posted
I just finished Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land (uncut).
I'm curious what others thought. I liked the story, writing as well. It seemed to get a little slow for me in the middle, though. Am I way off base on this?
Also, Merry Christmas (it keeps coming sooner and sooner each year!!!)
posted
Well, I think the "uncut" version reads a little more smoothly than the "cut" version.
I know Heinlein worked on it from, oh, about 1950 or so...that he stopped several times along the way to work on other things (and some of the stops show)...that it was cut by editorial request...that most of that is in the opening intro by Virginia Heinlein that was in the "uncut" version I have, so you probably already know that.
...that the preachiness that dominated his later novels had its real start (or maybe its substantive start) with this work...and that, in retrospect, a great deal of the active plotting mostly in the first half of the book seems contrived and somewhat unbelievable...
posted
I read it way back in high school. Friend of mine lent me a copy when I asked him for an example of a good Heinlein novel. I haven't read any Heinlein since. But I think that was mostly personal taste of the story itself and the underlying message behind the story. I can't really remember between the middle and the end what exactly happened, as it's been awhile, though.
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