Stranger in a Strange Land

Actually, with a title like I gave this review, people will probably be MORE inclined to check out the book! Well, if that's your thing, go for it. If I had it to do over, I would still have "read" the book. It's worth getting under your belt, it's a classic, etc. A neat combo of Ayn Rand and 1984, both of which I love. Then about 1/2 through, we seem to enter the Playboy mansion of postmodernism. It's fun, that's for sure, but it makes it a little hard to take Heinlein's ideas seriously when he keeps stripping everyone (especially the lovely ladies) naked in the middle of his philosophical treatises. I noticed the previous reviewer's note about the deadpan voice -- I actually thought it was HILARIOUS, especially to hear him reading the female voices (certainly the voices of the nude and tatooed). A fun romp, perhaps not as life-changing for this generation as the last.

Best story I have ever listened to. Full of delightful and colorful characters. A thinking persons science fiction. I had to immediately find the original unedited script released by Heinlein's wife after his death and request it for Christmas. First time I actually finished a sci-fi book and wished it was true, but you have to get it to grokk it.

I'm not a fan of science fiction but gave this book a try. I can't praise it enough. I don't think I would have enjoyed the written book as much. The narrator is wonderful and I will look for more read by him. Highly recommended.

I found the context of this book to be very interesting. The text is very well constructed. The deadpan delivery of the reader was quite boring. I often found my mind wandering...

This is a great book. The narrator is fine and does do some limited voice acting that helps you distinguish between different characters in a scene with ease. A previous review mentions somewhat dated values but that is to be expected considering the age of the book. The future imagined in this book is of course fiction but it is not unbelievable. I would recommend this book to everyone that enjoys a good science fiction book. Also if you have a player capable of handling mp3 CD's it is a lot easier to manage this on a single disk rather than the typical 8-15 CD's.

If you like Heinlein, you will like this. I like Heinlein because he addresses sociological issues and societal morays. There is little science in this story.

I read this book in high school back in the 1970s; I thought it was a great book then. My buddies and I used to go to the bottom of the pool to "grock" life and I believe it significantly impacted our view of women. But now reading it--well listening actually--at age 50, despite being an interesting story, the values it espouses have been really quite harmful to society. It really treats women as sex objects to be used at our whim—-not quite the view I hold to now with three teen-age daughters. Too bad we don’t have flying cars as the author predicted however!

GREAT BOOK!!

Probably one of the best books I’ve ever read, all the characters are great and the story is completely weird.

You wont be disapointed amazing story and narrating.

I've been reading and re-reading this boom for 40 years. It is only today that I grok a wrongness. In the chapter where Mike and Jill leave the carny life and stay in Las Vegas for a while, they discuss the vagaries of inter and intra personal relationships utilizing Duke's objectification of women as a focus. During this discussion Jill says "nine times out of ten if a girl gets raped it's partly her fault". The story is steeped in a patriarchal worldview and needs to be viewed in this way in order to see how far we've come, or not, in our sense of equality. Heinlein is a great storyteller and this book reveals the dominant ideology of the time and much more about his personal view and how it supports patriarchy, informing us, in many ways how misogyny found its way into government and thrived.

fantastic read! week worth my credit. And I want to point you a review. If you haven't read Gman's review of the book, it says much more eloquently and humorously that which I would like to say here. best part " you got to get it to groc it" if you haven't heard it yet you'll get a kick out of this in the late beginning of the book. the fun changes who develop growth throughout are what amazed me most about this book.

I had no idea about anything regaurdi g this book. It took a chapter or two and I was hooked. I loved the story the characters and the ideas of us as people as told by the story are in harmony with the way I think.

I loved this book when I first read it many years ago. Now I wonder why. It's dated. remarkably sexist and terribly homophobic. Its a future where people talk like World War two just ended. Such nonsense.

phenomenally good book, I've read it three times and it's great to have a 'voice' put to Jubal Harshaw.

I was expecting a Si-Fi thriller, but this book is about as boring and slow as boring and slow can get. I was determined to muddle through, until around the middle when it changes from a Si-Fi theme to just plain erotica. No plot, no action, just stupid. There are also some pretty offensive statements made about women throughout the book. Don't read this book if the idea of women being nothing more than sex toys for men bothers you.

This is arguably one of the great science fiction books of all time. The reason is because of strong use of allegory and metaphors. This book has so many things happening in it that you that the author craftily only reveals the books real premise at the very end. Make sure you listen to the entire book. You will be glad you did.

I always wanted to read a Heinlein, and some say this is his best, but I gave up after two discs. What bothered me most is the sophomoric dialog between characters, and the voice of the reader, unpleasant and unable to play multiple characters well (listen to Simon Vance for a first-class voice).

Great story and reader. Reader did a good job of being clear

This book was very slow and it never improved. Not a pageturner.

I've read this book twice and really loved it! Having someone read it to me was awesome! I love Heinlin and this is my favorite - - FUN FUN FUN!

boring, boring, boring...not interesting at all...boring, no way

Although well written, I found this one to be a little dated in its concept. The story moves at a good pace and kept me interested, however as the story progressed I found the overarching theme of ‘free love’ to be either sophomoric or perhaps even chauvinistic. I suppose if I had read this in 1962 I might have found it enlightening, but 45 years of social progress have left this story only a triumph to another time.

The most amazing part of this book is the fact that it was written in 1961. When I think of the free-love, communal, polygamous, get-naked society ideals, I associate them with the LATE 60's. The most disturbing aspect of this writing is the prevalent derogatory attitude towards women. As a man, I was offended. And I would not wish this read on my tree-hugging, hippy wife for all the martians on the 4th planet. In short, it's a good study of a mentality gratefully gone and a well-written, semi-erotic, but horrible story.

I had been told this book sparked the hippie movement in the 60s so I had to check it out. I was not disappointed. Though it is dated, this book was an eye opening experience. With wonder and awe; we see the world through Smith's eyes and question those things that make him wonder what is wrong with our world. I thoroghly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to all. I found it to be a bit preachy about what the author thought was wrong with the world and a LOT comedy. It made me laugh.

I read this boo as a young teenager so when I had the chance to listen to t again as an adult I jumped at it. While it is true time and distance make for better memories than the present this book still holds up well. My only complaint is the same one I had a as a youngster. There are far to many passages where the book lags and wanders. I just don't grok it. Go ahead and listen. Just skip the preachy parts and pay attention to the story line. It is still one of survival and peace and justice. Just with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Captivating, awesome reading of one of my favorite books of all time. A must-listen.

When I read the abstract that this was "the most famous science fiction novel written" I was very excited to listen to it. However, I don't think the book lives up to its hype. As a female listener, I found the book *very* dated - even keeping in mind when it was written, the female characters are relagated to sex roles. It took me nearly two months to plod through the whole story. I was extremely disappointed.

A plus. Never thought I wanted to read it, but whether or not you like science fiction, this is just great, top notch fiction. Very high end, but totally accessible. brilliant writing.

As with any really good audiobook, I was sad when I reached the end of this one. Although many of the scenario elements in the book now appear dated, the essence of the story is believable and entertaining. The best compliment I can give is that I tried to read the book (on paper) several years ago and got bored halfway through. This time I finished it and enjoyed it all the way.

Yes, this is a "dated" book, but it is still a great story even after all those years. The author captures the characters in a wonderful true way. This shows you that writing is timeless. Even if the future turned out different than it is discribed in this story, the story still works, because the characters work, the storyline flows. This is probably the best book I have listened to in the last 6 month. I enjoyed it very much.

Stranger in a Strange Land is one of the classic novels of science fiction, so I'm not going to comment much on the text itself. I'm sure anything that could be said about it has been said by smarter people than me. The reading of it is fairly decent. Voices are minimally affected - enough so you can tell the difference between the characters, but not so much that you're greatly annoyed by them. Pacing is smooth and even, and the reader's voice is pleasant - which is important considering how long the book is.

Its been probably 30 years since I read the book, and wasn't all that sure that I wanted the commitment to a 13 disc audio book. I am certainly very glad I did. It was great, reminding me about the difference between space opera science fiction and books that make you really think, that use science fiction as their backdrop. This book is for someone who enjoys a good story and wants to have something to think about afterwards. I highly recommend it.