Man On Mars
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.
Seems interesting~
ReplyDelete