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Title: Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlein ISBN: 0345340396 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 1991 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67
Rating: 4
Summary: A Heinlein classic
Comment: I'm a huge fan of the Heinlein juveniles from way back, namely about seventh grade on. But for some reason I cannot fathom I bought Red Planet but just didn't get around to reading it. Not until my late '20's, when a friend who was a recent convert to the series strongly recommended it, did I finally read Red Planet, and it confirmed a long-held belief: That an adult can get just as much entertainment from these books as a kid. It's fun to note the Heinlein stand-in character, Doc MacRae, who is basically a mouthpiece for the author's opinions, but an amusing one. And what a delight that the Martians are the same as the ones in Stranger In A Strange Land, water ceremonies and all, but without the claptrap of the later book. Another major delight of the novel is Willis, perhaps the first example in Heinlein's work of a boy's alien "pet" that would turn out to be much more (Heinlein would expand on this notion with The Star Beast). Finally, when my son demanded I read him Red Planet recently, and after being cautioned that it had no pictures he greatly enjoyed it, this became one of my all-time favorite Heinlein juveniles. By the way, this new edition has a couple of extra paragraphs at the end; the slight extra doesn't really affect the story though.
Rating: 5
Summary: The uncut version of Heinleins's classic juvenile novel
Comment: Red Planet is one of Heinlein's most enjoyable, best selling, and important juvenile novels. It's hard to think of it as juvenile fiction, though, because it is a fantastically fun read which introduces thought-provoking ideas on sociological and otherwise adult subjects. Of course, this was not always the case. Alice Dalgliesh, Heinlein's editor at Scriber's, objected to several themes and ideas in the original manuscript, much to Heinlein's justified consternation. He eventually gave in and removed several sections, including a couple of pages about the legal use of guns by the young boys in his Martian world and a section centering on the production of eggs by the fuzzy little bouncer Willis--she eliminated every mention of sex in the book, despite the fact that each such mention was beyond innocuous. Heinlein floated the idea of listing her as the co-author, wanting her to take some of the blame for a novel that he himself felt no pride for, fearing that Dalgliesh's hatchet job had produced a story that would harm his reputation. It actually became a fan favorite, and now we can read it complete and unedited, the way RAH originally intended it to be read.
Jim Marlowe is a youngster living on Mars, and he has a "pet"-friend named Willis. Willis is a "bouncer," a furry little guy of some intelligence whose most amazing quality is an innate capability to reproduce exactly anything he hears. Jim takes Willis with him when he and his friend Frank go off to school. The new headmaster makes life miserable for all the boys with his military discipline, and he has the audacity to take Willis away from Jim and lock him away in his office. A bold rescue attempt by the brave lads manages to recover Willis before the headmaster sells him off to the London Zoo, but the friends' joy soon turns to surprise when Willis plays back a conversation he overheard about the Company putting an end to the seasonal migrations on Mars. This means that Jim's family in the South will be forced to remain where they are all winter, where the temperature easily falls below one hundred degrees freezing. Now it is up to the boys to escape from the school and somehow find their way back home (hundreds of miles away) and inform their families of the Company's intentions. Only their bravery and a little help from Mars' unique native inhabitants give them a chance to save the day. The Martians are fascinating in and of themselves; needless to say, they are something entirely different from little green men.
This is speculative fiction. It doesn't really matter that we now know that Mars is totally unlike the Mars of Heinlein's story. This is just a riveting adventure of two brave boys and their unusual friend. The story could work in any number of settings. The science is there to build the framework, but Heinlein never indulges in any significant scientific pontifications. I have no problem enjoying Heinlein's juvenile fiction, largely because the pace of the narrative rarely slows down from start to finish. This is certainly the type of story I loved as a boy, and I still love it. Despite Scribner's editor Dalgliesh's misgivings, the unexpurgated text of Red Planet is a wonderful story of loyalty, honor, duty, family, adventure, mutual respect between cultures, scientific knowledge, freedom, and liberty--the very best type of tale for youngsters to read and enjoy then, now, and forever. I can hardly even guess at how many youngsters became life-long science fiction fans as a direct result of having read this incredible novel.
Rating: 4
Summary: One of the better Heinlein novels that I have read
Comment: I can't say that I'm a huge fan of Heinlein's type of science fiction in general. The two books of his that I formerly read, Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers, both were based on interesting concepts, but fell victim to the author's preschoolish philosophies of religion and the military, respectively. While Red Planet is not entirely devoid of this type of analysis, its use is certainly limited in his so called "juvenalle" novel.
My interest in reading this book actually started when I was in sixth grade. Our class had to read Red Planet for an assignment. I think that there was even a cartoon series on Fox based on it. I don't remember liking the book a great deal then, but at that time I can't say that I had read a lot of sophisticated literature in general. I never did finish the book for school, and forgot about it for several years. I didn't know who Robert Heinlein was at the time, nor did I immediately make a connection with his later work that I read.
I guess about two years ago, I had a chance to see the horrible movie Red Planet for free. I was somewhat excited to see it, believing that I might be based on the book of the same title, but was sadly mistaken. I made me remember that I had never actually finished the book. I found it on Amazon, and later bought a copy.
I was originally surpized that the book was written by Robert Heinlein. After reading Stranger in a Strange Land, I though that his literature was mainly scifi that was used as a tool for this philosophies. Fortunately, this is not as much the case in Red Planet. While the story does contain several right wing message about the right to bear arms, and is obvisously a story about political autonomy, its core still contains and interesting and likable story. In my personal opinion, the book has more actual action and adventure that Starship Troopers, and a lot fewer, drawn out passages about Heinlein's personal beliefs. And there are Martians as well, unlike in Stranger in a Strange Land.
If you are not a fan of Heinlein, this novel is still quite enjoyable. It is somewhat childish compared with his other work, but this aspect adds to its universal appeal to all ages.
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Title: Have Spacesuit Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein ISBN: 0345324412 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 1995 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein ISBN: 0345353730 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 1995 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert A. Heinlein ISBN: 0345342445 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 1987 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Star Beast by Robert A. Heinlein ISBN: 0345350596 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 1995 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Rolling Stones by Robert A. Heinlein ISBN: 034532451X Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 1985 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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