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I'll leave the formal reviews to other sites, and suffice it to say that Shelfari has some really neat features like everyone having their own interactive bookshelf to display and personally track the books they own, have read, want to read, etc. When I first got on I entered in every book in my apartment, and although I am far from having every book I've ever read in there, I sure as heck have most of them. If you ever want to buy me a book but are unsure of whether I already own it, just check my shelf!

I was reading reviews of some Robert A. Heinlein novels, one of my all-time favorite authors, and I came across a really short, unintellectual, un-cited review of Stranger in a Strange Land that I should have ignored but made me fear others would take it seriously, so I decided to write my own. You can search for my review on the book's page, but I figured it'd be a lot easier if I just reproduce it below. I certainly won't be offended if you don't read it, but if you've ever wondered about the book, you may find it useful (BTW: You'll notice I referenced the passage I quoted in the Garfield Minus Garfield post, because it really is one of my favorites). I hope I did it justice and if you agree or disagree or if my memory just plain sucks, please do let me know in the comments or email (euicho at euicho dot com).

Stranger in a Strange Land, A Review

Thomas S.E. Gagnon

Stranger in a Strange Land is a story I hold quite fond in my heart. This novel taught me a lot about life and human nature. Some say it was Robert Heinlein's way of coming to terms with what Hubbard was doing at the time, while others think it's just a dated and closed minded book. I find it to be an insightful comment on being human and dealing with all that entails, as well as challenging our own set ways of thought. I am by no means a subscriber to the philosophy of "free love" that finds its way into this novel, but I still absolutely loved this book.

If you're not sure what this story is about, the short, short synopsis is that it's about a human male, raised as a martian, coming to earth and learning how to be human, and about human beliefs vs. the martian ones he grew up with. However that description is unjustly simplified--it is really so much more than that. Stranger in a Strange Land challenges common views on organized religion, sexuality, and family structure. Although written by a SF grandmaster, and dealing with an "alien", the story is set on Earth and deals strongly with character development versus cheap techno-thrills, so if you're not really into SF this book should still strongly appeal to you.

Now, as I've read some of the other reviews on here, I feel a need to defend this novel against attacks. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, including those who hated this novel, and what follows is my own.

Some people have claimed Stranger is a racist and/or misogynistic work. I just didn't see either of those. I think of myself as very supportive of equality of men and women of all races, and even philogyny to some extent, for all that woman do for us, and I felt this book exalted women. Recall how smart and dynamic Jubal's assistants were, for example. They all had a firecracker-quick wit and never buckled under pressure. They did whatever their desire was and only obeyed their boss Jubal, because they where his employees, and they cared for him as a father figure. I found no objectification or sexism.

I agree that there is an overabundance of sex in this novel. But I am quite aware of the double standard in society where promiscuous men are applauded while women are called "slutty". In Stranger in a Strange Land, some of the women are quite promiscuous, and yet are never judged, but seen as loving, and never forced by the men in the novel to do so. As I said, I don't feel women should be treated as objects by any means, but this book shows a woman can have sex with whoever she pleases and it is nobody's right to judge. I cannot find the misogyny in that. Heinlein wrote several novels that portray how strong and equal to if not better than men, that women are. See Friday for one example.

As for the terrible comment Jill makes about rape in one passage, I think that shows how wrong Jill's way of thinking was at the time, and is not to be taken as Heinlein's belief. If an author writes about how a Nazi character thinks "Jews are evil", that does NOT mean the author believes this. He is simply exposing the character's own terribly wrong ideology. Whether these are the author's views, speaking through his/her characters, or not, cannot be judged by reading their work of fiction. This is likewise with Jill's comments about gay men, whom she calls "poor in-betweeners".

As for racism in this novel, all I can say is that I cannot find any! Some of Heinlein's novels do sadly have racist elements, like The Day After Tomorrow (which reflects the common thinking at the time I'm afraid), but Stranger in a Strange Land is not one of them! See Ender's Game if you want a REAL racist pile of... ugh, let's not get me started on that.

One Caveat: If you are a Christian, you may find this book blasphemous or at the least quite critical of Christianity toward the last half of the story, but even many Christian friends say they really enjoyed it by treating it as just a story and its not an attack on their own beliefs. That said, if you do not take kindly to criticism of your belief system, you may want to avoid this one.

The characters in Stranger in a Strange Land are both well developed and intriguing, and you don't have to subscribe to any of the ideals outlined in this book in order to benefit from the sparking off of a good deal of deep thought and introspection. I recommend this book to any adult that wishes to broaden their exposure to philosophical ideas or just read a great book.

I'd like to, quit typically, end this review with a quote from the book--One that makes me tear up every time I read it:

I’ve found out why people laugh. They laugh because it hurts so much… because it’s the only thing that’ll make it stop hurting. -Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land-

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