Brendan’s Comments (group member since Aug 08, 2012)

Brendan’s comments from the Not Quite A Topless Robot Book Club group.

I guess the saying " You can't go home again" fits for you here William. Sorry to hear that.

Brando Lars Here
I'm Assuming that everyone here has read the book I will skip over actual plot points and just describe what “I got” from the Tale”

While Reading Stranger in a strange land I was struck by the age of the novel. I finished the novel before inquiring about it's original publishing date and was in NO WAY surprised to find that it had been printed in the early 60's. For better or worse the story magnified many of the cultural changes that were taking place or on the cusp of occurring during that tumultuous time. When the Man from Mars was brought back to earth from his accidental exile on Mars and locked into Isolation I had a sneaking suspicion that it was to protect us from him as much as to give him time to acclimatize to his new environment, I have to say that I was a little disappointed to learn that nobody knew about his unique abilities. The Captain of the Champion had his suspicions but no actual proof. I enjoyed the cold logic of necessity that Michael employed when eliminating threats, harboring no malice, towards this obstacle just removing something because of a perceived "Wrongness" at the time.
More than the Starring characters in this novel I think enjoyed the supporting cast. Namely Jubal. I might even argue that he was the star of the book while Mike and Jill were just cogs in the engine designed to move the story forward. Jubal was a far more entertaining and better-developed character. I do realize that we (the reader were watching the development of Mike as an Egg into an Individuality responsible for his own actions but all in all I found that to be less entertaining than the elements with Jubal in them.)
Like Bri , the line from Jill regarding Rape stuck in my craw but I chalked it up to the age of the novel. I do actually remember shaking my head at that line.
I enjoyed the novel however I don’t feel that it deservers to be acclaimed as one of the greatest Sci-fi books of all time. I can deduce the metaphor of how we are all Michael trying to find ourselves as we struggle through life as easily as I understand the “You are god” greeting. Stating how here on this plane of existence every interaction we have with others has repercussions in their lives. Do we want to be the god of wraith that people are afraid to meet during their day or would we rather be a beneficent Deity who tries to leave things better off than how they found them. More often than not I tend to swing like a pendulum between both of these states, in the end I still hope that I do more good than bad in my life. But I knew this of myself before I read Heinlein’s tale.