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Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A.…
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Stranger in a Strange Land (original 1961; edition 1991)

by Robert A. Heinlein

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
10,930157620 (3.87)419
Classic Literature. Fiction. Literature. Science Fiction. HTML:Robert Heinlein's Hugo Award-winning all-time masterpiece, the brilliant novel that grew from a cult favorite to a bestseller to a science fiction classic.
Raised by Martians on Mars, Valentine Michael Smith is a human who has never seen another member of his species. Sent to Earth, he is a stranger who must learn what it is to be a man. But his own beliefs and his powers far exceed the limits of humankind, and as he teaches them about grokking and water-sharing, he also inspires a transformation that will alter Earthâ??s inhabitants forever… (more)
Member:spitzlvr
Title:Stranger in a Strange Land
Authors:Robert A. Heinlein
Info:Putnam (1991), Edition: 1st, Hardcover, 525 pages
Collections:Your library
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Tags:X-2

Work Information

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein (1961)

  1. 30
    The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein (persky)
    persky: An earlier book with a lot of parallels to this one, particularly in terms of the "Mike" protagonists.
  2. 10
    Only Begotten Daughter by James Morrow (paradoxosalpha)
    paradoxosalpha: Near-future SF centered on a Christian-type messiah from an unforeseen quarter. Both books combine satire with sentimentality, and neither caters to conventional piety.
  3. 00
    Steel Beach by John Varley (lesvrolyk)
  4. 00
    The Book from the Sky by Robert Kelly (bertilak)
  5. 00
    Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (hyper7)
1960s (7)
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» See also 419 mentions

English (147)  Spanish (2)  French (2)  Arabic (1)  German (1)  Italian (1)  Hebrew (1)  All languages (155)
Showing 1-5 of 147 (next | show all)
Loved it. The development of the main character is very well done, and his strangeness is very well described. I would have given it 5 stars, but I really have to subtract 1 star for the absolutely disgusting remark of one of the women (!) who states that in most cases, if a woman gets raped, it is partially her fault. Really?!? Eugh... It's such a shame, because I really liked almost everything else. ( )
  zjakkelien | Jan 2, 2024 |
Disappointing. But with some interesting ideas. I thought it would be "utter classic" and more like Asimov, but it's more of a VERY 60s70s hippie (very sexy, very sexist) idea of SF. Which made it kinda interesting read as a period piece. Not that it's set in the 60s/70s but has very much of that era's ideas of what SF future would be (esp. RE free love) and I think that's why it must've been a phenomenon upon release. ( )
  dtscheme | Jan 1, 2024 |
Interesting premise, but incredibly sexist (in a way that feels like it might've been progressive for its time, but still gross). It was also pretty handwavy with the magic system, and the Martians weren't really compelling in that we didn't really hear much about them. Mike was supposed to be doing things in a Martian way, but Martians were ungendered and most of his interactions were gendered so it wasn't really clear how Martians interact with one another. Also ignored was what physical form they took, how Mike survived on Mars, and several other issues that made the set up not really feel well thought through. The group marriage bit was interesting but portrayed creepily. ( )
1 vote stardustwisdom | Dec 31, 2023 |
Heinlein's rear view mirror of the culture as seen by the man from mars seemed so mind expanding to me in the 70's at the age of 15; now, at 55, the patronizing man-splaining can barely be endured, but I persisted because Michael Valentine Smith is a beautiful character, making angelic choices. ( )
  jennifergeran | Dec 23, 2023 |
A disappointment. I understand why it caused a stir upon publication, but I don't think it aged well.

Heilein's intent was by turns obvious and opaque. Maybe his quasi-religious/metaphysical themes seemed more original to readers of his day, but even allowing for that - all the other stuff - the paternalistic chauvinism borderline misogyny, the laser focus on sex (he get points for expressing both homophobia AND homoeroticism in one book, though,) the ideas about gender, the Americentrism,) not to mention the dated ideas about science, space, and the future - is distracting from his Big Message.

Even so, my biggest complaint is that the book was simply dull.

Perhaps I just do not grok it fully.


Big Spring, Texas
Libby Ebook - Nashville Library
June ( )
  Kim.Sasso | Aug 27, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 147 (next | show all)
The great falling off in the quality of Heinlein's work came during the period that brought "Stranger in a Strange Land." Jubal Harshaw--who says things like "What the self-styled modern artists are doing is a sort of unemotional pseudo-intellectual masturbation"--is the first of a series of pompous libertarian windbags whose oral methane makes all of Heinlein's later tomes into rapidly emptying locker rooms.

Most of the material added to this new edition seems to consist of speeches by Jubal, and the rest of the new material includes nominally "shocking" sections that, aired in 1990, are glaringly sexist. For instance, lovable Jill volunteers the opinion that "Nine times out of ten, if a girl gets raped, it's at least partly her own fault."
added by SnootyBaronet | editLos Angeles Times, Rudy Rucker
 

» Add other authors (66 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Heinlein, Robert A.primary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bergner, Wulf H.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Boyle, NeilCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Dirda, MichaelIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gällmo, GunnarTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Giancola, DonatoIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Heinlein, VirginiaEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Holitzka, KlausCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hundertmarck, RosemarieÜbersetzersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hurt, ChristopherNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lundgren, CarlCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Nottebohm, AndreasCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pennington, BruceCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Santos, Domingo,Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Warhola, JamesCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
White, TimCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Once upon a time there was a Martian by the name of Valentine Michael Smith.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Please distinguish this edited first publication of Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) from the "original, uncut" version (1991). This would be ISBN #s 0-399-13586-3, 0-450-54267-X and 0-441-78838-6 and Science Fiction Book Club editions of 1991 (#17697 and a leather bound edition). There is a 60,000 word difference between the two. Thank you.
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Classic Literature. Fiction. Literature. Science Fiction. HTML:Robert Heinlein's Hugo Award-winning all-time masterpiece, the brilliant novel that grew from a cult favorite to a bestseller to a science fiction classic.
Raised by Martians on Mars, Valentine Michael Smith is a human who has never seen another member of his species. Sent to Earth, he is a stranger who must learn what it is to be a man. But his own beliefs and his powers far exceed the limits of humankind, and as he teaches them about grokking and water-sharing, he also inspires a transformation that will alter Earthâ??s inhabitants forever

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