Classics Club 2 book 2 (1961)
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
FROM AMAZON’S BOOK DESCRIPTION:
“Robert Heinlein’s Hugo Award-winning all-time masterpiece, the brilliant novel that grew from a cult favorite to a bestseller to a science fiction classic.
Raised by Martians on Mars, Valentine Michael Smith is a human who has never seen another member of his species. Sent to Earth, he is a stranger who must learn what it is to be a man. But his own beliefs and his powers far exceed the limits of humankind, and as he teaches them about grokking and water-sharing, he also inspires a transformation that will alter Earth’s inhabitants forever…”
FIRST SENTENCE:
“Once upon a time there was a Martian named Valentine Michael Smith.”
MEMORABLE MOMENTS:
(22%) The thought was infuriating; the notion that the government might be spying on his home, his castle, was as repulsive as having his mail opened.
They might be doing that, too! Government! Three-fourths parasitic and the rest stupid fumbling oh, Harshaw conceded that man, a social animal, could not avoid government, any more than an individual could escape bondage to his bowels. But simply because an evil was inescapable was no reason to term it “good.” He wished that government would wander off and get lost!
(42%) “As I said, the S.S. is just a tool. Men are always for hire who like dirty work.”
(94%) “We humans have to make considerable progress before we can accept a free gift, and value it.”
MY THOUGHTS:
My, oh my. Where to begin?
This is my third Heinlein novel. The first I read was The Moon is a Harsh Mistress which I enjoyed very much. The second was Starship Troopers, which I didn’t much care for. I’ll put this one between the two, closer to the latter.
I don’t think I could ever have imagined all the directions this story took. In some ways, it totally reflected the time in which it was written by promoting free love and moving from organized religion to cults. Naturally women were regarded as sex objects* (even if intelligent ones), the writing and language were pretty hokey in places, and the story went off on a few tangents that were rather bizarre.
I’m not really sure why this novel became such a cult classic, managed to win a Hugo award, or was considered influential, culturally. (here’s the Wiki page for it if you’d like to try and “grok” more about it) It didn’t even seem “science fictiony” like the other two I read.
I didn’t feel this was awful (like Starship Troopers), but I don’t think I would recommend it to anyone. If you want to give Heinlein’s work a shot, read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress instead.
This was my selection for the first Classics Club Spin of 2026.
* I did find this line from 70% into the book pretty offensive (uttered by a woman, no less!)
“But I was coping with wolves when you were still on Mars. Nine times out of ten, if a girl gets raped, it’s partly her fault. So don’t be hasty.”
Kelly
Kelly's Thoughts & Ramblings 