Title: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Author:Robert A. Heinlein
Genre: Science fiction
Length: 13h
Audio publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Read by: Lloyd James
Rating: 4/5
Summary:
It is a tale of revolution, of the rebellion of the former Lunar penal colony against the Lunar Authority that controls it from Earth. It is the tale of the disparate people—a computer technician, a vigorous young female agitator, and an elderly academic—who become the rebel movement's leaders. And it is the story of Mike, the supercomputer whose sentience is known only to this inner circle, and who for reasons of his own is committed to the revolution's ultimate success.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of the high points of modern science fiction, a novel bursting with politics, humanity, passion, innovative technical speculation, and a firm belief in the pursuit of human freedom.
My Thoughts:
It took me a while to get use to the Luna speak compared to earthly speak. I couldn't figure out what was going on or why the language was so rough and unpolished and choppy. Eventually, though, I found the rhythm of it and settled in just fine -- I didn't even notice it after a while. It makes sense; Luna started off as a penal colony and has since developed completely separate from Earth. Luna does trim down the language and use as efficient as possible.
I will say this my favorite "character" in the book was Mike. Yes a super computer was my favorite. I was saddened to see what happened to him in the end of the book. Nobody was quite sure what happened to the super computer he did not respond back to Mannie after revolt was over.
Throughout the book it was scary to see what knew about anyone and everyone on a drop of a hat. I think that Heinlein hit this nail right on the head. Considering that this book was published in 1966. It was like reading a Clarke novel. So close that it is scary.
All in all, though, this is a novel about politics -- a very complex, deep, intellectual and sophisticated look at politics, government, revolution and war. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress has a very definite world-view and political philosophy, some of which I agreed with, and some of which I really, really didn't. My agreement (or lack thereof) with the politics espoused in this book didn't seem to have much bearing on my enjoyment of it. This is a book that requires the reader to think. This is something that some books these days are lacking. Look and some of the books that the teens these days are reading like the Twilight Series.
So if you need a book that make you think this you pick. I want to thank Andrea from Little Red Reviewer for recommending this book to me to read.
Author:Robert A. Heinlein
Genre: Science fiction
Length: 13h
Audio publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Read by: Lloyd James
Rating: 4/5
Summary:
It is a tale of revolution, of the rebellion of the former Lunar penal colony against the Lunar Authority that controls it from Earth. It is the tale of the disparate people—a computer technician, a vigorous young female agitator, and an elderly academic—who become the rebel movement's leaders. And it is the story of Mike, the supercomputer whose sentience is known only to this inner circle, and who for reasons of his own is committed to the revolution's ultimate success.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of the high points of modern science fiction, a novel bursting with politics, humanity, passion, innovative technical speculation, and a firm belief in the pursuit of human freedom.
My Thoughts:
It took me a while to get use to the Luna speak compared to earthly speak. I couldn't figure out what was going on or why the language was so rough and unpolished and choppy. Eventually, though, I found the rhythm of it and settled in just fine -- I didn't even notice it after a while. It makes sense; Luna started off as a penal colony and has since developed completely separate from Earth. Luna does trim down the language and use as efficient as possible.
I will say this my favorite "character" in the book was Mike. Yes a super computer was my favorite. I was saddened to see what happened to him in the end of the book. Nobody was quite sure what happened to the super computer he did not respond back to Mannie after revolt was over.
Throughout the book it was scary to see what knew about anyone and everyone on a drop of a hat. I think that Heinlein hit this nail right on the head. Considering that this book was published in 1966. It was like reading a Clarke novel. So close that it is scary.
All in all, though, this is a novel about politics -- a very complex, deep, intellectual and sophisticated look at politics, government, revolution and war. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress has a very definite world-view and political philosophy, some of which I agreed with, and some of which I really, really didn't. My agreement (or lack thereof) with the politics espoused in this book didn't seem to have much bearing on my enjoyment of it. This is a book that requires the reader to think. This is something that some books these days are lacking. Look and some of the books that the teens these days are reading like the Twilight Series.
So if you need a book that make you think this you pick. I want to thank Andrea from Little Red Reviewer for recommending this book to me to read.
As much as I LOVE this book, I can't even imagine listening to it. Manuel's odd dialect, and the buckets of slang had to be near impossible to follow.
ReplyDeletethe end always makes me cry. Every damn time, even though I know what's going to happen. :( I'm working on my review, should be up tomorrow.
Listening to the book did get kind of hard at times. I was able to understand for the most part throughout the book. I was replaying tracks to see make sure what he was saying throughout the book.
ReplyDeleteI hope that you used some good Kleenex for the end of the book.