a test of faith and emerges in a similar but altogether different world, one where he has slipped into the shoes of a gangster sleeping with his cruise ship's cabin maid and on the run with a load of hot cash. Striving to be true to his own wife and trying to unravel what has happened without going totally bonkers, Alec must survive what he perceives to be the tests of Job. Only he falls for Margrethe, his kind, beautiful, understanding, and Nordic maid who's everything his minister's wife is not, and the two of them must survive being dragged from one parallel world to another at the worst possible times. Just when Alec thinks he's converted his heathen beloved, the world comes to an end... and heaven isn't exactly all it was cracked up to be (you can tell Heinlein was a Mark Twain fan... read Letters From the Earth some time). Unable to find Margrethe anywhere in heaven and off=put by pushy, egotistical angels, the ignorant masses of newly arrived humans, and dismayed at his own sainthood, Alec demands to go to hell to search for her ... where he eventually finds that God hasn't been playing fair, Lucifer's not his enemy (and has a Texas drawl), and Loki is up to his usual tricks. That synopsis may scare off anyone not secure in his or her religious beliefs and drive those who are to conniptions, but for those able to laugh over the most sacred of cows, this book is as must read.
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Summary: Cruise in Parallel Worlds
Review: Job provides an excellent adventure in parallel worlds. The adventure starts on a cruise ship and soon takes you beyond Earth. Heinlein's characters are always a lot of fun, and the obstacles placed in their paths challenge both the characters and readers to persevere and "see what happens next." (People who like Job will also like Heinlein's Number of the Beast, Greg Egan's Diaspora, and Pickover's Liquid Earth and The Lobotomy Club.)
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Summary: A fine change of pace in Heinlein's major works
Review: Pastor Alex Hergensheimer (or Alec Graham, as he will soon, and more simply, be known) heads a fundamentalist Christian fund raising operation (I can't call it a charity) in an America which has gone down that road quite a ways. On a South Seas cruise vacation, he goes on a shore excursion, accepts a foolish bet to walk on live coals, and as he finishes, faints, and wakes up returned to his cabin--on a much more liberal world. The only good things he finds is cabin attendant Margarethe, who winds up with him as they are shuttled from Earth to Earth, each one changed from the last. Everytime they seem to be making some sense (or some money), they are send on to the next Earth, where their money is worthless, of course. And Alex finds his worldview challenged repeatedly. It's easy to laugh at Alex's views. Yet there is substance to him from the start--he was able to walk that fire pit and "hold the thought." His strength through the trials is remarkable. And he is finally able to stand up and go beyond his beliefs in a Heavenly City in which he has received the exact letter of his bargain--and no more (frankly, Heinlein owes a lot to Twain's "Visit of Captain Stormfield to Heaven"), and then again, in a divine, thought provoking, meeting. Heinlein draws on his extensive palatte for finely painted scenes, from a cruise ship to a memorable visit to Hell, and challenges all our beliefs in a reasonably inoffensive manner. Well worth reading, and then rereading, as you will see references you missed the first time.
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Summary: I Must Weigh In Against
Review: After several attempts I had to toss the book aside- a rare gesture for my reading patterns. I purchased this book after seeing the positive reviews, but I failed to read more carefully about the heavy religious references and biblical quotations. I'm not bible literate for many reasons and this was just too much of an insider's joke- I only assume it was an ironic position because of the comments made by others who appreciated the different slant on something that as a very nonfundamentalist individual was lost on me. I'm really sorry I couldn't enjoy what was so apparently enjoyable to the many readers who gave it such high marks. However, I feel that a cautionary note for others whose interests, like mine, tend to be more secular- I would advise to consider the subject matter and content a little more deeply than I did.
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Summary: A Lesson in Values
Review: Something new and unpredictable happens on every page. The most faithful Christian on earth turns out to be the most open minded - to the chagrin of higher powers who put him to the test. He is naïve, but resourceful. He is average, but honest. He is dogmatic, but flexible, because his most fundamental value is love - not his image. You will also find out how the Bible and science could both be right, and although I don't think Heinlein believed this for a second, it does make a thought provoking story. If you are looking for a good novel with a libertarian bent, then read this, or pretty much anything else by Heinlein for that matter. I especially recommend, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress".
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Summary: A great journey
Review: There are few books that I enjoy rereading every few years, but this is one. I think it's because of the mystery and the grand adventure through parallel worlds. Believe it or not, when I first read this book, I was not aware of the Biblical significance of the title. Now that I know about the Biblical book of Job, the book's theme becomes more apparent. Don't you love the way Heinlein starts his books -- right in the middle of the action?
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Summary: Don't just read this but...
Review: Try a little C.S. Lewis to at least hear some of the the answers to Heinlein's cynicism.
This is indeed one of Heinleins great books, but aren't they all good? Unlike the bulk of his work, which really only reads well in a certain order, this book stands alone in that a reader doesn't need to know who Mike, Lazarus, the Twins, etc. are in order to follow the story.
Being a born again evangelical myself, one might think I wouldn't like or be offended by such a work. On the contrary I loved this book as I do of all Heinleins work. But I have also read the "Book of Job" (probably the oldest book in the bible and one of the oldest of mankinds surviving texts) and see Heinleins view of God as being opposite of tradition (which matters, I think, even though he of course is writing fiction). Some may disagree, but if they haven't read the "original" Job, they are at a disadvantage, yes?
Heinlein's take that Jehovah and Lucifer are brothers is of course not totally original, the Mormom's have the belief that Jesus and Lucifer are competing brothers of Jehovah, but Heinlein makes an unspoken assertion that Jehovah was the cause of Job's trouble in the original story, which is simply not true.
In the Book of Job it is Satan that comes to God and claims that Job only gives Him lip service because God has shown him so much favor. God assents to allow Satan to test him.
What does all this have to do with a sci fi/ fantasy book? Well in other reviews of Heinleins work I insist that the reader MUST read them in a certain order. 'Number of the Beast' doesn't read nearly as well if taken alone and 'The Cat Who Walks..' is a bad place to start reading Heinlein..
I think that to really get the most out of this work, it really helps to have read the Book of Job, which is a literary giant in it's own right. I'd recommend C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity too, but that might be pushing it.
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Summary: Best Heinlein Book
Review: This book is one of the five best books I have ever read. It changed the way I look at life.
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Summary: Better than the Bible
Review: But oddly named. One of Heinlen's most entertaining works. Certainly better than the more famous "Strange In A Strange Land". The characters are great and the story is compelling. This is a book you keep forever, unless your friends steal it. Which, now that I think about it, is what happened to mine. Dammit.
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