Stranger in a Strange Land

This is one of the classic books that should be on everyone’s reading list. While it is considered science fiction because of the background of space travel, to me it is timeless and relevant because of the many aspects of interpersonal involvement and introspection that spans the characters as they move through the story. Among some of the memorable themes I have absorbed into my own life philosophy are coping with aging and death, embracing diversity and all that comes with learning from others that have different experiences, and so much more. This is one book that can be read again and again as if new, because each time it is read, you will come away with something you missed before or that resonates with you now that didn’t then. It impacts me with every read!

As another reviewer noted, I was really into this book as a teen. But as the years have gone by, it’s lost its sheen. Heinlein thinly veiled his political beliefs in his writing. He is indeed one of the golden age of scifi, but then again, it was a relatively small world back then where most of them knew each other. Sadly, the scifi community still has a bit of the good old boy stigma to it, but it is changing. I prefer books by Asimov, Clark and others, even though one would think I’d be attracted to some of Heinlein’s military books, such as Starship Troopers. (By the way, had we forgotten to make tanks in the movie version? Armor always called the Infantry ‘Crunchies’).

I think it’s a book to be read if you want to be up on the canon of classic science fiction (although this might be more fantasy than true scifi).

Another great tale by Heinlein, but very different from his other works (such as Starship Troopers). The pace is more like a Hitchcock thriller, as a Man from Mars is helped by two humans (and their friends) to escape the government of Earth. The dialogue is very dated (some hilarious 50s expressions), but the story is solid. Very good read.

Everyone should read Stranger in a Strange Land. It’s a classic, but more than that, it’s a genre-ripping example of how any author in any genre can write something that is profound and important. Yes, it’s science fiction — it’s set in a future where Mars was visited by human explorers and where our society has taken some interesting turns. It’s about the man who returns from the Mars expedition, who has been taught by the Martians about how to control his mind and his body and how he views the Earth and his fellow Humans when he gets back — and how they view him.

But it is also so much more. It’s a commentary on society and morality and love. It’s an allegory for modern politics (so far ahead of its time) and about greed and xenophobia. It’s also a commentary on law and lawyers, the rule of law in society, the dangers of totalitarian governments — and through all that it is funny and light-hearted and the main character — appropriately named Valentine — lifts our hearts and spirits. It is “Being There” long before that movie, and it’s an inspiration to writers and dreamers of all ages.

You should not miss this. Get it. Read it. Talk about it. It belongs on every bookshelf in the world. Cannot recommend any book more highly. One of the top 5 books I have ever read (and re-read).

One of the pillars of the Science-Fiction canon.

I love Heinlein, he is one of the great writers of science fiction and this is one of his best books. This is not my first time reading this book, nor will it be my last. This book is timeless, and has issues in it that continue to come up for us. What does it mean to be human? How do we define ourselves? What defines our relationship with deity? I love the way he approaches these issues. His characters are multidimensional and he is amazing as a writer.

One of the reasons I was interested in this book in the first place, besides it notoriety, was that I’ve been interested in classic sci-fi literature and predictions for a future time which we have now come to live in. Often sci-fi has been used as a lens to examine social problems and exaggerate them to expose their folly. (Think 1984) It interests me to look back at such works and consider if they hold any relatability to today. Stanger in a Strange Land fit this interest perfectly.

The story begins at a time when humans have already traveled to Mars and found life there, and consequently a human boy having been born there, orphaned, and raised by the Martians. Early in the story, the human from Mars returns to Earth as a stranger to our world, culture, and ways of thinking. The man from Mars finds our politics foreign; meanwhile, the politicians of the time heatedly try to control him in order to try to sway what human or human entity will have rights to Mars. As if they can lay claim to it even though it is a sovereign populated planet. It reminded me of European colonialism when countries competed for claims in the Americas even though indigenous civilizations already populated the continents. Apparently, Heinlein felt we hadn’t advanced very far since those times, we just ran out of new places to try to claim, and I have to admit I think he was and is correct.

In the story, new, fictionalized religions try to recruit masses by claiming new insights while using all the same old tactics religions and cults have used through history, and guess what it works. The first fictionalized religion the Man from Mars encounters “Fosterites” made me think of Scientology, a little of Mormonism, but was clearly critical of all religions. Heinlein seems to feel that as we advance as a society, we think we throw away old superstitions and problematic beliefs, but we really just recycle them and use the new incarnations to go on mistreating one another. In this, I think he is mostly correct as well.

I could go on to a half dozen topics at least, but then I’d end up with a term paper, not a blogged book review, so let me cut to one area I think the book truly fails…women. I’ve been peppering my reading over the last year or so with some classic sci-fi like this, and I’m starting to see a consistent them. While these authors are very adept at seeing many of societies problems, and predicting how those will either turn into forgotten nonsense, or haunt us over and over again, all fairly accurately imagining the future, none seem to have predicted that Woman might one day step out of supportive roles to men and become accomplished, independent equals.

In Stranger in a Strange Land, there are a dozen noteworthy female characters. The most spoken of is a nurse who turns into a surrogate mother to the Man from Mars, then later into his lover. (Apparently, he was not a stranger to the Edipus complex.) A handful of others women are live-in maids and secretaries to the Man from Mars’ surrogate father. A few others are priestesses in either the Fosterite church or later in the Church of all Worlds, but in both cases, they are described by their goddess-like physical appearances, and it is clear their sex appeal goes hand-in-hand with their positions. By the end of the story, most of the women we care about reach the end of their character arcs by finally getting pregnant. Of course, there is nothing wrong with a female character having that goal, but it is a problem when that is the only goal that the author could imagine for his women and so just used it again and again.

It gets even worse. The Man from Mars possesses powers to manipulate objects and people with his mind. Thus, he can change people’s physical appearances. He uses this to make most the prominent female character look younger, and to alter their physiques to fit specific measures and standards of beauty: larger breasts, trimmer waists, and curvier hips, he even changes faces. At one point he helps one woman to see herself through his and other men’s eyes, and she has a profound awakening of appreciating women’s bodies as a man does, and in turn, grows a desire to be lusted after and has a sexual awakening, boosting her libido into overdrive.

Ready for the worst of it? She also at one point casually mentions that most women who get raped are partially responsible. I’d say Heinlein did not detect a problem of gender inequality in the society in which he lived and certainly did not foresee women’s liberation or any subsequent social developments in that area. Forgive him. He was not alone. The book also touches briefly on homosexuality, in one place implying that only effeminate men lean that way, but in another place suggesting it was a good thing at least in the confines of communal orgies. The book offers nothing in terms of exploring racism.

As legitimate and even troubling as all of these complaints are, I still have to say I appreciate the book. It is perhaps so layered that one can see these problems, but also see all the apt issues it correctly diagnoses, and feel that the scale tips to the positive as a whole. I can’t give it five stars because of the issues, but I can’t sink it when it gets so much right.

One last thing to take away; I loved that the Man from Mars was always encouraging people to wait. When issues arose, he would never make snap decisions, instead always tell people to wait until they “Groc the fullness” in other words, understand all the intricacies. This is a fleeting notion in our society. We expect our politicians to have immediate answers and never to change their minds. We expect the same from teachers, clergy, celebrities, parents, reporters, and basically all people all the time. Seldom do we accept people who say, “that’s an excellent question and a difficult problem. I need to understand it fully before I comment on it, so I’ll get back to you.” But you know what, we should. In fact, maybe I will need the rest of my life to truly groc the fullness of Stranger in a Strange Land. I guess I reserve the right to edit my review in 50 years or so.

Anyone who hasn’t read this book has not read the BEST of SCi Fi. This book is amazing!

Weird. Michael Valentine Smith has hung with me for a long time. Thought provoking examination of religious beliefs.

Is hard to believe,looking back, that this was required reading @ a Catholic HS in New Orleans ca. ’78. I credit a somewhat enlightened Eng. instructor. It’s not ROTM sci-fi. Is it an allegory of the life of Christ? You decide. Happy reading—ever!