An Asperger in a 'normal' world.

books:


	• Stranger in a Strange Land Robert A. Heinlein Ace Trade, 1991 - 528 pages average customer review:based on 537 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Stranger in a Strange Land

Stranger in a Strange Land is one of my favorite sci-fi books. Partly because of the great, fun storyline and rather charismatic characters, but mostly because of the wonderful ideas expressed in this book such as caring for and helping others and the Oneness and omnipresence of God. It also deals a lot with somewhat controversial facts about why we believe what we believe, religion and sex (which many people didn't want to hear, at the time it was first published). No wonder Heinlein was "recommended" to cut out over 60.000 words in the first edition!

I found Stranger in a Strange Land after it was mentioned in a book called The Lost Teachings of Atlantis. I highly recommend that book if you like the ideas described in this book and/or want to find out more about the meaning of life in general.

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A Classic

There aren't really that many books that could be described as life-altering, but for me this is definitely one of them. I first read this book when I was in high school, over twenty-five years ago, and returned to it often. Recently I listened to it on an unabridged book tape and was caught up in the magic of Heinlein's prose again.

With this story Heinlein takes long, probing looks at religion and custom, at social mores and human values. It is a book that requires thought and reflection. It is a book that is made to help people open their minds and their hearts--to see that different is not necessarily evil. At the same time it is a strong narrative with well written characters. There are parts that are laugh-out-loud funny and other parts that may cause tears.

I can hardly wait for my own daughter to get old enough so I can introduce this book to her. Even though it is sometimes an uncomfortable ride, it is definitely a ride worth taking.

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An Asperger in a 'normal' world.

Heinlein himself certainly had Asperger Syndrome (though he may never have heard the term) and wrote this wonderful soft-science-fiction novel to describe how it feels to be different from those around you. His book is certainly open to criticism from feminists, religious fundamentalists, and defenders of orthodoxy in general, but having aspergers myself, I can say that this is just what it feels like. The novel describes institutions in general as hostile, because they tend to look that way to us 'aspies'.

One measure of the book is revealed by many of the other reviews, which say in effect "This book offended many in 1961, which proves what squares they were then. It also offends me, which proves how wrong Heinlein was." To me, this just shows how superficially society has changed in the last forty years, and how effective Heinlein was at challenging our orthodoxies.

There is an aspergers website called wrongplanet, expressing the idea that we 'aspies' often feel we are in totally unfamiliar situations. Did the people who built the website know that Heinlein had the same idea 50 years ago?

In this story, the 'hero' is human, but was born on Mars and raised by Martians, then brought to Earth as an adult. Understanding nothing of human habits and customs, he flounders around until he gradually understands the world - even why people laugh. Once he conciously understands what ordinary people only know subconciously, he feels he can put the understanding to wider use. I often have this feeling too.

Not only is this book a wonderful read, but it is also as good a way as any for a 'normal' person to gain some insight into the frightening, bewildering, but ultimately wonderful world we aspies live in.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

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