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Heinlein in Reflection: Robert A. Heinlein in the 21st Century
Robert Anson Heinlein was the Grandmaster of Science-Fiction, originator or populariser of many of the science-fiction tropes we take for granted today. Heinlein laid the groundwork for countless authors to follow, combining his engineering knowledge and experience with a knowledge of humanity to open vast vistas for his readers. His popularity remains undiminished, even three decades after his death. Heinlein remains one of the greatest science-fiction writers in history.
But is Heinlein still relevant today?
He could be - and still is, even by the standards of our time - very controversial. In his later years, he pushed the limits as far as he could. His characters were freethinkers to a degree even we find alarming, discarding the chains of their societies in a manner that could be both heroic and dangerously unwise. His books - and Heinlein himself - have been accused of being fascist, or sexist, or racist, or thoroughly immoral. Is Heinlein still a great mind? Or should he be forgotten like so many other writers of his time?
In this collection of essays, science-fiction writer Christopher G. Nuttall takes a fresh look at Heinlein’s books, assesses the accusations made against Heinlein’s work and concludes that yes, Heinlein is still relevant today...
But is Heinlein still relevant today?
He could be - and still is, even by the standards of our time - very controversial. In his later years, he pushed the limits as far as he could. His characters were freethinkers to a degree even we find alarming, discarding the chains of their societies in a manner that could be both heroic and dangerously unwise. His books - and Heinlein himself - have been accused of being fascist, or sexist, or racist, or thoroughly immoral. Is Heinlein still a great mind? Or should he be forgotten like so many other writers of his time?
In this collection of essays, science-fiction writer Christopher G. Nuttall takes a fresh look at Heinlein’s books, assesses the accusations made against Heinlein’s work and concludes that yes, Heinlein is still relevant today...
299 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 28, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 21, 2019
Balanced review of the Works of a SciFi Great
Heinlein wrote SciFi novels which had real people in them. None as grandiose as E.E. Doc Smith's Lensmen nor as scientific as Asimov's Foundation series, but more human than either of them. True, he struggled with female protagonists, but his contemporaries had cardboard characters of birth genders. Nuttall points out the genre creating role Heinlein played, and also refutes the revisionist logic that faults him for not being even more ahead of his time, both as a prognosticator and as a modernist. I like that indeed. Born as I was in the 1950s, I experienced Heinlein as more of a radical than Mr Nuttall does. I understand the restrictions of publishing even more because of what was available to read then. Nuttall's careful analysis echoes my personal experience, but I would have thought that there are enough of us around to ask or quote on the subject. Not doing that makes the book too much his personal opinion, even though I largely agree with him. Most comprehensive review of Heinlein I have read, which is a great positive. Recommended.
Heinlein wrote SciFi novels which had real people in them. None as grandiose as E.E. Doc Smith's Lensmen nor as scientific as Asimov's Foundation series, but more human than either of them. True, he struggled with female protagonists, but his contemporaries had cardboard characters of birth genders. Nuttall points out the genre creating role Heinlein played, and also refutes the revisionist logic that faults him for not being even more ahead of his time, both as a prognosticator and as a modernist. I like that indeed. Born as I was in the 1950s, I experienced Heinlein as more of a radical than Mr Nuttall does. I understand the restrictions of publishing even more because of what was available to read then. Nuttall's careful analysis echoes my personal experience, but I would have thought that there are enough of us around to ask or quote on the subject. Not doing that makes the book too much his personal opinion, even though I largely agree with him. Most comprehensive review of Heinlein I have read, which is a great positive. Recommended.
November 25, 2019
Fair assessment of Heinlein. Imagine.
I commend the author here for helping me finally get the taste of Alexei Panshin’s “Heinlein in Dimension” out of my mouth after all these years. Christopher Nuttall takes a look back at the Grand Old Man of Science Fiction in a fair manner, not blaming him for the times he lived in and rightfully praising him as being well ahead of his time in so many ways.
Nuttall all isn’t afraid to highlights RAH’s flaws as a writer (fair), but puts him into the perspective he deserves. Where Heinlein shone, he shone like a beacon and guided several generations of writers and thinkers — as well as engineers, scientists and educators — and will be remembered long after many of his contemporaries — and those who followed him — can only envy.
Where Heinlein fails, he fails. But he doesn’t fail because he did not try to reach far enough.
Nuttall disposes of the “scratch the surface” critics who have called Heinlein a racist, a fascist, and a mysogynist - rightly pointing out that his writing shows he was well ahead of his time in these areas. Nuttall recognizes and acknowledges that some of his attitudes were behind our current thinking - but way ahead of where we were when these works were written.
I got a sad chuckle out of Nuttall’s recognition that the election of Donald Trump echoes a bit of the rise of the prophet Nehemiah Scudder (“If This Goes On...”), and of Nuttall’s conclusion: “Fortunately, Trump is not a dictator.” This book was published in Jan. 28, 2019. I wonder what Christopher Nuttall would say about that paragraph now?
I commend the author here for helping me finally get the taste of Alexei Panshin’s “Heinlein in Dimension” out of my mouth after all these years. Christopher Nuttall takes a look back at the Grand Old Man of Science Fiction in a fair manner, not blaming him for the times he lived in and rightfully praising him as being well ahead of his time in so many ways.
Nuttall all isn’t afraid to highlights RAH’s flaws as a writer (fair), but puts him into the perspective he deserves. Where Heinlein shone, he shone like a beacon and guided several generations of writers and thinkers — as well as engineers, scientists and educators — and will be remembered long after many of his contemporaries — and those who followed him — can only envy.
Where Heinlein fails, he fails. But he doesn’t fail because he did not try to reach far enough.
Nuttall disposes of the “scratch the surface” critics who have called Heinlein a racist, a fascist, and a mysogynist - rightly pointing out that his writing shows he was well ahead of his time in these areas. Nuttall recognizes and acknowledges that some of his attitudes were behind our current thinking - but way ahead of where we were when these works were written.
I got a sad chuckle out of Nuttall’s recognition that the election of Donald Trump echoes a bit of the rise of the prophet Nehemiah Scudder (“If This Goes On...”), and of Nuttall’s conclusion: “Fortunately, Trump is not a dictator.” This book was published in Jan. 28, 2019. I wonder what Christopher Nuttall would say about that paragraph now?
September 3, 2023
I am big fan of Heinlein dating from my earliest memories of reading his juvenile books when I was a kid. And I did get recruited by Bill Paterson to manage the web site of the Heinlein Society for a short period, before someone with better skills took it over. So I have bona fides with respect to Heinlein. That said, I can be critical. Some of his stuff is not terribly good (e.g. I Will Fear No Evil; Farnham's Freehold). And I got this book because I am interested in the critical literature on Heinlein. So, how did I like it? There was a lot of stuff I disagreed with, and a lot I agreed with. And I think a lot of this hinges on the tension between extreme individualism and social responsibility. Nuttall falls in the camp of "SJW is destroying America", which is pretty weird to me, although it is arguably something Heinlein might have agreed with. Where I think Nuttall does a good job is in looking at Heinlein in terms of the time he was writing, and the constraints he was working under. Writing books for adolescent boys in the 1950s, there were things you could not say directly, but could only hit at obliquely. If you are a big Heinlein fan you might enjoy this book, but if you haven't read all of his books I doubt you will enjoy this volume; it really presumes a strong familiarity with his work. But I have that familiarity, and I mostly enjoyed it.
April 30, 2019
Must Read for Sci Fi Readers
I have read a few Heinlein books, and this book was eye opening. I read them more for fun, than doing serious analysis. I did not realize that the Hero of Starship troopers was Pilipino. It’s amazing how much Heinlein snuck soft his editors, and how that constrained him in his Young Adult ETA. Excellent analysis on how Heinlein laid the foundation for so many SF tropes / mainstays, that other authors built on. The book was an enjoyable read, I thought it was going to be boring, and I was happily proven wrong.
I have read a few Heinlein books, and this book was eye opening. I read them more for fun, than doing serious analysis. I did not realize that the Hero of Starship troopers was Pilipino. It’s amazing how much Heinlein snuck soft his editors, and how that constrained him in his Young Adult ETA. Excellent analysis on how Heinlein laid the foundation for so many SF tropes / mainstays, that other authors built on. The book was an enjoyable read, I thought it was going to be boring, and I was happily proven wrong.
August 21, 2019
Good, but gets rather tedious
It's interesting to read one person's s overview of Robert Heinlein's complete works. As a lifelong fan having read almost everyone his books multiple times I both agree and disagree with the author's opinions. For example I LOvE Door into Summer and Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. But couldn't finish The Cat or To sail beyond if you held a blaster to my head. Guess that's what make horse races. A solid read for any RAH fan.
It's interesting to read one person's s overview of Robert Heinlein's complete works. As a lifelong fan having read almost everyone his books multiple times I both agree and disagree with the author's opinions. For example I LOvE Door into Summer and Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. But couldn't finish The Cat or To sail beyond if you held a blaster to my head. Guess that's what make horse races. A solid read for any RAH fan.
March 13, 2019
Good reviews
Chris is thorough. I appreciate his willingness to approach the trigger points so well. I could have done without the inaccurate opinions about the current state of public education as those complaining about them believe in the exclusions inherent in private education as "good". SAD
...
Chris is thorough. I appreciate his willingness to approach the trigger points so well. I could have done without the inaccurate opinions about the current state of public education as those complaining about them believe in the exclusions inherent in private education as "good". SAD
...
March 3, 2019
A nice review of Heinlein’s major works. When I taught BASIC programming to high school students in the 1980’s I suggested my students read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to get an idea of where computer software/technology could be going.
December 30, 2020
Ironic
The criticism that some of Heinlein’s work could have benefited from more editing is very ironic. The current book is itself badly in need of editing.
The criticism that some of Heinlein’s work could have benefited from more editing is very ironic. The current book is itself badly in need of editing.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews