Stranger in a Strange Land

Robert A. Heinlein
Stranger in a Strange Land Cover

Stranger in a Strange Land

Adele1967
6/1/2020
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I was really looking forward to reading this 1960 Hugo Winner, but was sadly very disappointed. As a "fish out of water" story, some of the concepts examined through our Man from Mars eyes: space exploration, government overreach, religion, fear and intolerance were well done. Unfortunately, part of the problem was that it was set primarily on Earth and the overt sexism and 1950's social mores were just too distracting to ignore. Even skimming, I came across three separate incidents where one of the main male characters threatened to spank his "girl" employees, who were of course strictly limited to keeping their domestic duties completed. This employer also regretted "putting shoes on them", but was able to provide some praise when his "girls" were able to overcome their female hysteria. Yes, I understand he wrote this book over many years in the 1950's...but .......COME ON >>.....!?!?! other science fiction writers have been able to rise above their eras. That's what makes science fiction so great. Heinlein could have explored so many other issues with our Martian. He could imagine us going to Mars in the future, but couldn't foresee any social changes on earth?? I haven't given up on reading Heinlein, he's far too important a writer to ignore and I did enjoy The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Hopefully, my next one will be less frustrating.