Stranger in a Strange Land
by Heinlein, Robert A
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Very Good/Very Good
- Seller
-
Skyway, Washington, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
Stranger in a Strange Land is a best-selling 1961 Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human raised by Martians on the planet Mars, after his return to Earth in early adulthood. The novel explores his interaction with--and the eventual transformation of--Earth culture. The novel's title refers to the Biblical Book of Exodus. According to Heinlein in Grumbles from the Grave, the novel's working title was The Heretic.
Reviews
Robert A. Heinlein's 1961 STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND is a clear example of the "didactic" novel. It teaches, it preaches, its characters rant and debate, parry and thrust. Its story is not much. But its message resonated with millions of confused "searchers" for meaning in the turbulent 1960s and even into the cooler, more blase 1970s. *** Valentine Michael Smith, after his pioneering parents died opening up Mars, was raised in a nest on Mars by Martians as close to a Martian as he could be. A later expedition from Earth to Mars found young Mike Smith and returned him home. Meanwhile the ostensibly pacifistic Martians, it is hinted throughout the novel, are planning something nasty for the Earth and earthlings. Mike seeks for a way to defend the Earth without tipping his hand to the alien race that raised him. ***Smith goes through one cross-cultural shock after another, eventually deciding that he can prepare earthlings to resist suspected Martian imperialism by making it attractive for them to learn selectively features of Martian civilization (ceremony of sharing water, thinking empathetically aka "grokking" and others) while going beyond even the Martians by adopting a new Smith-created religion, Church of All The Worlds. *** Smith's intially sceptical admirer is crusty old libertarian lawyer Jubal E. Harshaw. Via dialogs and monologs of Harshaw, author Heinlein criticizes received human religions, mores, thought processes, nudity, clothing and more from a Martian point of view -- as filtered through hybrid Martian-Human Mike Smith. *** The level of argumentation ranges somewhere between 1960s American 7th grade and college sophomore, arguably, on balance, sub-adult. But STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND proved wildly attractive to an increasingly rootless, restless generation of young Americans thirsting for they knew not what, eager to grok and to say, "I am only and egg" and "Thou art God." Study STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND not as literature but as 1960s sociology. -OOO-
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Seller
- Turn-The-Page Books (US)
- Seller's Inventory #
- 071921
- Title
- Stranger in a Strange Land
- Author
- Heinlein, Robert A
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Edition
- Book Club Edition (BCE/BOMC)
- Publisher
- Ace/Putnam
- Date Published
- 1991
- Size
- 8vo - 8" - 9" Tall
- Keywords
- FICTION SCIENCE
- Bookseller catalogs
- Fantasy & Science Fiction;
Terms of Sale
Turn-The-Page Books
Returns: All merchandise accepted for a book-price refund if put into the mail within 10 days of receipt by buyer, and in the same condition as received. Any books received in "not as described" condition can be returned for a full refund, including return shipping, within 30 days. In these extremely rare instances, please email us of intent to return so that we can most efficiently expedite matters.
About the Seller
Turn-The-Page Books
About Turn-The-Page Books
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Book Club Edition
- A generic term denoting a book which was produced or distributed by one of any number of book club organizations. Usually the...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.