Kevin's Watch

I just ordered myself a copy of Glory Road on the recommendation of a friend. He didn't say much about it, just that if I liked Asimov, I'd like Heinlein.
Has anyone read it? ANy thoughts about it?

I haven't read that one, but we've been praising Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land and Time Enough for Love in The Close the last couple days.

I almost bought Stranger in a Strange Land instead of Glory Road...perhaps I will grab that next!

Like Syl, I'm not crazy about aspects of the last third or so of SiaSL. But the first half+ is as good as ANYTHING!

SO is SiaSL a letdown at the end in terms of the writing, or the story? What changes as the book progresses that makes it less appealing?

I've been going to a comic store called The October Country for 20+ years. It's named after a Bradbury book. When the owner opened a second store, he named it Strange Land. He said he only used half the title, because he, too, isn't happy with the 2nd half (or whatever percentage) of the book. heh

Valentine Michael Smith is a human who was raised by Martians. Martians are so different from humans in every that we didn't even know there were Martians. He never had any contact with humans.

The first half of the book is Mike coming to Earth. I don't remember how old he is, but at least in his twenties. He is unimaginably naive about... well, everything, but he tries to learn all he can. We, the readers, of course, see the amazing wisdom of his Martian pov. And that pov seems to be True, because ha can do things other humans can't, simply, it would seem, because he was never told it wasn't possible. He assumes everyone else is like him, and doesn't understand why they're all asking him so many questions whose answers are common knowledge.

In the second half, he has come to understand things. He tries to help humanity by... becoming a religious leader. There's a good deal of silliness, and some things I don't agree with. It's not completely bad, and I think at least one of my favorite parts is in the second half. But it's not nearly as good as the first half.

I read just the first half every few years. Nothing like it!

Glory Road isn't bad...one of his easier, and less "socially challenging" books as I remember it, but it's one of the few that I've only read once, because I don't own a copy of it.

I like Heinlein. I like a lot of his ideas, his "reasoning" as it were, and I can see how he arrived at many of his conclusions. Personally, Stranger doesn't bother me much. If at all, as it happens.

The main thrust of the argument against him seems to be the impracticality of some of his social ideas. An impracticality that nonetheless doesn't, as far as I'm concerned, negate the idea behind his "suggestions".

There is, in fact, a thread about his work in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy forum, although it'll be many pages back by now. I'll bump it for you.

By far the majority of his books are worth a read. If you don't want to consider the social satire and it's implications, read them as straight-forward Sci-fi. They're good stories. Enjoy.

--A