Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!seismo!hao!hplabs!sri-unix!Goodell.ES@PARC-MAXC.ARPA From: Goodell.ES@PARC-MAXC.ARPA@sri-unix.UUCP Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Subject: Heinlein Message-ID: <3506@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Wed, 27-Jul-83 11:22:42 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.3506 Posted: Wed Jul 27 11:22:42 1983 Date-Received: Fri, 29-Jul-83 06:34:15 EDT Lines: 44 next comes a lot of mundane chapters about a bunch of people running around nude in an uninhabited paradise (these chapters seem strongly influenced by Earth Abides). So far it's not too bad, but after about a year in paradise, these people are taken into custody by a black race that has taken over the world. These people use whites for slaves, castrate everyone over the age of 18, and to top it all off, they're cannibals. At the end of the book, Heinlein decides to add yet another element of hokey science fiction, by having the hero and his adultress return home via a time machine. Pure art, eh? After reading this book, I figured I must have stumbled onto one of his poorer works, so I read what I had understood to be one of the few real SF classics - Stranger in a Strange Land. When I was halfway through the book, I forgave Heinlein for Farnham's Freehold. The story of a modern-day Martian- human come to earth was extremely fast-paced and very well thought out. Heinlein was very consistent and believable in his portrayal of the Martian's introduction to humanity. He very effectively, yet subtly, pointed out most of man's less attractive idiosynchrosies through the eyes of the naive Valentine Michael Smith. However, for me, the book ended as soon as Smith's accounts had been settled by his friend, Jubal. Everything had been cleared up - the loose ends had been tied. There was no room for any more suspense, mystery, or action. The Martian was free to fully adapt to human culture. It was like one of those books you never want to end; the only difference was that this one didn't. For some reason, Heinlein used the next 200 pages as a guide to his version of interstellar philosophy. Actually I couldn't figure out if Heinlein believed the same things that Smith did, or whether he was just writing for lack of anything better to do. Maybe I missed something, but wasn't it kind of silly for Heinlein to dedicate several portions of this book to glimpses into heaven, where we saw God (Foster) and his angels hard at work influencing the ways of man? This would have been fine if it had had undertones of irony or sarcasm, but it didn't. I guess what I can't figure out is whether Heinlein is supposed to be a serious writer or a writer of junk or a cynical, sarcastic writer using his books as propaganda for his own beliefs. I would appreciate it if somebody would tell me, because then I would know in what light to read his books. I have been very disappointed by Heinlein so far, because he always turns the tables one time too often. He starts off a book by getting his reader thoroughly involved, and then it's as if he laughs in the reader's face by making a serious story into something else. Confused and disappointed, Jeremy Goodell (Goodell.es)