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Booked for the Day

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein

On Monday, May 6th, the Booked for the Day Book Group met to discuss, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.  Here are a few things we discussed during the meeting:

  • Some of the group thought this book started off great, interesting concept, great writing, using a man from Mars and how he would view our world and culture. Once Michael made his escape to Jubal’s mansion is where they thought the book did not progress. It went from an adventure story to a study of the politics of religion and morality with Jubal as a mouthpiece for the authoritative voice.
  • It was definitely written from a male perspective and some of our members told us it was a favorite among teenage boys in the sixties.
  • We understood that the book was written in the late fifties, early sixties and had some outdated ideas but it was hard to overlook some of the ideas, such as, the subservient treatment of women, the idea that rape was partially the woman’s fault and the homophobic comments.
  • Some of the parts we found amusing were the parodies on television evangelicals.
  • Some of the ideas we did like were the idea that indigenous people own their land and the message for humans to examine their own shortcomings and prejudices.
  • The book gave the English Language a new word, Grok (understanding or love), the term Heinleining (the technique of working information into a story), it also gave us a new church, Church of All Worlds (it still exists) and it gave the world the idea of a waterbed.
  • One member said she found it interesting because it gave us a perspective and view of the culture in the sixties.
  • Another member liked how Heinlein wrapped up the story. Michael is setting up the human race so they can defend themselves against the Martians when they finally decide whether to terminate us. Michael sacrifices himself to save the world and discorporates in order to give us more time to grok.
  • All in all, most of us did not think the book stood the test of time. I guess we did not grok it to its fullness.

These are just a few things mentioned during the discussion. Please feel free to add any of your thoughts in the comment section.

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