Stranger in a Strange Land

What does a Stranger in a Strange Land do? Who is he? How do people treat him? Can you grok this novel? I love how this book goes from simply addressing a human from Mars who returns to Earth, the curiosity around him, his cultural difference from Earth and its customs, to man from Mars is god-like entity to be admired and worshipped.

Like this scene:

”…Feel like some breakfast?”

All four symbols in the query were in Smith’s vocabulary but he had trouble believing that he had heard them rightly. He knew that he was food, but he did not “feel like” food. Nor had he had any warning that he might be selected for such an honor.

It shows how a stranger might have trouble understanding language and culture, but it goes a bit beyond that because Smith thinks beyond Human culture to nearly believing that he may be ‘food’.

There are several fascinating examples of this throughout the novel and you think about how an ‘alien’ like Smith fills the species, culture and language gaps and instead of filling them transcends them.

Valentine as a character (or Heinlein as an author) is fascinating, to challenging Humans in the way they make love to challenging their religious beliefs and customs. There’s a ton of wisdom in this novel, and aspects will resonate with any reader. Hope you pick it up!

Mildly interesting to read if you enjoyed this novel: The Humans by Matt Haig