reading & read | cmr

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein

This was given to me by a co-worker who plopped it on my desk one day and unceremoniously announced that I would appreciate it. Always hoping not to disappoint, I picked it up. I was just finishing something else that I neglected to post here (for reasons I have also forgotten), and was pleased to have something chosen for me to read.

I don't know much about Robert Heinlein, which is to say, I don't know anything about him, other than what is offered on the first introductory pages of the novel. For instance, a crater on Mars was named after him. Nor do I read much Science Fiction. What I have read, though, was carefully suggested by friends, and I tended to enjoy all of them, such as: Neuromancer by William Gibson (so much so, in fact, that I still have my copy of Pattern Recognition, unread, but with intentions of being so), The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, that I absolutely loved, and some other wayward pieces. Despite loving them, though, in all cases, it's been the same: they take me longer to get through. I can't get in the thick of the plot, on the edge of the seat, in the mask of the author. I read some, I put it down, I read some more. Often times, the compulsion to finish is more driven than the compulsion to finish the story. By the last third of the book, I can scream through it... but it takes a while to get there. Understand what I'm sayin'?

Much like with The Diamond Age, I wished for more coffee shops with free coffee and warm comfortable tables, because I think that if I had that opportunity, I would have drank the book in like hot chocolate (but cooled enough to take good long drags of, you know?). Luna - the Moon - a prison ground for wayward mishaps of Earth (Terra). They have developed, they have adjusted, they live in a society not at all like that on Earth. And their livelihood, their freedoms, their basic needs are threatened by a government far away treating them as slaves. Luna does not want to be a slave. To anybody. They live solely for the things they need and they work for those things. As the motto of the book clearly indicates: TANSTAAFL! "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!" - or free air! Everything on Luna is produced. Everything must be paid for. Everything must be created and that means that if you want it, you best be prepared to work. The Terrans feel that they should do nothing for the essentials that Luna provides (such as grain), and the Loonies (Luna residents) disagree.

With the help of an old professor, a sexy six-foot beauty queen, a computer tech with eight arms, and a computer that learns to breathe, Luna works to become free.

It was fascinating. I enjoyed it one-hundred percent. One thing though. I asked a sci-fi loving, reader friend if he'd read it. He said, "I read that book when I was 13 and it changed my life." I don't know how, and I'm not sure when I'll be ready for the conversation, but I'm curious until then...

Currently reading: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. And because I'm shameless, I'm adding a link to my Amazon.com wish list to my site. I want more! More, I tell you!

posted by christen roberts @ 8:43 AM