Robert Anson Heinlein

If you have never read anything by Robert A. Heinlein (RAH), then perhaps this will help you to choose a starting point. I will attempt to describe some of his books and explain why I find him to be not only the greatest science fiction author, but also one of the greatest literary minds of the twentieth century.

For starters, get a copy of The Past Through Tomorrow. This is a collection of RAH's "future history" stories by which he lays the groundwork for many of his later novels. This is not to say that his later work doesn't stand on it's own, but by reading these stories, one can gain a solid feeling for the universe in which he wrote.

He grew up in Missouri, in the early part of the last century (born in 1907), was an avid reader and good student. In 1929, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Acadamy - but his naval carreer was cut short in 1934 when he came down with tuberculosis.

In need of a job, he tried silver mining, politics and selling real estate (as well as continuing his education in engineering) before deciding to write his first science fiction story. He was immediately successful in selling his story - and he found the writing habit impossible to quit.

As with any good storyteller, RAH wrote to entertain. His stories are adventures, or mysteries, or thrillers. Most of his stories start out with dialog - exposition is kept to a minimum. The reader immediately finds himself drawn in to the story. If you want to just sit down and lose yourself in a book for a few hours, then you will never be disappointed with Heinlein.

RAH wrote about people - individuals and families. In fact, family is probably the strongest theme in most of his later works. Even so, his characters tend to be rugged individualists and Renaissance men and women. In the words of his most famous character, Lazarus Long: "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

There are many levels to Heinlein's work and references are strewn about almost carelessly (as if RAH could ever be careless.) If you want a deeper understanding of his stories (and also of RAH himself,) then here are a few pointers:

You may have to hunt through a few used-book stores in order to find a really good one. RAH loved to use uncommon or archaic words, and while it is usually possible to deduce their meanings through context alone, a dictionary can speed up the process.

Again, you might need to search through some used-book stores. Remember that RAH was born in the early part of this century, and that he was a naval officer. Much of the slang expressions in his books are derived from the military and most are from the thirties and forties.

RAH was extremely familiar with the Bible and he quotes from it liberally. A good concordance is also useful when tracking down more obscure references.

Heinlein seldom bothers to explain a reference that does not have a direct bearing on the story. However, by being armed with the proper reference books, it is possible to achieve a much deeper understanding of the universe that RAH has created.

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Stranger In a Strange Land

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