Man On Mars

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Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein




Stranger in a Strange Land chronicles the life of the man from Mars, Valentine Michael Smith, after being brought back to his home planet, Earth. Born to scientists who died during an expedition to Mars, Mike, a human, was raised by martians.  He understands their language, mannerisms , way of life and community. He was discovered when a second expedition was sent to the planet over two decades after his birth. The discovery of Mike sparked the curiousity of every human on earth and he was brought back to his home planet. Once there Mike had to adjust not only physically but mentally to this new planet. He had to adapt to the language, the movement, the lifestyle and the presence of other humans, not to mention the fact that he had never seen a woman until arriving to earth. Mike tries to adapt as best as he can to his new surroundings while also introducing his way of life and understanding to others.
                Interesting is an understatement when describing this novel. This was a complex roller coaster of understanding while at the same time extremely enjoyable. Mike, as he is called, doesn’t understand the simplicity of being human compared to the life that he lived with the Martians. The differences are very complex but understandable at the same time. Martians don’t believe in property, because everything belongs to everybody. They take part in cannibalism when one of their brothers "discorporates" or passes away.  They are in complete control of their body and mind.  It’s almost as if they operate on a different plane of understanding. Now Mike comes from this environment of selflessness to earth and he struggles to understand or “grok” what is going on around him. This book is all about understanding humans: how and why they interact the way they do, the complexity of having both male and female, the competitiveness between adults (instead of nymphs or children on Mars), the idea of possessions and money, religion and the idea of God and of course politics.
               I am not a huge fan of science fiction but Heinlein is considered one of the best for a reason. His imagination and creativity when taking an outside look at our culture is nothing short of amazing. This book was written in 1961 and the observations he makes then are just as accurate now. I found a lot of the observations he made extremely interesting and insightful. Sometimes we need to step outside of ourselves and take a look at the lives we lead and why. And it certainly helps to have an outsiders perspective as well.

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