Robert Heinlein’s 1966 classic novel, The moon is a harsh hostess, explored the idea of a lunar colony declaring independence from Earth. Science fiction author Anthony Ha found the book to be a fun and enjoyable read.
“All the details of how they actually put the different cells of this revolution together — all of that was really interesting, and he just explained it very clearly, and it just there’s the story that really drives it,” Ha said in Episode 516 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy audio file. “In the end there are these big battles, and I think he writes the battles that are supposed to be as good as anyone in science fiction. So the whole book reads extremely quickly. ”
Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy host David Barr Kirtley agree that Heinlein is a born storyteller. “He was a very engaging writer,” Kirtley said. “You can see why he took pulp magazines by storm when he came out. He’s attracted a lot of fans and celebrities, and I can totally see that. I can totally understand why you are captivated by his intelligence and talent. “
The moon is a harsh mistress, depicting a lunar society with no laws or government, has been an inspiration to many young liberals. Political journalist Robby Soave Loved the book’s mix of science fiction and politics. “I feel like if you were to describe it — correctly — as a manual for building a catapult combined with a libertarian manifesto / pitch, that would alienate people, ” he said. “But the book is really good, despite saying a lot about those exact two things. It’s a very fair introduction to our philosophy, with some really gripping sci-fi stuff. ”
Unfortunately, one aspect of the novel that has fallen out of fashion is its stereotypical view of gender roles. Science Fiction Professor Lisa Yaszek was initially intrigued by the book’s heroine Wyoming Knot, and disappointed that the character played such a small role in the story. “I didn’t want to be a woman in that revolution, sitting around serving coffee,” Yaszek said. “It really makes you understand what women were holding in their arms in the 1960s.”
Listen to the full interview with Anthony Ha, Robby Soave, and Lisa Yaszek in Episode 516 of Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy (above). And check out some highlights from the discussion below.
Robby Soave on Robert Heinlein vs. Ayn Rand:
Ten years ago, most of the people who came to the liberal movement came because of Ron Paul; then 20 years or so before that is from reading Ayn Rand. There must have been a time—maybe all—where The moon is a harsh mistress is a gateway. I mean, in many places, the professor just gives a semi-forced liberalism presentation — in fact in the same way as Rand does in her papers, where it just shifts from the core The story goes, “Okay, this is clearly what the author thinks about something, so let me put my manifesto out there. “Heinlein does it a lot more artistically now than Ayn Rand did, although that’s not a high standard for explaining anything.
Anthony Ha on The moon is a harsh mistress compare to Eliminated:
Eliminated pretty close to representing my political philosophy and The moon is a harsh mistress not, so comparing the two, politically speaking, I can see, “Oh, I’m in a state of doubting the state, doubting this authority and trying to have a much more liberal society. It’s very interesting.” … I think Eliminated allows for a little more argument, which I think is what is missing from a lot of later Heinlein. There is what looks like argument, but is really just a character saying something that is clearly wrong, and then they are lectured for many pages. I’m sure it happens in Eliminatedbut I think it’s less obvious, at least to me, when it happens.
David Barr Kirtley on conflict:
inside “Turkey City Lexicon” there’s an entry called “Cozy Disaster” and this is where the world ends—it’s post-apocalyptic—but the characters are having a great time. They have cars and guns, they can go to the mall and get whatever they want, they get girls. So it’s a strange coincidence that the world is in this horrible state but the characters are having an old age. And I feel like [The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress] That equates to a revolution. It’s like “Cosy Revolution.” This really makes a revolution seem like a great time, just a lot of fun. I read this book and I thought, “I want to start a revolution. This really looks great.”
Lisa Yaszek on artificial intelligence:
Asimov is exploring [AI] in the robot stories of the 40s and 50s. At the end of his robot series, he is imagining world computers that run everything and are carefully managing humanity. Asimov always imagined them as nannies and nurses, that they would take care of us, like babysitters – like the best babysitters ever. But Mike [in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress] is a friend, and I think that’s the difference. He’s actually a completely more perceptive person, and that was the new thing in science fiction at the time. And he’s a good guy. He is not an aggressive robot. … Asimov changes the situation, in the ’40s and ’50s, then you’ll have a bunch of robots and good AI that will be equivalent to Mike. Then of course we get HALand then things started going south again.
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