Stranger in a Strange Land

Although this book is ostensibly set in the future, countercultural enthusiasts of the sixties were quick to claim it for their own, with its references to transcendental enlightenment, out-of-body experiences, communal living, and free sex.

It became a best-selling phenomenon as contemporary young people reacted positively to its iconoclastic attitudes. That's what happened to me, too, when I came across the book shortly before the move to the Bay Area that opened my eyes to the reality of the psychedelic sixties.

I have thought about this story, every now and again, since I first read it as a teenager. It is a classic for a reason. Elon Musk even named his AI project after a word from this book. You grok? Even though the story starts out with elements of first contact and space travel to Mars, I found it to be far more about an alien-raised human coming back to Earth with alien experiences — and some alien abilities — and how that plays out.

I am a big fan of exploring our shared human condition, as well as how… show more.

OK, this is an oldie by today’s standards. I read this when I was much younger (high school) and it’s just one of those books that stuck with me. Heinlein is a master of science fiction, and it shows in Stranger.

Between the 2nd and 3rd World Wars, an expedition was sent to Mars.  While on its way to the red planet, one Valentine Michael Smith was born. As the only survivor of the expedition, he was raised on Mars by Martians. Upon his eventual return to Earth, now post WWIII and run by politically powerful organized religions, and… show more.

I’m not a big sci-fi fan, but how can I make this list without including this title?

The book made quite an impact on me back in college and taught me that a good book in any genre is worth a read. The story centers on a human raised by Martians who comes to earth bringing disturbing insight into the human condition and the straight-jacket of accepted moral codes. He soon becomes a polarizing religious prophet.

Controversial when first published, it was the first sci-fi novel to crack the top ten of the New York Times bestseller list – and… show more.

Stranger in a Strange Land is about a boy named Michael who was raised as a Martian by Martians, who was brought back to Earth.  

Heinlein was a master at creating fictional cultures and weaving them into his tales. In truth, Michael is mostly the figurehead of that culture. The real story is about how he affected the lives of Heinlein’s other vivid characters and how the world at large reacted to him.

The story is so compelling that nearly an entire generation (myself included) adopted the language and customs of the water-sharing cult that Heinlein described.

A human being begotten on Mars, son of many men on one woman, brings heightened consciousness to earth, one miracle at a time. First, he must comprehend the illogicalities and paradoxes of human society. Mentored by a world-weary lawyer—an obvious stand-in for the author—the other-worldly hero draws to him an unlikely collection of disciples who he teaches to “grok” the essence of being human through the sacrament of sharing water.

Heinlein’s novel deals with peace, love, and happiness, plus interplanetary space, Mars, teleportation, mind expansion, and sexual freedom. It appealed to a wider audience than Heinlein’s earlier gung-ho, martial, all-American… show more.

It’s been many decades since I read this book but it will always stay with me. Storyline, details, many things fade. But at the time, it had a profound effect on me. I definitely related to Valentine Michael Smith, the protagonist human raised by Martians who had never seen another member of his species. And I’ll never forget the scene where he’s coaxed into a bath by his lovely, human guide. On Mars, water was rare and precious and powerful ceremonies were conducted around very spare amounts of it. So, for him, entering a tub full of water was an… show more.

Heinlein was another master at world building. If you’ve ever heard the slang term, “grok,” meaning “to understand something intuitively,” this is the novel where that originated. Published in 1961, you would think this book about a young man raised by Martians who goes to Earth for the first time (as an instant wealthy celebrity) would be too dated, but it’s a classic satire about Western culture that uses humor to explore concepts such as free love, individualism, and the dangers of mixing religion with politics. I had the privilege of having a few conversations with Heinlein back when I… show more.

Written in 1961, this novel is still provocative today. This story pushed me to examine my cultural assumptions, wrenching my certainty about many things that were easy to take as given.

Heinlein coined the word "grok" in this story, which had the (fictional) literal meaning "to drink," or to know a thing so well that you could love, hate, fear, and nearly merge with it, whether it was a concept, a person, a culture, or anything else.

That word is now in the zeitgeist, as well as the Oxford English Dictionary.