Posted on 10/31/2004 8:57:04 PM PST by Lancey Howard
Reviewed by Marc Schogol
Glory Road By Robert A. Heinlein
If it weren't for 'Stranger in a Strange Land', Robert A. Heinlein probably would have been known only by science fiction buffs.
But with its out-of-this-world motifs, including a mind-melding, mind-bending communal lifestyle where everything - everything! - was free and shared, 1961's 'Stranger in a Strange Land' made Heinlein a Sixties counterculture icon.
The irony, as anyone familiar with Heinlein and his other works would have known, was that the late science fiction master's political and philosophical bent was very libertarian/anti-egalitarian. Like Jack Kerouac, who was never comfortable with his reputation as the spiritual father of the hippies, Heinlein (1907-1988) was not, and never wanted to be, a guru to the Woodstock generation.
(snip)
Originally published two years after 'Stranger', it ('Glory Road') has been considered a lightweight effort by many science fiction aficionados. But others loved it then and have found themselves enjoying periodic rereadings since.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
I would like to find a hard science fiction writer like Hal Clement.
According to Heinlein there were two reasons for his using psuedonyms. First was that Campbell did not want to have more than one Heinlein story per issue in his magazine... and Heinlein was so prolific that he often had two or three stories published in the same issue... just under different names. Secondly, even the great Heinlein was occassionally got rejection notices from Campbell and those not-up-to-snuff stories got published elsewhere under a psuedonym.
That's interesting. As I edited the short stories list (post#88) I wondered why a great writer like Heinlein would use pseudonyms.
'Major Ian Hay, back in the "War to End War," described the structure of military organizations: Regardless of the T.O., all military bureaucracies consist of a Surprise Party Department, a Practical Joke Department, and a Fairy Godmother Department.'
You left out the most important part of that quote, which went INAIR "The Fariy Godmother cosistes of an elderly lady GS-9, who occasionally puts down her knitting, picks up a paper crossing her desk, and does something nice!"
God, how true that is!
Leaving out part of the quote is the best way I know to get you folks talking about one of my favorite subjects! lol.
Several other favorite RAH pearls of wisdom:
"An insult is like a drink; it affects one only if accepted." - Her Wisdom Star, Glory Road
"Democracy can withstand anything but democrats." - Jubal Harshaw, Stranger In A Strange Land
"Success lies in achieving the top of the food chain." - Jubal Harshaw
"Democracy can withstand anything but Democrats." - Jubal Harshaw, Stranger In A Strange Land
D*mn, forgot that one. Had all Lazrus Long quotes in digital at one time, but lost them somewhere. My tagline, for instance, is from memory...
ping
Selected Nonfiction
"The Discovery of the Future" (Third World Science Fiction Convention Guest of Honor Speech) 1941
"How to Be a Politician" 1946 (Published as Take Back Your Government!, 1992)
"On the Writing of Speculative Fiction" 1947 "Where To?" 1950, updated versions 1966, 1973 aka "Pandora's Box"
"Ray Guns and Rocket Ships" 1952
"Tramp Royale" 1954 (Published 1993)
"The Third Millenium Opens" Amazing Stories, Apr 1956
"Science Fiction: Its Nature, Faults and Virtues" 1957
"The Future Revisited" (Sixteenth World Science Fiction Convention Guest of Honor Speech) 1961
"Channel Markers" (James V. Forrestal Graduation Lecture, Annapolis) 1973
"Larger than Life" 1979
"Spinoff" Omni, Mar 1980
"The Happy Days Ahead" 1980
"Grumbles from the Grave" 1989 (Virginia Heinlein, editor)
Those type of people never even come close to RAH's main points, in any of his books. They see only what they want to see, not what Heinlein wrote...
the infowarrior
Of all the Heinlein I've read, over the years, that is my personal perennial favorite (Moon), and a book I consider should be in any thinking person's library...
the infowarrior
Actually, the Lazarus Long attraction to Maureen isn't what people think it is. The role model for Maureen isn't his mother, but his wife of many years, his perpetual sounding board, and in his own description "all around genius", Virginia (right down to the red hair...)
the infowarrior
True, it has been Harry Turtledove, and perhaps David Drake, who have picked up the torch from Robert Heinlein. The reason is simple.
They, like Heinlein, write about things that are essentially timeless, they quirks, foibles, and greatness of the human spirit, particularly in how the spirit becomes forged by the relentless hammer blows of circumstance, against the anvil of adversity. They write of humanity, and their heros are "Everyman", whose sole defining difference from their fellows is how they handle whatever life has to throw at them, fall fair, or fall foul...
the infowarrior
Heinlein ping. . .
Somewhere, his spirit lokks upon us, and smiles broadly, knowing he sowed his "seed" on fertile ground...
I don't think that he would have ever asked for more...
the infowarrior
Can you imagine RAH posting over at DU? Heh heh heh!
Like us, he wouldn't bother.
But I bet he would have fun here.
Alright, that's it....
All these great posts have forced me to rummage around in my attic for the Heinlein box. Think I'll start with 'Tunnel in the Sky', then move on to 'The Puppet Masters', 'The Door into Summer', 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress', 'The Day After Tomorrow', 'Time for the Stars'.... and then the rest.
However, I WILL leave my Tom Swift box up there.
Remembering well Heinlein's feeling about their ilk (don't forget he termed muggers "sidewalk socialists", or something to that effect), I could only imagine the fireworks, and chuckle broadly...
the infowarrior
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