Stranger In A Strange Land

[greenleaf]

The book is by Robert A. Heinlen. He wrote 'starship troopers' and 'red planet', this book was written in the 60's and it influenced alot of people (Jim Morrison and Bill Hicks to name only a couple), its about a human baby left on mars after something bad happens to thier ship, he is raised by the martians, and himself becomes a martian by environment. Then at the age of 27 or so he is brought back to Earth, and sees human society in a completely unique and profound way (Heinlen is a genious, he was writing about things like sattelites and microwaves 30 years before they were ever invented), I dont want to give too much away, but its a beautifully written book, its very wise, but its also a fucking brilliant read. I VERY HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book, it changed my life.

 

Cheers

[leperknight]

all Heinlein books are great have you read any of the Lazarus long series ????

 

 

Still trying to Grok

Leperknight

[deejayvee]

A friend of mine has been recommending Stranger to me for a while so I picked it up last week. It's interesting so far.

 

My mate told me that apparently Heinlen was a gun-toting redneck who would shoot at hippies that came to his house to meet the author of such a powerful book. That shows his quality as an author - he was able to convince hippies that he believed all of the stuff, but in actual fact he was a total redneck.

 

I have also read his "Revolt in 2100" and "Mathusela's Children" which were in the same book, and "Job: A Comedy of Justice". All good stuff.

[risingsun]

To grok or not to grok

This book is a clasic and Uncle of mine turned me onto this book and I always enjoy rereading it. The part where the human condition of humour is discussed is a revelation.

When I think of this book it makes me realise that the world has many different peoples with ways of viewing the world.

Im suprised that Heinlen didnt send those hippies to demension X.

Edited July 26, 2004 by risingsun

[leperknight]

Job: A Comedy of Justice

shit I have a copy of that somewhere I will have to dig it out and reread it

now that's 1 great book to read when smashed

what's it got

fire walking

alternate universes

a visit with god

an orgy with the devil

a man of god cheating on his wife

and ends in an ice cream shop

 

and that's just what I remember

also I think your wrong about Heinlein being a redneck but will check it out first

Shane

[deejayvee]

Job: A Comedy of Justice

shit I have a copy of that somewhere I will have to dig it out and reread it

now that's 1 great book to read when smashed

what's it got

fire walking

alternate universes

a visit with god

an orgy with the devil

a man of god cheating on his wife

and ends in an ice cream shop

 

and that's just what I remember 

And a crazy Norse God on the loose. Yep, a top book.

 

 

also I think your wrong about Heinlein being a redneck but will check it out first

Shane

 

As I said, that's what my mate told me. I would be interested to hear what you find out.

 

David

[leperknight]

being a pothead it has taken me a while

but here is a little of what I have found

 

Racism and Robert Heinlein is sometimes accused of having been a racist. One can make a case for it, particularly in some of his earliest work. None-the-less it is a bad rap.

 

One way to look at it is that he wasn't racist but that he was provincial. Thus you find people of various "races" among his characters, commonly with just a passing reference to their colour and origin. That's what you would expect if colour and origin do not matter. He does speak out against racism here and there, e.g., in the passages on Lorenzo Smythe's aversion to Martians in Double Star. Charging Heinlein with racism is the sort of thing that should be left to the ideologues who find fascism under every bed.

 

On the other hand Heinlein clearly was very provincial. Despite his best efforts his cultural settings and characters were seldom far removed from his America in the first half of the twentieth century. One doesn't notice that his characters are black or Asian or American Indian because they don't differ in culture and character from white Americans. The world that Heinlein and his characters dwelt in was very narrow, culturally speaking.

 

 

 

I know this is racist not redneck but you can get the idea

 

Leperknight

 

I didnt write this just stole it of a site

Edited July 30, 2004 by leperknight

[deejayvee]

Sorry, I meant redneck as in a gun-toting country-boy rather than as a racist.

 

I would never have thought of accusing him of being a racist - he seems to be a much too intelligent man for that.

[leperknight]

redneck as in Jubal Harshaw in stranger

 

ie looking after his own and not taking shit most take for granted

 

 

 

I always saw redneck as a hillbilly(no education,money,married to sister)plus a pickup truck

 

anyway later

shane

[leperknight]

also on the topic of racism the book FARNAM'S FREEHOLD has a real strange slant on it

 

It starts with your typical white family and black servant in the middle of the Cuban missile crises they go into the bomb shelter hear the bombs go off and find out they have been pushed way into the future where black is the ruling class with the whites being

1 castrated if they are over 5 foot (to keep the white population small)

2 bed warmers (concubines)

3 that roast leg on the table is off that pretty bed warmer

 

of course the black servant becomes the boss of the family he worked for

 

its sort of anti racism

but like all his books even if you don't agree with all his ideas it gets you thinking about them

 

later shane