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 been raised by martians. As he is the sole survivor of the original mission to Mars he technically owns the planet - not something that pleases the ... more

I have been a Heinlein fan for a long time. I even wrote to him and received a postcard by reply concerning a newspaper story based in Glasgow about Prostitutes for 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) ... more

Although the language and the social mores illustrated in this novel are outdated by modern standards, many pf the ideas and concepts raised are still challenging.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 of the narrative, I was forced to questions several of my ingrained opinions and taboos. it deals with sexual fidelaty, monogomy, insest, canabalism ... more

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 through the eyes of someone who takes none of it for granted. Definitely worth a read, but don't blame me if you're disappointed. I'll try reading it ... more

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 we have developed as a species along with mans inhumanity to man.....but more worringly how our inhumanity could be percieved by an extraterrestrial ... more