I have to say, no matter how much I love Heinlein, every time he takes a break from storytelling to shout from a soapbox about his particular political theory, I really want to throw something at him.
I have to say, no matter how much I love Heinlein, every time he takes a break from storytelling to shout from a soapbox about his particular political theory, I really want to throw something at him.
race, gender, and science fiction is the fall 2007 course website for english 168 at pomona college in claremont, california.
It's true. For the most part, Starship Troopers is gripping, interesting, and so forth, and then there are pages upon pages of "History and Moral Philosophy" that's some mixture of obvious and preposterous. It's really unconvincing when he backs up ideas with events of fictional history that haven't happened - to the point where I begin to wonder to what degree we're expected to disagree with the ideas he puts forth. Are we supposed to buy into the idea that mankind has no inalienable rights (pg. 119)? I haven't been able to puzzle it out.
What's even more troubling is that Stranger in a Strange Land has a whole set of Heinlein soapbox lectures that are vastly different in tone - at least, so it seems from my recollection of that book.
I'm totally with you on that one. He takes on this 'oh you silly humans' tone - like, 'why would someone ever think that? it's so ridiculous! '