Conceptual Fiction: Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein - Page 3

Many of Heinlein’s most ardent fans are admirers of Harshaw, who to some degree is a stand-in for the author in this story. But for all his hard-boiled wisdom, Harshaw is one of the most confusing characters in the annals of science fiction. At various sections of the book, Harshaw is a lawyer, a doctor, a political lobbyist, or a pulp fiction writer, depending on the circumstances. He may be old and infirm, but he has a harem of women at his beck and command—who cook, clean and know stenography. What is this all about? In short, Harshaw is less a character than some type of wish fulfillment on Heinlein’s part.

But we forgive Heinlein these excesses. Stranger in a Strange Land is a magical, surprising book, and Michael Valentine Smith is a fresh character type, unconstrained by Raymond Chandler-esque precedents. The question of whether we can remake the human personality from the ground up has been pondered by Plato, Rousseau, Marx and many other great thinkers who shaped Western thought. Fiction is another technique for exploring this human potential for reinvention; and, especially during the 1960s, novelists took on this experimental, probing role with unprecedented fervor. Heinlein’s work ranks among finest efforts from this era, and stands out as a thought-provoking, exciting book even today, a half century after it was written.

Article Author: Ted Gioia

Ted Gioia is a writer and musician. He is the author of Delta Blues, The History of Jazz and, most recently, The Birth (and Death) of the Cool.

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