The passing of science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke reminded me that Robert A. Heinlein died twenty years ago. I used to live up the road from his barb wired compound in Santa Cruz. I think his early work from 1939-1942 holds up very well. His juvenile novels from the 1950s run a close second. People swear that Stranger In A Strange Land is his best novel but I like The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. Below are few of the more interesting examples of his work.Text stolen from DJCline.com.

For Us, The Living by Robert A. Heinlein

This is Heinlein’s first unpublished novel found two years ago in somebody’s Santa Cruz garage. Written in 1939, there’s a good reason it was not published in 1939. A Depression era navy pilot awakes naked in the mountain cabin of an exotic dancer in the 21st century. Only Heinlein would have two people, naked in front of a roaring fireplace, talk about economic reform. There is lots of talking and not much action, but the book does give you a good idea about how he developed his Future History series. It also gives insight into his New Deal politics and radical personal views. He gets most things right, like access to an information network and relaxed mores, but the characters still smoke tobacco.

The Fantasies Of Robert A. Heinlein by Robert A. Heinlein

Say what you want about his later work, these early stories are classics.

The Unpleasant Profession Of Jonathan Hoag is the story of a man who doesn’t know what he does for a living and it scares him. He hires a wisecracking detective couple to follow him and they get much more than they bargained for.

If you’ve ever seen Jim Carrey in The Truman Show movie, you will enjoy the paranoid fantasy called They. A man thinks he is being watched and he is right.

And He Built A Crooked House makes you think about hiring a contractor to build a house in earthquake country.

Fun reading that stands the test of time.

The Door Into Summer by Robert A Heinlein Text stolen from DJCline.com.

A man gets forced out of a company by a femme fatale and frozen for thirty years. He goes back in time and starts a competing company. He finds his true love and his faithful cat.

Expanded Universe by Robert A. Heinlein

I recommend the short story Solution Unsatisfactory about an alternate ending of WWII. No matter what happens we are faced with the dilemma of controlling weapons of mass destruction.

Job: A Comedy Of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein

A book about true love and perfect for Valentine’s Day. A man falls in love with a woman on a tropical cruise and finds himself in constant peril. Reality constantly changes in front of him and he is always starting over, experiencing one catastrophe after another until he is separated from his love at the end of the world. He gets her back but has to literally go through Hell to do it. This is in the same vein as Douglas Adams Dirk Gently detective stories.

Requiem And Tributes To The Grand Master

Edited by Yoji Kondo

After Heinlein died some fellow writers got together and said some kind words for him. My favorite eulogy is by Spider Robinson.

Tramp Royale by Robert A. Heinlein

Heinlein took a trip around the world in the 1950s and wrote a book about it. It wasn’t published until after he died for obvious reasons. A neat and dated time capsule of the world at the time. He could be cantankerous.

Copyright 2008 DJ Cline All rights reserved

Posted by dj in Books, Reviews [1,326 Views]