I was curious, cuz I wasn’t sure either. Wikipedia has a summary:
It won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960,[3] and was praised by reviewers for its scenes of training and combat and its visualization of a future military.[11][12] It also became enormously controversial because of the political views it seemed to support. Reviewers were strongly critical of the book’s intentional glorification of the military,[13][14] an aspect described as propaganda and likened to recruitment.[15] The novel’s militarism, and the fact that government service – most often military service – was a prerequisite to the right to vote in the novel’s fictional society, led to it being frequently described as fascist.[14][16][17] Others disagree, arguing that Heinlein was only exploring the idea of limiting the right to vote to a certain group of people.
Lol And then for the 1997(!!) movie it says:
The film was directed by Paul Verhoeven (who found the book too boring to finish)
It had the stated intention of treating its material in an ironic or sarcastic manner, to undermine the political ideology of the novel.
The first chapter is one of the best battle scenes I’ve ever read.
Also, the political system is democratic. The caveat is that in order to vote you have to demonstrated a willingness to put something ahead of your personal comfort. Anyone can do Service. It explicitly says in the book that “a blind man in a wheelchair” would be given tasks within his ability to perform in order to vote.
I was so bewildered reading the novel. I had heard he wrote it as a pro military propaganda piece, but I couldn’t help but see it as satire.
They are kitted out in mech suits, making them seem more machine than man, put into drop pods that are fired onto the planet like bullets out a gun. In the pod they are isolated from their comrades, isolated from their humanity, literally turned into pieces of a weapon.
Then they land on the alien planet to perform a terrorist attack on a civilian city. And this book is meant to be pro war?
A German intellectual cuts out in 1935 and comes to America. He’s kinda famous, so he gets a newspaper interview. He proudly proclaims that he considers himself a pacifist.
A letter to the editor points out that it’s easy to call yourself a pacifist when you’ve got an ocean between you and the war.
the name of the movie is “Predestination” It’s based on a story called “…All You Zombies.” Great time travel story.
“Tunnel In The Sky” In the future, interstellar teleportation allows mankind to colonize distant planets. A group of high school/college age students are sent to one undeveloped world for a three day survival test. When you read it you’ll see that it’s been ripped off a dozen times or more.
“The Man Who Sold The Moon” Written before Sputnik, thsi novel gets all the history and science wrong but it’s still a great read. A businessman decides to colonize the Moon, and uses bribery, ballyhoo, and bullshit to make it happen.
The man wrote both the ultimate hippie novel [Stanger In A Strange Land] and the ultimate Libertarian novel [The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress]
Having read some other Heinlein, I don’t think the man was capable of being pro-fascism (see The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land). The book, in only my personal opinion, seemed more like a thought experiment, like most science fiction
It definitely was, this was written by Heinlein over the course of like two weeks as an angry response to the US suspending nuclear weapon testing. Mind you this was still in the 50’s and right in the middle of the red scare.
Heinlein was a rampant libertarian, and as we’ve seen with the GOP libertarians are not too far removed from fascism. I think Heinlein kinda cooled his heels over time, and mellowed later in his career.
His various books explored the pros and cons of various government styles in a fairly honest way. Unfortunately, modern films don’t do well with nuances. It’s fascism on the surface, but there are echoes of the deep cracks that make it so terrifying and self destructive.
Wasn’t the original novel just pro fascist, but the movie made it into a ‘pro fascist’ satire? Or am I remembering that wrong?
I was curious, cuz I wasn’t sure either. Wikipedia has a summary:
Lol And then for the 1997(!!) movie it says:
Paul Verhoeven couldn’t finish a short book so he picked two chapters that capture nothing of the book’s intent.
You should read the novel yourself.
The first chapter is one of the best battle scenes I’ve ever read.
Also, the political system is democratic. The caveat is that in order to vote you have to demonstrated a willingness to put something ahead of your personal comfort. Anyone can do Service. It explicitly says in the book that “a blind man in a wheelchair” would be given tasks within his ability to perform in order to vote.
I was so bewildered reading the novel. I had heard he wrote it as a pro military propaganda piece, but I couldn’t help but see it as satire.
They are kitted out in mech suits, making them seem more machine than man, put into drop pods that are fired onto the planet like bullets out a gun. In the pod they are isolated from their comrades, isolated from their humanity, literally turned into pieces of a weapon.
Then they land on the alien planet to perform a terrorist attack on a civilian city. And this book is meant to be pro war?
You remind of a story from the WW2 era.
A German intellectual cuts out in 1935 and comes to America. He’s kinda famous, so he gets a newspaper interview. He proudly proclaims that he considers himself a pacifist.
A letter to the editor points out that it’s easy to call yourself a pacifist when you’ve got an ocean between you and the war.
Thanks. Maybe i will read it.
Quick guide to Heinlein.
https://youtu.be/ayAt1BZmJH0
the name of the movie is “Predestination” It’s based on a story called “…All You Zombies.” Great time travel story.
“Tunnel In The Sky” In the future, interstellar teleportation allows mankind to colonize distant planets. A group of high school/college age students are sent to one undeveloped world for a three day survival test. When you read it you’ll see that it’s been ripped off a dozen times or more.
“The Man Who Sold The Moon” Written before Sputnik, thsi novel gets all the history and science wrong but it’s still a great read. A businessman decides to colonize the Moon, and uses bribery, ballyhoo, and bullshit to make it happen.
The man wrote both the ultimate hippie novel [Stanger In A Strange Land] and the ultimate Libertarian novel [The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress]
Having read some other Heinlein, I don’t think the man was capable of being pro-fascism (see The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land). The book, in only my personal opinion, seemed more like a thought experiment, like most science fiction
It definitely was, this was written by Heinlein over the course of like two weeks as an angry response to the US suspending nuclear weapon testing. Mind you this was still in the 50’s and right in the middle of the red scare.
Heinlein was a rampant libertarian, and as we’ve seen with the GOP libertarians are not too far removed from fascism. I think Heinlein kinda cooled his heels over time, and mellowed later in his career.
I did not know that, thanks
Heinlein experimented with loads of governmental and social structures, Starship Troopers was one such experiment.
His various books explored the pros and cons of various government styles in a fairly honest way. Unfortunately, modern films don’t do well with nuances. It’s fascism on the surface, but there are echoes of the deep cracks that make it so terrifying and self destructive.
There’s debate on whether Heinlein meant it as satire or actual advice.
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The book was satire.