Stranger in a Strange Land

As others have stated, the first half is decent, but it quickly devolves into some sort of sexual revolution utiopian fantasy. The main character starts out vulnerable and interesting but the author quickly starts god-moding him and it becomes tiresome and honestly a little disgusting. The author's vision of the future is twisted in a way that is supposed to be a farcical illustration of the worst in our present society, which seems like it was supposed to be humorous but really came off as miserable and frustrating. It was also supposed to generate disdain in the reader in order to push the reader into being more accepting of the utopian society that is then introduced, but the problem is the utopia doesn't look all that great either, especially since its ultimate fate remains in question at the end. I regret reading this book and I question the wisdom of sticking it out to the end.

A classic. The first half is really interesting, but second half sort of just becomes a 'free love' hippie-commune treatise. It's still worth reading, however.

Apparently a classic of the sci-fi cannon, I'd never heard of this book until it came up on a book club here. It took me a long time to read only because of lack of time, and a rather annoying trait the author has that I'll go into later. This is one of those books that tells us more about the period......more

This is a book that it seems like I should like. It deals with issues of religion, including a strong critique of religion as we know it, presents socially progressive ideas about sex and relationships, and relies upon a fundamentally humanist, individualist philosophy. In the end, however, I can't......more

An innocent and naive Marsian is heavily influenced and changed by getting in contact with humankind, a weird kind of hero´s journey to the shoals of primate nature. I would call it possibly his best work, as it deals with sexual freedom, the development of tribalistic rituals, colonialization and pr......more

I will state, without apology, that I have enjoyed every Robert Heinlein book I have ever read. Do I always agree with his philosophy or his observations on life. No. But he tells me a story, and while he is telling it, I don't put that book down. I don't read books to find authors who agree with me or......more

Stranger in a Strange Land could have been titled more straightforwardly Jesus Christ in pre-hippie America. This hefty book is, in a nutshell, about a Man from Mars (that is: a Man from Heaven), who lands somewhere in the USA, doesn’t “grok” (that is: understand) much about human culture, but start......more