Stranger in a Strange Land (Penguin Galaxy)

by Robert A. Heinlein

The complete, uncut version of Robert A. Heinlein’s 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...

• ISBN10: 0441790348
• ISBN13: 9780441790340
• Publish Date: 15 May 1987 (first published 1 April 1963)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 11 October 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Ace Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 525
• Language: English

Reviews

[thepunktheory]

Full Review on: my Blog ThePunkTheory

Where do I start with this one. Stranger in a Strange Land is certainly many things. But I have my troubles with this novel.
While about the first 1/3 was interesting and touched several ideas that are still up to date, despite the book being published in the 60s. I was rather intrigued and kept making my way through the more than 500 pages. However, it all went downhill really soon. One of the major problems I have here is the sexism. Heinlein addresses some very modern an open concepts, even concerning sex, but he never fails to put "women in their place". Sometimes it's subtle, but often it's quite obvious. Let me just quote one sentence and you'll get the picture: "Nine times out of ten, if a girl gets raped, it’s at least partly her own fault." I'm pretty sure there's no additional comment needed here.
Heinlein addresses tons of different topics in his novel and manages to give it all a weird touch. At first you might be able to follow his ideas but there is a point where he goes over the top. The book is no longer fascinating but merely annoying. I kept on reading, hoping that we might return to something that makes sense but unfortunately it never happens.
It's been a while since I finished the book and the only thing I remember is how irritating this novel felt. There me be some interesting ideas there at first but it's honestly not worth fighting through 500 pages. At the end I was actually pissed off and simply glad I could finally return this book to the library.

[gmcgregor]

Valentine Michael Smith, the central character of Robert Heinlein's Stranger In A Strange Land, is an entirely unique person: the son of two space explorers on Mars who died shortly after his birth, he was raised by Martians in Martian culture. As an adult, Mike returns to Earth to explore his "home" planet. Initially hidden away in a hospital by the government, which is trying to figure out what to do with him, he's discovered by a reporter and smuggled out by a nurse. That nurse, Jill, becomes his constant companion, sheltering and protecting him as he learns about the world and becoming something of a disciple as he comes into his own and begins teaching Martian ways to his friends and, eventually, the world.

Jill and Mike are taken in, after their initial flight from authorities, by author/lawyer/doctor Jubal Harshaw, an older, cynical man who lives in a sprawling compound with three young women he employs as on-call stenographers for his writing and a handyman to keep things in good repair. This group forms the core of what becomes the Church of All Worlds, a religious movement centered on Mike and the teachings he espouses, including the deep significance ascribed to the sharing of water, the concept of "grokking", and (of course!), non-monogamous sexual relationships. The rise of this church upsets the established power structure of this future Earth, with predictable results for the figure at the center of this upset.

Smith is both human and profoundly non-human, which raises interesting questions about what exactly it means to be a person, a fairly common theme in the science fiction genre. Perhaps because it had been done before, or perhaps because he was disinclined to explore the issue, this is not the route that Heinlein chooses to go. Rather, he uses the story to explore the "Martian" philosophy on life. Which is interesting, for a while. But since the portions of the book that are effectively espousals of this philosophy actually make up a solid majority of the book, with relatively little character development, I found myself getting bored pretty quickly.

The plot is pretty straightforward: it's a messiah tale, with the kind of story progression you'd expect for this kind of tale. The prose is...not fluid. It's clunky, and the long passages of expository dialogue aren't handled with any particular deftness. While it raised some thought-provoking ideas, it never captured me as a piece of literature. I don't think there's any reason genre fiction can't be successful from a literary standpoint, but I never got wrapped up in the story this book was trying to tell me. It may be a sci-fi classic, but it didn't do it for me. I wouldn't recommend it.

[adamfortuna]

Having loved Starship Troopers (the movie), this one was always only my list to read. The story, thought of by Heinleins Wife, is simple -- take The Jungle Book, but make the man from Mars. The story went in unexpected places -- to politics, metaphysics, sex and commune lifestyles. I see why this one was such a big hit in the 60s.