Stranger in a Strange Land Leather Bound – January 1, 1989

I have started to read this book directly after I had read “The Moon is a harsh Mistress” and after the first chapter, I almost stopped reading again. The first chapter starts promisingly enough, after a Mars expedition with only four couples, finding the fitting couples that contained all the required capabilities in themselves had been difficult enough, had failed, years later, another expedition is started, and this time, the flight takes much shorter. They find a young man there and bring him back, but how they treat him here, locked and no women allowed, for the first time really showed me how old Robert Heinlein’s books really are and here, for the first time, it was an annoyance. What would happen if a woman would visit him? We find out in the second chapter, and the answer is, basically, nothing.Then, for about 10% of the book, we get Jill, working in the hospital where the Man from Mars is kept, discussing with Ben, a journalist, about the implication of the Man from Mars. Once he owns the whole Mars, once he owns a majority of Lunar Enterprises. In any case, the government under the Secretary General cannot keep him alive. Then, finally, some action occurs: Ben tries to get the Man released, but fails miserably; Jill subsequently tries to prisonbreak with the Man. They escape to Ben’s place but the henchmen are not far away. They ring at the door, there is a confrontation and... it’s over. They go to another benefactor, Jubal, who keeps Jill and the Man hidden for rest of almost half of the book.There, Jubal thinks about how to help the Man, together with getting Ben back, while he tries to learn as much as possible about the Martian and Mars. Then, the henchmen appear again, ready to arrest everybody, and after the Martian makes the policemen disappear once more, Jubal eventually manages to bluff the Secretary General into calling back the second arresting team and agreeing to meet with the Man from Mars with him, Jubal, as the official delegate for the Martian. At the meeting, Jubal does what he can to make the Man’s live safe: He gives the Secretary General the mandate the manage the money of the Martian with the payment as much money as he sees fit.Having thus secured the Martian’s safety, the Martians keeps living at Jubal’s place and learning. They visit a service of the Fosterite church, where people gamble, visit the bar and have stories with women but when the archbishop wants to have one-to-one talk with the Martian, latter recognizes former’s evilness and discorporates him. Eventually, the Man from Mars has learned all he can at Jubal’s and he and Jill set out for the world. They join a circus troupe where the Martian performs a levitating trick with Jill, only it is not a trick, he really does so. But they are unsuccessful, the marks see right through it. They leave again, but not before they have listened to a snake charmer sermon about the Fosterites and before they make her a water brother. They next move to Las Vegas where Jill works in a show and the Martian as croupier and they elucidate naughty pictures. Thereafter, they go to San Francisco, where the Martian reads all the books about the various religions without grokking anything. They then visit a zoo where the Martian breaks out laughing as he, observing monkeys, finally groks people.They founded their own church, but it’s not a religion. The Martian had hereto shown some extraordinary capabilities, such as being able to enter a trance state where he could stay under water for hours, telekinesis and the ability to discorporate things or beings at will. Had the reader so far been wondering how he could do that, if the Old Ones on Mars has changed him somehow on Mars, now it become clear that this was not the case. Everybody can do it but, in order to facilitate such deeds, which were connected to Martian creed, one had to understand the Martian concepts, which one could only by firstly learning the Martian language. The Martian church was thus foremost a Martian language school. That was however not all it was. The Martian idea was that there was no God than God in everyone of us. All other religions were considered as truths, only that they were kind of hiding that God was each of us, and thus the creed was “Thou are God.” In the Martian church, also free love was practiced. We get hence a chapter where Ben was shocked by this and fled the church most hurriedly to report to Jubal, only to join it again the next chapter. And of course, we get Fosterites who try to start a persecution against their competitors.The end then also makes sense, but I don’t understand why. It was on one hand logical but on the other hand why was it necessary? This is thus not really a work of science fiction and but rather a theological treatise. I think it could have shortened somehow, then realized, that what the original editors thought as well. It was my third book I read from Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers was a good concept which Joe Haldeman made into a good book, the Moon is a harsh Mistress was a quick read that kept me hooked, but considering, it is basically a story of the American struggle for independence, just on the Moon, and it will also be my last. There are other science fictions authors out there.

There is no question that Robert Anson Heinlein is one of the Fathers of Science Fiction. There is also no question that STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND is his most famous work, having been called "the most famous science fiction novel ever written." Is it his best? Perhaps not. But it is a ground breaking classic, one that I enjoy reading again and again.STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND is the story of Valentine Michael Smith (Mike), a male born of human parents on the first Earth colony ship to Mars. Literally born as the ship landed on Mars, Mike's parents and the rest of the crew died, and Mike was raised by Martians. 25 years later, a second Earth colony ship lands on Mars, and discovers Mike, the native inhabitants of Mars, and a host of unanswered questions. Mike returns to Earth, and STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND is the detailed chronicle of his introduction to, interaction with, and transformation of human culture.STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND was Heinlein's first truly adult science fiction novel, and he took on some pretty heady topics. Politics, religion, sex, equality, and the concept of a truly un-human culture (which happened to be superior), to name a few. Heinlein wove these themes into STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, each of which contributed to his idealistic vision of a perfect world.He intermixed shock value, logic, and plain good storytelling to get his points across, and I think he did so quite wonderfully.1. Religion. Heinlein was not an atheist, as some have claimed. He did believe in a higher power; what he did not have any use for was organized religion. He believed in faith. If you had faith, true faith, then the trappings of religion were unnecessary and superfluous. They just did not matter. The Church of All Worlds in STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND was set up to show that no matter what the religious trapping were, it was faith that really mattered. He also created a religion where happiness and self-belief were the main drivers, rather than fire, brimstone, and fear. Makes great sense to me.2. Sex. Contrary to popular belief, STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND did not promote promiscuity or free love. What Heinlein did was to create a world where people were open about sex, where it was enjoyable and exciting, but with it came great responsibility. In this world, sex wasn't hidden, secret, or naughty; rather it was honest and pure and fun. People who could develop this utopian attitude became happier, healthier, less jealous, more caring, and, yes, more sexual. Responsibility to partners, offspring, and an entire extended family became the norm. In his own way, by exploring sexuality, Heinlein was exploring and redefining the meaning of family. He was also trying to define sex as a miraculous union, and to show that humans should treat it as the miracle of bonding and "growing closer" that it is.3. Equality. Before the sexual revolution and equality for women, Heinlein clearly believed in equality of the sexes, equality of the races, equality of faiths...basically the equality of all humans. Yes, he felt women should be treated with respect and reverence and be protected and nurtured because they gave birth and perpetuated the species, but he clearly believed that they were intelligent and capable. He also believed that women had sexual needs equal to those of men and had the right to pursue those needs.4. Politics. In STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, Heinlein clearly had little use for government, politics, or politicians. He believed that government in general was a necessary evil, but preferred that it be kept small and out of his business. He didn't care what it was based on or what guided it - astrology was the ridiculous example used in STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND - as long as it left him alone. Works for me. He also had little use for entitlements, and expected human beings to work for what they received. Again, works for me.5. Un-Human, Superior Culture. Heinlein did a remarkable and revolutionary thing when he created the Martian culture of STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. The Martians of this novel are clearly not humanoids from another planet. They do not think like humans, act like humans, look like humans, reproduce like human, live like humans, or do anything like we do here on the planet Earth. There is nothing remotely recognizable about these Martians; they are completely alien. We can't them, and they can't understand us. They are older, more advanced, and can perceive the universe around them in ways that humans do not. But humans can, if properly taught, learn some of the things that Martians do. What a marvelous concept.In 1962 the original version of STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND won the Hugo Award for the Best Science Fiction Novel of the Year. After Heinlein's death in 1988, his wife Virginia discovered the original uncut manuscript and arranged to have it published in 1991. It is interesting to read the two books side by side, to see the differences, and to compare them. I enjoy both versions very much, and am still not sure which is my favorite. Whatever version you choose, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. Whether you have read it before or not, whether you love it or not, you will find it to be an interesting and thought-provoking read.

This is one of the classic SF novels of the last 50-60 years, originally published in 1961 and re-issued in a much extended version by his widow after Heinlein's death in 1988. This new version restored many passages cut on its original publication, as they were deemed to clash too starkly with the sexual mores of the time. Whether these restorations improve the novel from the perspective of its narrative flow may be a moot point. I have not read the original version, so cannot say for sure, but I did feel that this novel was (perhaps considerably) overlong. Like many SF novels, it is a novel of ideas rather than plot per se, the central one being the clash between the very different perspectives on life, culture and ethics of Martians and Terrans. This is explored through many long interactions between the characters, covering religion, sex, culture, and the legal and political frameworks within which societies organise themselves. So far, so interesting, if rather overblown in my view. But I found nearly all the characters rather annoying, and much of the ordinary dialogue outside the above conversations grated. I was often unclear how much time had elapsed between each of the five major sections of the book (and just how old is Jubal supposed to be? Come to that, when is the novel actually set?). The best bits I thought were the early parts where Mike first came to Earth and was trying to come to terms with the change of environment, having been brought up on Mars after his parents' spaceship crashed and all onboard were killed. After he set up his Martian church, I thought the narrative became less interesting, notwithstanding the interesting issues raised. So mixed feelings about this one, and clearly I did not grok it in the way many readers have done!

I picked this up as it is on a top 100 fantasy books list I am working my way through. The premise is interesting, and the first 100 pages dealing with the early events of the protagonist's life on Earth are decent reading. The character of Jobal is decent. However, from from the moment Michael goes out into the real world the book nosedives and becomes a real slog to get through.The book has not dated well. The male characters are almost all incredibly sexist, I guess reflecting the views of the author. The female characters have no depth to them, and are portrayed as being majorly inferior to the male characters and there to meet their needs. The descent into some sex-obsessed new world cult is really dreadful. The appearance of 'magical powers' are initially interesting, but ultimately clash with the science fiction of the story.I guess if you are >50 and read this back in the day you might enjoy. If you are younger, and believe that women are not just stupid and sexual objects then this is not the book for you.

I absolutely adore classic sci fi, and I thought this book would fill the John Wyndham shaped hole in my life. The idea is intriguing and the beginning of the book is exciting and mysterious. Sadly, that is about the only good thing I can say about this book. It is long, tediously written and frankly, dull. I personally do not enjoy sitting through pages and pages of dialogue, punctuated with excessive use of pointless phrases and sounds like "huh?" and "mmm" , or the unnecessary repetition of characters' names throughout a conversation - why would I continuously use someone's given name if they were the only other person in the room? It sounds scripted and unnatural, and actually made me cringe on numerous occasions.Honestly, I can forgive a lot, and I have read quite a few books that I was glad to see the end of, but I have never given up on a book partway through until today. Not an enjoyable read.

When I was 15 or so I read this and was blown away. It hasn't aged well 😐 Not only is there casual misogyny and implicit racism, the sententious middle chunk is just cod philosophy in an atrociously written rambling monologue given to Jubal in his supposedly comic idiom. The idea is great. The setup is good. The ending is not bad. But it's too much and too knowing. Would be great to see a modern version of the same idea.

This is a truly great book. I read the abridged version over 30 years and it changed the way I thought. I read the unabridged version for the first time 20 years ago and still loved it. My book club read it recently at my suggestion and I still love this book, the other 5 members did not get past 150 pages. Sure some of the science fiction seems silly now, it is sexist and old fashioned but so are many classics. You have to read to the end and understand the character development and the unfolding philosophy of the book. It is a classic, if you give it a chance.