Stranger in a Strange Land
by Heinlein, Robert A
- Used
- very good
- first
- Condition
- Very Good/Very Good
- Seller
-
Portland, Oregon, 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-
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Details
- Bookseller
- Burnside Rare Books, ABAA (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 140943649
- Title
- Stranger in a Strange Land
- Author
- Heinlein, Robert A
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- G. P. Putnam's Sons
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1961
Terms of Sale
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
About Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- G
- Good describes the average used and worn book that has all pages or leaves present. Any defects must be noted. (as defined by AB...
- Gutter
- The inside margin of a book, connecting the pages to the joints near the binding.
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....