Because it was there

Over the weekend, I re-read Heinlein’s Citizen of the Galaxy.

I use the word “re-read” loosely, however; I am certain that I read it as a teenager but have no memory of the plot, characters or themes. This may be the first post in a series about the RAH books I read during those years – which would be all of the ones published before 1983ish – but can’t remember all that well. Because the biggest thing that I’d forgotten about Heinlein is how fiendishly enjoyable his books are, even if you have some qualms about some of the issues they bring up.
Citizen of the Galaxy is one of RAH’s classic juveniles: boy meets older mentor who is something of a genius, mentor dies, boy becomes man of honor after Thrilling Adventures. While the plot is predictable, the texture of the adventures make it worth the read.
Others have mentioned how seamless Heinlein’s worlds are but I’m always gobsmacked by them, even now. You know that the writer was only showing the iceberg’s tip of what he knew about any of his imagined outposts — like Jubbulpore or the Free Traders’ Sisu — but what he chose to show was exactly what you needed to know. All of the needful stuff is condensed into the man’s clear prose, which is never enamored with its own cleverness. In other hands, such concision could be a dull read but this reportorial approach works in Heinlein’s hands.
I’d also forgotten how academically-based a lot of his cultures are. Citizen has the subtext of an anthropology primer while it tells a fast-paced coming-of-age story that captures the scope and imagination of space opera. The ending – which falls just as Thorby, the boy in question, launches himself in a new direction – seems to imply that Heinlein was going to revisit Thorby’s continued quest in another work. Does anyone know if that was intended? Or begun? And have you re-read any Heinlein lately?
(A note, however, on editions. Unless you are a big fan of reading a book that doesn’t appear to have been proofread, avoid the U.S. Pocket Books publication. I suppose I should be happy that the book is still in print but wish that Pocket had forked out the extra cash for a decent proofreader.)

40 thoughts on “Because it was there

  • November 9, 2009 at 7:23 pm
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    To the best of my knowledge he never intended sequels for any of his juveniles – in fact, many of them ended that way (the "off to new adventures" sort of thing.)

    It truly is a great book – all of the juveniles are. I recently pulled them all out for my 11-year-old, and have been re-reading them as well. I do recall them seeming a little dated even when I read them in the late 70s, even though I loved them, but now I'd say only around half of them still stand up to a modern young reader: Citizen of the Galaxy, for sure, along with Have Spacesuit Will Travel, The Star Beast, Time for the Stars, Tunnel in the Sky, Red Planet, and Starship Troopers.

    Starman Jones, The Rolling Stones, and Farmer in the Sky are borderline, and Rocketship Galileo, Between Planets, and Space Cadet are just way too dated now. Eye-rollingly so.

    It's too bad nobody else has really taken up the mantle as far as hard SF for kids goes. I know there are a few good modern works, but they seem to be far too few and far between…

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  • November 11, 2009 at 8:12 pm
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    I agree on the RAH YAs–a formative influence for me, often reread.

    I did try to write a Heinlein YA in his voice, my 2nd novel: JUPITER PROJECT.

    Gregory Benford

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  • November 11, 2009 at 9:02 pm
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    I think Heinlein's juveniles have always been insufficiently proofed. The most recent edition of The Rolling Stones has trouble with quotation marks. And every edition of The Star Beast after the Scribners edition drops about two pages in the middle.

    Considering that Heinlein is, in the field of science fiction, the literary equal of Jane Austen (romance) or A. Conan Doyle (mysteries), this kind of treatment is pretty shabby.

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  • November 11, 2009 at 9:23 pm
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    I got my daughter to read Podkayne of Mars a few years back and she loved it. It stands up pretty well–partly, I think, because Podkayne's voice is so strong.

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  • November 21, 2009 at 4:23 pm
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    The original manuscript was cut slightly, but since it wasn't reissued (unlike, say, Red Planet) I'll stick with the author's version.

    The lack of proofreading is a problem. I'll add that most editions of Space Cadet let stand a similar error as in The Star Beast, albeit not at such length.

    The Star Beast error, though, does obscure a plot point.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 9:29 am
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    I am rereading Heinlein as well, but from the other end, starting with the World-as-myth stuff. And he frequently does that with the ending–not so much ending as just stopping. In "To Sail Beyond the Sunset," (spoilers) he spends the entire book with Maureen in prison, giving her backstory to set up the reunion with her father, she finally reveals herself to him, then suffers a major injury, then is rehabilitated. . . all with half a page left to go in the book. Couldn't he have just brought her home safely?

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  • December 3, 2009 at 9:29 am
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    I did read all of them in the early 1960s or so, and they were my real introduction to science fictions, which I continue to read regularly to this day.

    I am not sure though that I would consider Starship Trooper truly juvenile. Sure, I read it back then, but have reread it on multiple occasions since then, and still find it interesting. While still somewhat a coming of age story, the espousal of requiring military service for full citizenship remains an interesting thought, as the percentage of people who don't pay income taxes, but can still vote nears half in the U.S., and the number entering military service continues to dwindle.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 9:30 am
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    Citizen of the Galaxy was always one of my favorites. It still holds up after all these years.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 9:30 am
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    Citizen… scared me when I read it as a kid. The idea of being alone in the world was just too frightening to a kid who was surrounded at all times by lots of family.

    I confess to a real fondness for The Rolling Stones, not the least because Grandma Hazel shows up again in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and then in the multiverse later novels (not my favorites.)

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  • December 3, 2009 at 9:30 am
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    Having gotten hear from Instapundit, I thought that it was interesting that today he linked this article as well, which had me thinking of Citizen, one of my favorite Heinlein books.

    http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2009/12/02/john-brown-dead-slavery-marches-on/

    Someone should point the connection out to him.

    It basically jibes with what Heinlein was pointing out about our desire to ignore what we don't want to be true as societies and how that tendency will always allow dark things to fester if not continuously exposed and combated by us as individuals, even at great cost.

    The fact that there are many people out there in the world willing to call out evil for what it is and fight it, by their own choice, with disregard for their own safety and welfare is amazing and humbling to me.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 9:30 am
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    'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress' is my all time fav. Well, that and 'Glory Road' . . .

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  • December 3, 2009 at 9:30 am
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    Even the nice Heinlein editions get it wrong on proofreading sometimes. It grates on my nerves to read the new hardback edition of Moon is a Harsh Mistress every time I see "flat money" instead of "fiat money". Almost certainly a character recognition problem, but it's still wrong.

    And, fheywood, I like Starman Jones. Max is one of my favorite characters in the juves. Maybe because I come from just about as far out in the country as he did.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 9:30 am
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    Ah, I might just have to pull this one out and read it again myself. Easily one of my favorites. I might just follow it up with Starman Jones.

    Thanks for the nudge.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 9:30 am
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    I think Heinlein helped me become an Anthropology major, even or despite with the overseas upbringing.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 9:30 am
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    IIRC, he wrote CoTG and most of his "juvenile" fiction under contract with Boys' Life magazine. He certainly left it open for a sequel, yes, but I think he decided to move on to "adult" themed sf and didn't renew the contract.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 9:30 am
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    I strongly remember Citizen of the Galaxy and Norton's The Time Traders as the first full-fledged SF novels I ever read. (I was probably around 10 at the time.) I never looked back. I don't have as much time to read for pleasure as I used to (retirement coming someday, though), so I've fallen behind.

    I don't remember if I read Greg Benford's Jupiter Project, but I've liked a lot of his stuff.

    I do have an almost 50 year collection of Analog magazine, however. Go, hard SF.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 9:30 am
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    I recently re-read Have Space Suit and, just a week ago, The Number of the Beast. The former is the first SF book I ever read, and many of my friends say the same. The latter is a guilty pleasure — Heinlein beginning to show the signs that made so many of his last books painful to read, but in itself still entertaining.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 9:30 am
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    Citizen of the Galaxy is my favorite Heinlein book, really stands up, unlike some of the others. I read it when it as a boy when it first came out, and I reread it every few years to this day. The ultimate rags to riches saga with a strong Heinleinian moral tone.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 3:08 pm
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    Uh, anything that has vacuum tubes in its computers is dated. Not that he isn't great or that he didn't get a lot of the future right, but they are definitely dated.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 3:08 pm
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    As far as I can tell, I have read every book RAH wrote. Most of them multiple times. I read around four books a month, mostly SF. Almost all are poorly proofread, too many seem to rely on spell check. It also seems to me that there are no writers (or editors) these days who understand when to use "less" and when to use "fewer". I have been the managing editor of a monthly periodical, so I believe I have some idea what I'm talking about.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 3:08 pm
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    I recently changed my blog username from 'N. O'Brain', to Lazarus Long, so, yeah, I re-read Heinlein. A lot.

    And you're right, every time I pick up one of his works, I get totally absorbed into the work.

    BTW, did you know that "Starship Trooper" is a recommended book in the US Marine Corps reading list?

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  • December 3, 2009 at 3:09 pm
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    I recently re-read "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" – back in the day I had selected it for a high-school English thesis. It's interesting to see how well it stands up, particularly as a manifesto for radical libertarianism and self-reliance. It's definitely not a juvenile, although I wouldn't have any qualms about letting my 10-year old read it in a year or two.

    AFAIK, it was my first introduction to the concept of TANSTAAFL – it should be required high school reading for that concept alone.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 3:09 pm
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    Try Alexi Panshin's "Rite of Passage." It's a very well done juvie that could have been written by Heinlein.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 3:10 pm
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    In the Starship Trooper story Federal Service was required it did not have to be Military Service. It was just that Juan Rico only qualified for the MI.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 3:10 pm
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    Have Spacesuit Will Travel was one of my favorites.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 3:10 pm
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    I recently took a try at Revolt in 2100 and found it lacked the appeal for me at 60 that it had at 16
    I imagine some of the others might hold up well. I always thought Podkayne to be a wonderful role model for youmg girls. MarcL, above, shows proof. Much better than the flawed The Lovely Bones, which although very well written has an appalling conclusion.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 3:26 pm
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    Oh, sure, vacuum tubes in computers is dated, but only in this universe. What about the slightly different universe that the story takes place in?

    I find that this approach also works well when watching TV or movies, you know, where cars that go over a cliff always explode as they hit bottom or even as they are falling, or space ships that bank in outer space, etc. They all take place in alternate universes.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 4:25 pm
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    Let's not forget "The Puppet Masters", a wonderful allegory about Communist infiltration….

    BBB

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  • December 3, 2009 at 4:30 pm
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    Orphans Of The Sky is a great story, too. Just re-read it for the first time since High School (1968!) and it holds up really well. It and Tunnel In The Sky are my favorites of the juveniles.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 6:27 pm
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    I used to give Starship Troopers as a gift to anyone I knew who was planning to enter Officer's Candidate School or one of the service academies. I still would, but I haven't run into anyone lately who was headed there.

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  • December 3, 2009 at 6:27 pm
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    In the Navy I found myself doing fire control (weapon aiming) for anti-submarine warfare and found out firsthand how important it is to understand the math. Other operators just couldn't grasp the vector analysis and even with extensive computer support they couldn't put torpedoes on target.

    The bad part is that the Navy seems to have moved away from Heinlein's understanding…and now a lot of undereducated operators can't hit the broad side of a guided missile submarine. (Actually, you shouldn't shoot at the broad side of a submarine because that is an inherently high deflection angle shot. Try to line up for a down the throat or up-the-kilt shot because the trigonometry is better. Seriously.)

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  • December 3, 2009 at 6:27 pm
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    I remember as a kid in Orange County California reading that RAH lived in OC and I looked in the phone book on a whim and there he was! I regret having not made the call…but it does tell you about the man
    BTW when is "Orphans of the Sky" going to be made into a movie?

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  • December 4, 2009 at 12:37 am
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    Omnia mutantur, nihil obstat

    Heinlein would be glad the
    perspective has not shifted
    further during the Crazy Years;
    He would be sorry to hear that
    the current juvenile novels
    are all about vampires.

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  • December 4, 2009 at 12:37 am
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    I beleive that Baen is re-releasing some of RAH's titles

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  • December 4, 2009 at 12:37 am
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    Baen has recently republished a number of Heinleins and in doing so seems to have cleaned up most of the typos etc. The Baen edtions are also available as ebooks which I appreciate greatly

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  • December 4, 2009 at 12:37 am
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    There are very good audiobook versions of most Heinlein novels available for people with dreadful commutes (or for listening to while doing yard work, meal prep or any sort of task requiring the body but not the mind.) A big advantage of this method of "rereading" is that having to divert attention to an immediate demand is less problematic when you are essentially familiar with the material. I particularly recommend Lloyd James' readings of Citizen (he imparts a subtle Sean Connery inflection to Baslim) and Moon.

    Vacuum tubes are less an issue than RAH's ubiquitous slipsticks. I had a hard time explaining that to the daughter when we were passing car trips by reading RAH juveniles aloud. But the characters and issues remain as true as ever, so quibbling over technology strikes me as missing the point.

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  • December 4, 2009 at 12:37 am
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    I first read Robert Heinlein in the fall of 1953. (I think it was "Between Planets", but can't recall for sure.)

    Since that time I have read every thing that he ever wrote at least 10-20 times and still do so today.

    For me, Heinlein had a way of resonating with me that I have never discovered in any other writer.

    I don't care if the technology or knowledge about our solar system has gone far beyond what he presented. It's the story, the characters and how they interacted with each other and how they came across to me, that is important.

    Favorites: Whatever I happen to be reading at the time. Yes, there are some that I like a little less than others, but not by much.

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  • December 8, 2009 at 3:08 am
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    I have two boys, (11 and 10) oddly they still like to have me read to them before bed. Being well beyond Dr Seuss, I have started reading more involved books like Starship Troopers. I'll have to dig though the boxes of book I have in storage to find my copy of Citizen.

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  • December 8, 2009 at 3:08 am
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    I started reading Heinlein at age 10. I think it was "If This Goes On…", followed by a couple of other novellas. I still read Heinlein, although it's rereading since he died over 20 years ago.

    His juveniles were well written, especially considering what other writers fobbed off at the time. The science was factual, which added to the authenticity even though he was writing about events happening in the future. Most of his early books and stories, all over 60 years old stand up well.

    No one seems to write juvenile stories any longer, but I think that is because the book market has changed so much. His juveniles were released at the rate of about one a year and timed to hit the stores during the Christmas shopping season. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein_bibliography

    Starship Troopers, Citizen of the Galaxy, Tunnel in the Sky all touched on themes that are much bigger than the plot lines and now dated technology. Given what's out there these days, I expect I'll be revisiting my old friends for a long time to come.

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  • December 8, 2009 at 3:08 am
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    Space Cadet dated? Hardly!

    I would also put in a plug for Door Into Summer.

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