Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Stranger in a Strange Land

I was enjoying this upto a point, accepting of the outdated views as it was published in 1961, but the misogyny got too much for me. The final straw was when Heinlein had a female character say that 90% of rapes are partly the woman’s fault.

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littleclerk's review against another edition

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1.0

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zworlund's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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haleyshort's review against another edition

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adventurous funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Second Read:
3.5

I recommended this for one of my book clubs after reading “The Mountain in the Sea” because the questions about what it means to be human and how we understand justice and freedom reminded me of this book. I listened to it on this read and had such a different experience. I don’t know if it was the lens of having recommended it to a group of 11 people that I don’t know all that well or the listening or the having grown up a little since my last read but the icky parts felt so much ickier. At the end of the story I do still enjoy it and think that it has a lot of value as a part of the canon and in forcing us to ask some questions about why we live how we live. There’s a reason it was so influential. But the misogyny and homophobia are both so intense and gross and totally out of line with the philosophy of the book in general. Heinlein’s perspective really shines through, negatively, on those ends.

I don’t agree with others criticisms that the female characters don’t have agency - the narrators voice is misogynistic and there is clearly patriarchy in the world that they live in but they end up with a lot of power and control in the microcosm that is created in the final 1/4 of the book. I am really looking forward to discussing this (and hoping it hasn’t ruined my book club reputation).

First read:
4.5
This was such a joy to read. After reading “Job: A Comedy of Justice,” I knew that I needed to experience another Heinlein story. This absolutely did not disappoint. The casual misogyny and racism are countered by disarmingly progressive views about the nature of humanity and the capacity we have to connect with and love each other. The way that Heinlein frames and questions faith, love, sex, religion, brotherhood, and family will stay with me, along with the characters and their wonderful idiosyncrasies.

One line in the book made me incredibly uncomfortable, so I will add a content warning about discussions of sexual assault.

I’m a lifelong Atheist, with aspirations towards Agnosticism, but I am on board with the church of the Man from Mars. Thou art God indeed.

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madbarron's review against another edition

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Hugely misogynistic with brief pauses for old timey boring sci fi.

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swarmofbees's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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wispy_reviews's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I’ve said before that old Sci-Fi rarely ages well, this novel is my case and point.
This work is held as a cornerstone of modern Sci-Fi, which I don’t think is an unfair statement; the first half of this book had very interesting dialogue and self reflection on the role of religion and faith in modern day. That being said, the author’s other theses are gratingly misogynistic and homophobic throughout, spoken through a “genius science fiction author” character as a weak self-insertion. Themes of strictly heterosexual polygamy are a repeating pattern in Heinlein’s work, of which I’ve only read two but it’s funny that it’s happened twice.

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