Hello ladies and
gentlemen and to all ships at sea, welcome to the very first book review of
Classics of Pop Culture,…yes you read right, an actual book with pages and no
illustrations and big words. If this is your first time being exposed to my
website and you decided to click on this review then congratulations, you’re
braver than you thought. Stranger in a Strange Land is by Robert A. Heinlein and
if you don’t know who Heinlein is then don’t worry, you’ve seen his work.
Whether it’s The Puppet Masters which was adapted into the classic sci-fi movie
The Invasion of the Body Snatchers to Starship Troopers, Heinlein can be placed
on the same level as other sci-fi luminaries as Issac Asimov, Philip K. Dick,
and Ray Bradbury.
Stranger in a
Strange land was released in 1961 to a reception that was the literary equivalent
to tear someone’s heart out, throwing it in the trash and then lighting it on
fire. One critic went so far as to call the book:”…..an affront to the patience
and intelligence of the reader.”
Since then however it has gained status as a
classic of the sci-fi genre and is considered a huge influence on the
counterculture of the 1960s with its discussions of examining traditional
concepts of religion, monogamy, money, and death and experimenting with a
course of life that would work for them as opposed to shoehorning themselves
into traditional mores. The only negative aspect I can find in this is that it
stills holds onto the idea of males being dominant over females, which is
fairly prevalent throughout the novel. However its popularity did grow to the
point that fans of the book were known to visit Heinlein at his house and
discuss the philosophies presented in the story.
Stranger in a Strange Land came about from a brainstorming
session between Heinlein and his wife. The story was described as a retelling
of the Jungle Book but with the human character being raised by Martians rather
than wolves. Thankfully they decided to avoid the signature Disney sing-a-long.
The story centers
around Valentine Michael Smith, a child born to explorers on the very first expedition
to Mars that ended in disaster. Another expedition twenty years later finds
young Mike alive and well having been raised by the native Martians. Once he is
returned to Earth, Mike is confined to a hospital to allow him to physically
acclimate himself to the gravity of Earth. Sadly that’s only the beginning of
Mike’s problems.
Since he wasn’t
raised on Earth Mike has no understanding of customs and concepts that humans
hold in high regard and in some cases that naiveté gets used against him. One
early example comes as Mike is very nearly tricked into signing away his
inheritance, you see the explorers of the first expedition to Mars were an
extraordinary group who were in the upper echelons of their fields and whose
contributions to Earth society not only advanced it technologically but also makes
Mike a very,very,very rich man due to his being their only direct descendent.
How rich are we talking here? Imagine if Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark, Scrooge McDuck,
and Richie Rich decided consolidate their wealth into one pot…..it wouldn’t
come close to the wealth that Mike now has access to.
Luckily, Mike has
made plenty of friends along the way who enlightens him about the ways of the
world. One key friend is a nurse from the hospital named Jill who not only
became Mike’s first female friend or “water brother” according to the customs
of the Martians, but is the first human female that Mike ever meets. It’s Jill
whose concern for Mike’s well-being encourages her to take a chance and help
Mike to escape the hospital.
Another very
important water brother is a man by the name of Jubal who is a
lawyer/doctor/writer and also happens to be a cynical curmudgeon who takes Mike
and Jill under his protection on his personal island along with his entourage
of secretaries and maintenance crew. It’s Jubal’s knowledge and craftiness in
political circles that allows Mike to gain his freedom. He also becomes a
father figure to Mike helps him to learn the customs and culture of Earth and
in turn helps him to grow in his understanding or “grokking” of what’s going on
around him.
In turn, Mike also
teaches his water brothers the philosophies and language of the Martians, one
concept that seems to stick almost right away is the word “grok”. “Grok” seems
to be the Martian word for “to drink” but is also used to describe comprehending
or understanding and ironically, it’s the first Martian concept that Mike’s
water brothers tend to grasp. Mike also begins to grok the concepts of love and
sexuality which result in Mike and Jill getting together as well as gaining
experiences with Jubal’s secretaries.
As Mike grows in
his grokking he’s exposed to the religions of Earth, specifically the
Fosterites who try to entice Mike into joining their sect mainly to have access
to Mike’s wealth. Mike senses“wrongness” to the sect and is put off by them,
but groks their need to find meaning in their lives. In his exploration of
religion and philosophy he finds that all of them have a piece of the bigger
puzzle which he boils down to a Martian saying that even he admits is a rough
translation: “Thou art God”.
Eventually it’s
from this grokking that Mike decides to try to teach these concepts through the
veneer of religion and creates his own which attracts followers from all sects
of religion attracted to the Mike’s charisma and the freedom of self that he
offers those willing to practice his teachings. This of course pisses off the
hierarchy of many, chief among them the Fosterites who actually set fire to
Mike’s temple.
I don’t want to spoil the ending of the book
because I’d like to encourage listeners to read this book, there so much more
to the story than what I’ve described here. It’s interesting to note that after
Heinlein’s death, his wife released a version of “Stranger” with an extra 100+
pages. I haven’t read this version but it might be worth it to some listeners
to seek this version out and see for themselves the version of the story that
Heinlein wanted to release and what those extra pages could have that shapes or
reshapes the story.
So in the end this
book definitely fits the definition of a classic and is a book I would
recommend to anyone interested in science fiction. There are many others that I
could recommend as well but this is one of the few where I would say “read
first”. Well I hope you folks enjoyed the review and ‘til next time, cheers to
you all.
