Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein

I have read elsewhere that Stranger in a strange land is a classic Science Fiction Read. Having read quite a few of Heinlein's works I finally got the opportunity to read it. The story starts off with the discovery of a Human on Mars many years after a starship originally landed there and lost contact with Earth. The human - Valentine Michael Smith - is taken back to earth and attempts to cope with all the changes in his life. After all, he has ...
...survivor of the original mission to Mars he technically owns the planet - not something that pleases the government. Smith is held captive while they figure out how to get Mars from him. He is rescued by a reporter and one of his nurses and is taken to an estate owned by one of the reporters friends. This new friend tries to teach Smith how to be a human and also to protect him from the government. In an attempt by the government to recapture Smith ...

stevecook 03.08.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein

...God (a theme raised in Stranger in a Strange Land). Firstly, the novel is an interesting read. Secondly it is a well crafted and satisfying (if sad) story. The novel is more about innocence .v. prejudice than almost any other novel I know. There is genuine astonishiment expressed (and understood by the reader) in the clash between the human desire for materialism and the Martian concept of the feeling for understanding ( to Grok). There is a ...
...we read, and perhaps the most disturbing element of the novel is the inevitability of the fate of the Martian/Human hero. The most important message however is that - it doesn't matter - it is the learning and the experience of learning (and thus understanding: "grokking") that counts, and that is ultimately victorious. If you think that Heinlein's novels are a gung ho attempt to glorify the American dream you are wrong. Read this one, then go ...

mmpr 08.04.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein

Although the language and the social mores illustrated in this novel are outdated by modern standards, many pf the ideas and concepts raised are still challenging. Michael, the hero of the book is the offspring of members of hte first manned trip to Mars. When his parents die, he is raised by the local inhabitants, until he is 'rescued' by the next mission. Michael returns to Earth, bringing with him a whole new outlook on life. During the course ...
...my ingrained opinions and taboos. it deals with sexual fidelaty, monogomy, insest, canabalism and several more...not always in a way that is flattering to the human race. This is a novel that changed the way I think. It made me consider everything that I had previously acccepted as the absolute truth. It is a novel I re-read at interval, and one that I always recommend to someone exploring the more meaningful side of sci-fi/fantasy. ...

RoseButterfly 25.04.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein

I haven't read any other books by this author, so it's very hard to compare, but though I enjoyed this book I can't help feeling I missed something. Probably a re-read would help, I'm not sure. We follow the experiences of our 'stranger' (a man from another world) in the 'strange land' (Earth), and his change from a naive, vulnerable person to arrogance and wealth. I suppose the novel is as much as anything a satire on modern society, as we look ...

rwsweet 04.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein

I bet the title of this review got you guessing...unless you've read the book. To grok in fullness is to understand fully, so fully that the true meaning can't be expressed in any human tongue only in martian. Don't worry you don't need to learn martian to read this book...just as well you couldn't pronounce any of the words anyway. This book does make you think a lot about the society we as modern homo sapiens live in and the possibility of how ...

Greebo22 10.03.2001 (11.03.2001) · Read full review
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Review of Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein

Excelent book. Mixes science (fiction) with sociology. Heinlein doing what he does best - making you think 'what if'. You don't have to look too hard to see that some things just may (and have) come. ...

Legion101 14.07.2008
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Review of Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein