Book notes: Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein

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Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

Synopsis:

“Stranger in a Strange Land is the epic saga of an earthling, Valentine Michael Smith, born and educated on Mars, who arrives on our planet with “psi” powers—telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, telekinesis, teleportation, pyrolysis, and the ability to take control of the minds of others—and complete innocence regarding the mores of man.

After his tutelage under a surrogate father figure, Valentine begins his transformation into a kind of messiah. His exceptional abilities lead him to become many things to many people: freak, scam artist, media commodity, searcher, free love pioneer, neon evangelist, and martyr.

Heinlein won his second Hugo Award for this novel, sometimes called his “divine comedy” and often called his masterpiece. This Blackstone audiobook is the “as published” version, read from an Ace paperback published in 1987. The full, uncut text was not made available until 1991.” -Audible

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Opening thoughts:

For my fiction book of the month, I decided to pick this book up from my Audible Wish List. This book was mentioned by several guests in a podcast I listen to and it sounded interesting. Also, the reviews seemed good and it seems like a classic. Most of the sci-fi books I read tend to be within the last decade or so, so I figured it would be good to change it up a bit with this one.

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Key notes:

Part One – His Maculate Origin

Chapter 1

• They selected a small handful of compatible couples with diverse skills for the 3-year round trip voyage to Mars 

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

• Valentine Michael Smith was a human born and raised on Mars by Martians 
• Smith was getting rehabilitated to get used to living on Earth in a medical facility

Chapter 4

• Valentine was born out of wedlock, but his parents were smart and rich now
• By International Space Law, Smith is a sovereign nation and the owner of Mars based on his sole occupation of the planet

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

The writer/journalist Ben managed to get a visit with the supposed man from Mars, but suspected it was the actor they put on TV

Chapter 8

• Jill managed to go back to the room and found Michael there. He was able to walk and speak better
• Jill managed to sneak Michael out of the hospital
• They made it to Ben’s apartment and Jill helped bathe him
• Michael made the two intruders disappear instantly

Part Two – His Preposterous Heritage

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

• Jill found refuge with another doctor-lawyer that Ben recommended
• His name was Jubal Harshaw

Chapter 11

• Michael started to learn how to act like an Earth human and learned a lot really quickly with perfect recollection
• Harshaw suspected that Ben might be dead, but they can proceed with their search under the assumption he wasn’t 

Chapter 12

• They experimented and witnessed Mike’s telekinesis powers
• Jubal trained Mike to protect Jill but also to make guns disappear without harming the person holding it

Chapter 13

• Duke and Jubal discussed how the cannibalism of Martians is just a cultural and spiritual practice of respect, and how Martians are more civilized than human people

Chapter 14

• Jubal tried to explain what religion,truth, and God were to Mike
  • He also asked Mike if he knew who or what created the universe, and Mike said all living creatures are God

Chapter 15

• The police came but Jubal told Mike to hide at the bottom of the pool
• Mike was able to leave his body and look around like a ghost
• Mike made all the police with guns and wrongness disappear while he was spirit walking, then returned to his body until Jill came and got him from the pool
  • Then he kissed her, which was something he didn’t quite understand but knew it was significant

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

• Harshaw reached the Secretary General and managed to start the negotiations process. This prevented them from being taken away by secret police
• Jubal managed to negotiate for Ben’s safe return

Chapter 18

• Anne mentioned Mike’s kisses were amazing because he gave his whole attention and presence to it

Chapter 19

• Jubal got everyone ready for the conference full of important people

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

• The word “grok” is so all-encompassing that the best way they could describe it is “identically equal” “to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed”
• Jubal explained that he purposefully tied up Mike’s money to keep him safe, and free him from the curse of being wealthy
• He figured he would give Douglass all of the headaches to deal with Mike’s wealth and estate because he was too good of a politician to steal and he also had the staff to handle it
• Jubal effectively “killed” the Larkin decision (which would claim Mike as the sovereign king of Mars) by convincing everyone that Mike was actually just an Ambassador to the rulers of Mars, the Old Ones. This would stop the power struggle of people wanting to claim Mars 

Part Three – His Eccentric Education

Chapter 22

• Jubal and Jill discussed how to handle the loads of mail for Mike and decided that eventually, Mike needs to be able to handle and sort through it himself
• Mike learned a lot about the world from his mail and also started to understand how money was simply an idea that flowed throughout the world and society
• Jubal encouraged Mike to spend money, especially gifts for friends, but within limits and restrictions, and Jill helped give suggestions to Mike

Chapter 23

• Mike, Jill, and Jubal visited the senator’s church which was essentially a casino as well

Chapter 24

• The three came back and discussed religion further with the doctor 
• Mike had dinner and then kissed and had sex with one of the girls

Chapter 25

• Senator Digby was killed by Mike / “sent to heaven” and had a conversation with Saint Foster, the founder of the church/Angel who said he was originally poisoned by Digby and told him to stop complaining
• Jubal sensed a change in the dynamic of the household between Mike and the girls, but he felt grateful that everyone’s work and service was still good
• Mike told Jubal that he was going to leave but will come back
  • He needed to go with someone to help look after him, but it was Jubal’s decision
  • But he also recognized him as his “father” and promised to return 

Chapter 26

• Mike and Jill posed as a magician and assistant act in a traveling circus and called themselves Dr. Apollo and Madame Merlyn
• Jill reflected on how much Mike has grown and matured since he first came to Earth and now is more confident and self-assured
  • They also grew a lot closer 

Chapter 27

• Mike and Jill told Aunt Patty, a fellow carnie and follower of the church, the truth about Mike and being the man from Mars
• Aunt Patty became their water brother and told them about what the church was like

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

• Mike started to understand how the different religions of the world only had partial truths but not full wisdom and it frustrated him
  • He also questioned whether or not humans had Old Ones
• At the zoo, Mike saw monkeys beating up weaker monkeys which made him laugh
  • Mike discovered that people laugh because it hurts and laughing is the only thing that makes it stop hurting
  • Mike thinks that people laugh when there is a wrongness present
  • The goodness in a joke is in the laughing
    • It is a bravery and a sharing against pain, sorrow, and defeat

Part 4 – His Scandalous Career

Chapter 30

• Ben went to see Jubal about what Mike had been up to and his church 

Chapter 31

• Ben recounted his meeting up with Dawn and Jill

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

• Ben recounted how he left in a panic right before the growing closer / orgy with Mike and Jill started
• Jubal says love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own
• Jubal and Ben started to discuss and debate the morality of Mikes’s religion and how it’s not any more false than all the others that came before
• Jubal convinced Ben to give it another shot and he ended up staying when he went back

Part Five – His Happy Destiny

Chapter 34

• Someone tried to burn down Mike’s temple but failed
• Mike was arrested but everyone else was listed as dead, though they escaped

Chapter 35

• Ben explained to Jubal that Mike and Patty can teleport
  • It isn’t complex but just requires knowledge of the language
  • But everyone including Mike realizes they don’t need Mike, he’s just the Prometheus who discovered fire first and taught the rest of them
• Everyone met with Jubal and shared water
• Dawn also came to Jubal to grow closer, aka sex, and cried until he finally agreed

Chapter 36

• Mike confided in Jubal that the Martians used him as a spy to gain an understanding of humans and that they might possibly try to culturally take over humans
• Mike also confessed that he’s not as optimistic as his nest in their ability to convert all humans to their way of life, but Jubal assured him to rely on waiting and not rushing

Chapter 37

• Mike confronted the protesting crowd outside and allowed himself to be killed in front of them on TV

Chapter 38

• They ate Mike’s body and finally, Jubal understood Mike completely

Chapter 39

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Closing thoughts:

I thought this was a pretty good book. It’s definitely dated as is apparent in the cultural norms present in the book (notably the misogyny), but still a very unique concept.

I will say that I don’t think this book would be for everyone. It seems like there is a lot of “fanservice” as it depicts Mike’s nest as a utopia where people can have powers, make themselves attractive, and freely have sex or orgies with each other. It feels a bit much sometimes in my opinion. But that aside, everything else in the book is interesting.

I also enjoyed the concepts where they discussed religion and societal norms. In the context of a man from Mars who questions all of the social norms on Earth, it makes sense that he would find many aspects confusing. In many cases, these things don’t make sense to someone who thinks like a Martian.

Overall, a pretty good book and a classic in the sci-fi genre. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys this genre but not sure how accessible it would be to a large audience. However, if this were turned into a movie, it would be very interesting to watch.

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One Takeaway / Putting into practice:

The book was enjoyable but there weren’t many practical takeaways from it. However, I did note down one idea that I thought was interesting:

• People laugh because it hurts and laughing is the only thing that makes it stop hurting

I thought this was a unique point and while I don’t completely agree, I can see what the author is saying. Laughter can sometimes be a way to cope with a bad or uncomfortable situation. I think in those situations, that’s all you can really do is laugh. However, I will say sometimes laughter is simply a reaction to reality subverting expectations without any hurting present. But again, I think it’s an interesting observation coming from a man who had no experience with human customs.

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Nutshell:

Michael Valentine Smith, a man who was born and raised on Mars, comes back to Earth and begins to reconcile Earth culture and Martian culture.

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Similar books:

• Dune by Frank Herbert
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• Artemis by Andy Weir
• Lock In by John Scalzi
• Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

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Rating:

3/5

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