I’ve been putting off this book for about 5 years until only recently when I finally decided to commit myself into reading it. Now I can’t stop. Despite being a controversial piece of work which in itself would be enough for me to have picked it in the first place, it’s the intricate character personas and their behaviors together with their individual dialog, and the way we can take the story through their eyes that this book shows itself really as an ode to the human creative mind. It’s through writers such as Robert Heinlien that we can see how we all stand in the shoulders of giants, and for them alone we should honor our race and seek to continue their work. Granted we are also capable of ugly and terrifying things, but throughout all of our human history there have been astonishing pieces of work and feats of accomplishment made for us and the next generations to have as a legacy of the complex human brilliance. It would be a tragic shame if one day all of what we are goes forgotten forever not only in our memories, but as a species that would not survive together with this planet because we didn’t learn from our own prophetic insights in due time. Needless to say, this is one of those books that changes lives, bringing with it a definition of Love that can’t be refuted, and a unique point of view of an alien race that knows nothing about this planet’s costumes and how it is that we humans are extremely creative in making all kinds of trouble for ourselves. It is not by mere chance that “Remembering Tomorrow” is also the other name added to this book. If you are to read it, be sure to ask for the original uncut version.
Stranger In A Strange Land is a story about a martian who comes to Earth and learns what it is to be a human. An unusual book that was considered by some the greatest science fiction book ever written. The idea alone if put in the right hands to be developed can reveal so much about what we are, with all the good and the bad sides to it. And it does. Here’s an excerpt to think about:
“You can analyse a culture from its language, every time – and there isn’t any Martian word for ‘war'”. He stopped and looked puzzled. “At least, I don’t think there is. Nor any word for ‘weapon’ nor for ‘fighting.’ If a word for a concept isn’t in a language, then its culture simply doesn’t have the referent the missing word would symbolize.”
“Oh, twaddle, Stinky! Animals fight – and ants even conduct wars. Are you trying to tell me they have to have words for it before they can do it?”
“I mean exactly that,” Mahmoud insisted, “when it applies to any verbalizing race. Such as ourselves. Such as the Martians – even more highly verbalized than we are. A verbalizing race has words for every old concept . . . and creates new words or new definitions for old words whenever a new concept comes along. Always! A nervous system that is able to verbalize cannot avoid verbalizing; it’s automatic. If the Martians know what ‘war’ is, then they have a word for it.”
Robert A. Heinlien, Stranger In A Strange Land
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