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Starship Troopers was written by Robert Heinlein, who attended a service academy and was an officer before WWII. The fact that it's science fiction somewhat obs
by griffinmmahon 10y ago
Starship Troopers was written by Robert Heinlein, who attended a service academy and was an officer before WWII. The fact that it's science fiction somewhat obstructs the satire present, namely citizens' relationship to war and violence as a national value. The movies are basically entirely unrelated in this way.
e: Heinlein wasn't in the Navy during WWII.
- camiller 10y agoI know that, and have a well worn copy of the book myself. Was just surprised to see a work of fiction, no matter how insightful, on a "Military Reading List". But I guess I can see the point.
- griffinmmahon 10y agoI'm fairly certain it isn't even the only one actually. Sorry if my tone came off as nitpick-y/correction-y, cheers!
- AnimalMuppet 10y ago"The Red Badge of Courage" was there, as well.
- tcopeland 10y agoYup, official military reading lists include a fair bit of fiction. Recent ones that I can think of are Ghost Fleet, Starship Troopers, Enders Game, Red Badge of Courage, The Orphan Master's Son, The Kite Runner. The really nice thing is that since many of those lists are refreshed yearly, they are an ongoing fountain of interesting books. Good stuff!
- SEJeff 10y agoI could entirely see Ender's Game in any Military Reading List (as a veteran myself). It shows the horrors one goes through in war and how the ends might not always justify the means.
- maxerickson 10y agoThe movie is full of satire of jingoism. This puts it in contrast with the book which is more earnest in its elevation of service.
- int_19h 10y agoAnd yet there are some other valid and interesting points there. For example, the book makes a very strong argument as to why the military should not get involved into politics - quite relevant for any democratic country that wants to remain such.
- dmckeon 10y agoAnyone reading Starship Troopers may also want to read Joe Haldeman's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forever_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forever_War of which Heinlein apparently said [it] "may be the best future war story I've ever read!" However, given its fairly pessimistic view of war, it may not appear on many military reading lists.