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Nobody should take Heinlein's narrators words for granted. He is deservedly famous for being very diverse in presenting the viewpoints of his characters - comin

Nobody should take Heinlein's narrators words for granted. He is deservedly famous for being very diverse in presenting the viewpoints of his characters - coming from very different societies.

eslaught 5y ago
Can you give us an example of one of Heinlein's books with an apparent narrative that is very opposed to Starship Troopers? I ask because when I read it (way back when), I definitely got the impression this was Heinlein speaking in his own voice / his own opinions.
- Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
  > I definitely got the impression this was Heinlein speaking in his own voice / his own opinions. That's exactly what I'm talking about! Read another book, and he'll be speaking his own voice/opinions, to, but they'll be very different. On books, Heinlein's must read, in my opinion, is "The Moon is the harsh mistress", "Stranger in a strange land" and "Starship troopers", all three being very different. But the one book I would recommend reading first is his lesser known novel, "The door into summer". It is not groundbreaking, but very warm and charming.
- swiftcoder 5y ago
  The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is probably his novel with the most explicit anti-colonial and anti-fascist themes
- _0ffh 5y ago
  Nearly every other one? I'd recommend The Moon is a Harsh Mistress which is a romp imho, and also happens to be a better insight into his personal politics. Also, Have Spacesuit Will Travel, Farmer in the Sky, Stranger in a Strange Land and mostly everything by Heinlein, though there was arguably a bit of a drop in quality towards the late end of his career.
  - Jaruzel 5y ago
    I like to think of it as 'early' Heinlein and 'late' Heinlein - although both periods are very enjoyable, sometimes it as if it's two different authors.
midjji 5y ago
Yeah, people who read Heinlein and try to sort him into some political camp or other usually latch in to some surface level aspect they think make him side with their opposition. But in doing so must ignore huge conflicts the ideas presented would have with their opposition, even more so, when the books contradict each other. Heinelein writes the public motivations for the people of the societies he presents, and while overly verbose at times, I find it facinating, culture is a crucial aspect of society, and scifi without it often becomes dull. The moon is a harsh mistress is as much a book about strong friendly AI, as one about alternative ways society could be structured to provide continuity and safety if governments fail to provide. The AI aspect is facinating and much deeper than it seems at first. But if you look closely, there are hints all throughout its quite clever, it just does not care about what its doing, it cares about its friend. It reminds me of the treehouse my neighbours kids once made. The kids tried to make it out of ductape, sticks and plank, and their dad helped them, but also snuck out and nailed a few things and support blocks to make it work.
- hwc 5y ago
  Also, his politics changed drastically over the course of his life, going from a New Deal Democrat to a Goldwater Republican.

Nobody should take Heinlein's narrators words for granted. He is deservedly famous for being very diverse in presenting the viewpoints of his characters - coming from very different societies.

eslaught 5y ago

Can you give us an example of one of Heinlein's books with an apparent narrative that is very opposed to Starship Troopers? I ask because when I read it (way back when), I definitely got the impression this was Heinlein speaking in his own voice / his own opinions.

Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
> I definitely got the impression this was Heinlein speaking in his own voice / his own opinions. That's exactly what I'm talking about! Read another book, and he'll be speaking his own voice/opinions, to, but they'll be very different. On books, Heinlein's must read, in my opinion, is "The Moon is the harsh mistress", "Stranger in a strange land" and "Starship troopers", all three being very different. But the one book I would recommend reading first is his lesser known novel, "The door into summer". It is not groundbreaking, but very warm and charming.
swiftcoder 5y ago
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is probably his novel with the most explicit anti-colonial and anti-fascist themes
_0ffh 5y ago
Nearly every other one? I'd recommend The Moon is a Harsh Mistress which is a romp imho, and also happens to be a better insight into his personal politics. Also, Have Spacesuit Will Travel, Farmer in the Sky, Stranger in a Strange Land and mostly everything by Heinlein, though there was arguably a bit of a drop in quality towards the late end of his career.
- Jaruzel 5y ago
  I like to think of it as 'early' Heinlein and 'late' Heinlein - although both periods are very enjoyable, sometimes it as if it's two different authors.

midjji 5y ago

Yeah, people who read Heinlein and try to sort him into some political camp or other usually latch in to some surface level aspect they think make him side with their opposition. But in doing so must ignore huge conflicts the ideas presented would have with their opposition, even more so, when the books contradict each other. Heinelein writes the public motivations for the people of the societies he presents, and while overly verbose at times, I find it facinating, culture is a crucial aspect of society, and scifi without it often becomes dull. The moon is a harsh mistress is as much a book about strong friendly AI, as one about alternative ways society could be structured to provide continuity and safety if governments fail to provide. The AI aspect is facinating and much deeper than it seems at first. But if you look closely, there are hints all throughout its quite clever, it just does not care about what its doing, it cares about its friend. It reminds me of the treehouse my neighbours kids once made. The kids tried to make it out of ductape, sticks and plank, and their dad helped them, but also snuck out and nailed a few things and support blocks to make it work.

hwc 5y ago
Also, his politics changed drastically over the course of his life, going from a New Deal Democrat to a Goldwater Republican.