Alien Way (original 1965; edition 1979)

Bloke is only guy that can understand aliens to give humans a shot.

http://freesf.strandedinoz.com/wordpress/2012/05/the-alien-way-gordon-r-dickson/ ( )

The Alien Way is the old kind of SF in which you can hear the narrative cogs turning in service of an Interesting Idea. That said, it is quite interesting if you’re willing to look past a bit of smugness and inarticulateness both from the author and the main character. The Idea is an exploration of how a different species might evolve to develop a very different worldview / moral paradigm from humankind’s. I have a bit of a soft spot for old SF myself, maybe due to an over-susceptibility to nostalgia, but I didn’t feel like I wasted my time over this one. ( )

I first read this in high school. An unusual take on the hoary "first contact" theme. Good, but not great.