Stranger in a Strange Land: Review of....

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Heinlein is a master of the literary craft.  Here in Stranger in a Strange Land he interweaves human relations, large ideas (theology), and the art of the story. The story a Stranger in a Strange Land takes place in a New America, that is one world ordered hegemony.  The world has made missions to mars and has set up a space colony there.  The space colony had been deserted on the planes of Mars.  The man from mars is found after many years of exposure to an alien race. The climax resolves whether Michael Valentine Smith will be excepted by the people of Earth.  At times this book gets bogged down in Heinlein's philosophy, so it can be a difficult read. 

What I liked about the book is its deep analysis of Faith. Heinlein first looks at the cult of the Fosterites. A cult where everyone is happy, and everyone thinks as a one happy unit.  (I would like to go deeper into describing the Fosterites, but I am afraid that this would lead you down a rabbit hole and would maybe bore you deeply.) 
Then he looks at how Michael Valentine Smith twists the Abrahamic religions to make a cult that combines elements of Confucius, Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, and Judaism.  
The religion is based on the wisdom of the old ones (Confucius).  (I am only all that I Grok.(Buddhism)) The perfect wisdom of the elders is not to be disputed at all.   The cult members become entwined by a sharing of water together.  They see each other as all Gods.(Brahman Hindu)  Thou art god and so are my Guinea pigs and Lovebird.  The religion replaces God and put man in God’s place, this allows man to worship created things.
When God’s proper place, to be above all, is replaced all is left in Chaos.  A chaos I imagine to be like the ending of the Demolished Man by Alfred Bester.  This chaos is a place of no form at all, the lizard eats his own tail and poof he is no longer. 
Because man is now God like, the divine things are the things that connect man in deeper communication.  Sex is seen as sharing deeper with many people.  The communal orgasm is sacred, a great religious experience.(Athenian Greek Goddess Cults)  Cannibalism is the holiest way to die for it is taking the spirit of the other deeply into the body of the collective (Native American Ritual).
Stranger in a Strange Land  raised the questions: 

What does it mean to be both God and man? 

Why could not Joseph and Mary give birth to the messiah? 

Why did it need to be a virginal birth?    

What becomes lost when the Messiah is merely a superman?

(Loved this book and Clucked it Loud)



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Ramblings of Greg 7.2.

I am not writing well today.  Nothing is really that bad, it’s just one of those other days.  It has been a lazy morning here in Florida.  It has been rainy and the clouds hang low like a present rumor.

My wife plays the guitar in the other room. Her soul soars on high.  

Sometimes writing is difficult, there really is not much going on. 

But you need to write every day, no matter what!   So today I sit here trying to think of what to say that might be somewhat positive.  

My arm hurts. Probably from cutting too much meat, filling customer orders, and cleaning up.  Why does ones ears not hurt from listening too much?  

Tonight I will be going to feed the homeless at Munn Park from old Chinese carry out containers, and food made by my friend Miguel Vazquez.  

Cheers to my Nederland friends, and the three guys I met in Israel.   We had a blast partying in the Old City of Jerusalem in 1997, London Underground, Arizona Bar, and spending all my money so that I had to borrow some to get back to Egypt.   I have never planned very well, and have had to rely on the courtesy of strangers.  I have learned  a lot from these adventures though. I am so happy that y'all beat those brats from San Paulo.  

On the Craft of Writing: Notes from Winesburg, Ohio

 I don't really have the money to get an MFA in writing.  But I know one way to improve my writing, read great authors, and those that influenced great writers.   Sherwood Anderson influenced Henry Miller, and now I know why! I have taken some writing notes on Sherwood's techniques that I hope you will find helpful.    I am not looking for a formula, but understanding the frame of the craft allows the writer to express his/her thoughts well.   

In order to understand (the man or woman) we need to go back to an earlier (period/day/era)
Root the Character to the American Spirit: By the standards of the day
True to the traditions
"He was a man born out of his time and place and for this he suffered and made others suffer." 
Everyone retired into the background.
He could master others but he could not master himself. 
Show desires, what moves the person, motivations
did not intend (Specific Evil) Show that the man is acting naturally and that naturally this is what comes about.
How does the Character see the times?
When you take the character to the wall pan out and give a panorama of the Zeitgeist, the spirit of the age.
Describe the setting of the Character.
Show motivations through a glimpse into private prayers said with the doors closed, and the lights turned low! One can also do this by revealing the words said in a conversation, words twittered, emails, letters etc.

Reprint:

Toy Publix truck on mantle,
Van Gogh Flowers Poster
Flogging Molly Banner
Mountain Riders Maui Poster 242-9739
White (the hero's color) Cowboy hat from Ocala
Cologne: Burburry London for Men
Obsession Silken Body Lotion C.K.
Compass pointing out Due North
Date Jar full of Dimes
Wind in the Willows Poster from London's National Theater
My bedroom lies cramped with so much character.   

Mayfair by the Lake: Haikus

Dad and I hike up

through dewy laid state park, 

gray slug crawls on moss.

                        - Gregorio Roth

Up way too early, 

have to put up the Artwork,

I need coffee now!

                 - Jessica Baylor Rothbard 

These Haiku were written by my wife and I, the morning of Mayfair by the Lake. The influence for Gregorio Roth's poem is a recollection of a hike my dad and I took at Ecola State Park, Oregon.   It was a rainy day and we witnessed a Slug slurping up a leaf; it was amazing to see something so slow, yet progressing steadily consuming a whole leaf.    I hope you enjoyed them.
Mayfair by the Lake

Clucking my Writing: Acts 20:19 If Paul was a Member of NWA

(from an earlier post)
Life in the streets is just a head game
Pagans only want you to stay down
Labeling me a flesh eater,
driving me out!

Why do I call myself a Christian you ask
Because my mouth is dirt monkey nasty
Christ deliver us from a deadly adversaries...
Yo! I'll be a Christian for Life.

Moon Pies of Romance: North Dakota Lake

I was a purple clad Viking lover, red white and blue flag waving, parade loving, three foot celebration of a tale. The tale that filled up my dreaming life was the one told about a lake house in North Dakota. I dreamt of flying above the lake like a Canadian goose, only I was wearing cute little mouse ears on my head. I was told that if I wore the hat my dreams would surely come true; my dreams would happen for me.
I dreamed of sailing a little boat into the middle of the lake. I dreamed of diving from the boat into the middle and breaking into the deep crystalline surface. I would then swim down and collect rocks from the bottom. I would show how strong I was to my grandfather. Life would be broken open and made newly awesome. My grandfather’s lake pure and simple remained a dream. In a way I am glad that my dream of getting to the lake did not occur. The inability forced me to dream big and search for the hidden treasures found in America.

Forever War Notes

Hatching a Population

Triangulation

Science fiction important to know when book was written, 1974

New technology is only effective for a short window of time before the other knows how to defend itself.

Days to Contact .00001
11 .001514
15 .032164
20 .103287
25 .676324
30 .820584
35 .982685
40 .993576
45 .99369
50
Mediam
28.9554 .5000

Space presents problems for defense
Taurans primes and powers of 2

FOrever War by Joe Haldemann

Greg's Journal of Found Things I

Tuesday last, I was asked, if I had ever read any Annie Dillard. I said no, feeling regretful. Tuesday afternoon, I went online and requested "for the Time Being by Annie Dillard" from the Lake Whales Public Library. Here are a few notes from my reading so far:

"I am on the field."

"The hospital like every other, is a hole in a universe, through which holiness issues in blasts."

Repetition is powerless before ecstasy." pg. 91.

"Suddenly there is a point where religion becomes laughable then you decide that are nevertheless religious."

I found the book to be unfocused and not really worth my time reading.

Tuesday: Cheap Date Nites

Tic Tac Toe Picture Hunt

Materials:

Tic Tac Toe Board (3by 3 grid)

Camera

Procedure:

You and your date will take pictures of subjects.

Here are 9 pictures ideas to get you started.
You can either do three in a row diagonally, horizontally, or vertically.
Or do all 9 (black out); that means all pictures have been taken.

1. Deli Clerk at Publix Holding Head Cheese.
2. A boy wearing a football t-shirt.
3. A truck with large, large tires.
4. A bumper sticker saying something political.
5. A man with a cigar.
6. Wildlife local to the area (Gator here in Florida).
7. A person with crazy hair.
8. A dentist holding a drill.
9. A person with dreadlocks.

I am sure you can come up with better ideas. You should ask people for permission before you take their photos. The main point is to just have fun finding these pictures.
Post your pictures online.
Share with friends.

Happy Hunting! Tell me how it went.

I'LL be there! Will You?

Roller Derby is back in the Tampa Area check them out on October 10th. You probably will dig it good; Really good.

Redrawn-Watchmen!