[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference noted::sf

Title:Arcana Caelestia
Notice:Directory listings are in topic 2
Moderator:NETRIX::thomas
Created:Thu Dec 08 1983
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1300
Total number of notes:18728

488.0. "Heinlein's To Sail Beyond the Sunset" by CSC32::J_PARSONS () Thu Jun 11 1987 13:25

    Anyone seen the new Robert Heinlein book? I saw it last night at
    Waldenbooks but forgot the title. This is the one which is supposed
    to tie all the threads from his previous books together. I'll buy
    it once the SFBC gets ahold of it.
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
488.1SPMFG1::CHARBONNDFri Jun 12 1987 13:321
     Waldenbooks tonite for me !
488.2"To Sail Beyond The Sunset"SPMFG1::CHARBONNDMon Jun 15 1987 16:1019
    (I'M ABOUT 2/3 THROUGH)
    
    
    Maureen Johnson (Smith Long) wakes up in bed with a cat
    and a man. The cat is Pixel. The man is a stranger, and
    dead. This, she thinks, is not a good way to start the day.
    She sets about adjusting to the world she is in, one strange
    to her. She is thrown in jail, and convicted of sacrilege.
    ( I didn't think anyone in San Francisco would be shocked
    when I mentioned that the evidence at hand seems to indicate
    that Jesus was gay.) In her cell, she recounts her life, to
    help understand how she ended up in this predicament.
    
    This book is semi-autobiographical, in that Maureen was born
    in 1882 in Missouri. Heinlein was born there in 1907. It is
    an exploration into attitudes on every subject, from politics
    to sex (especially sex). The plot takes up relatively little
    of the book, but the insights into America at that time are
    well worth the price of admission. 
488.3WHEN YOU'RE OUT OF HEINLEINS ... IT'S NO BIG DEALUSMRW2::KSHERMANTue Jul 07 1987 19:298
    He peaked with Tunnel in the Sky. Since then it's been downhill,
    to the point that he just writes books about frustrated middle-aged
    men who wish they'd not missed the sexual revolution.
    
    We're talking major league BORING.
    
    KBS
    
488.4good grief !!MUNDIS::CHISHOLMWed Jul 22 1987 11:425
    C'mon - you cannot be serious... this is a great series of books,
    with some of the best dialogue in SF, if its so boring how come
    you stick with them ?  Stick to the Little League.
    
                                                       D.C.
488.5ARMORY::CHARBONNDNoto, Ergo SumWed Jul 22 1987 13:086
    RE .3  Don't know about you, but I could spend a long time
    sitting at the feet of Lazarus Long as he reminisces.
    
    All of Heinleins' later works are meant to be more than
    entertainment. They add up to a long love poem written to
    a special lady - Mrs. Heinlein. Think about it.
488.6REGENT::POWERSWed Jul 22 1987 14:1512
>             -< WHEN YOU'RE OUT OF HEINLEINS ... IT'S NO BIG DEAL >-
    
>    We're talking major league BORING.

No doubt, I concur entirely.
Heinlein WAS a great, groundbreaking author, but he's written his last
book about six times.  I read Friday and Job, and an excerpt from Number
of the Beast, and what I hear about the others (Cat, etc.) does not
sway me from this view.  It's sad, but he should have stopped MUCH closer
to his peak.

- tom]
488.7It's sad Heinlein can't do better than this.ICEMAN::RUDMANAn ex-Fortean phenomena.Fri Jul 24 1987 14:2117
    I read the dust jacket blurb.  When I realized he was bringing
    back the Fantasyland characters I put it back.  "Great Writing"
    is fine if you do something with it.  (SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY
    COMES springs to mind.)                                       
    
    Maybe if all the "loose ends" are tied up he'll attempt something
    more in keeping with his rep.
                    
    If someone wishes to extract any of Lazarus Long's homey little
    quotes found in the book & post them here I'd read them.
                   
    Tell me: did Friday complete her assignment?
    
    							Don
    
    P.S.  Robert Browning wrote about his love for his wife, also.
          
488.8Robert A. Heinlein the best(or not)BREW11::MARTINThu Dec 07 1989 13:299
    
    All i can say is i find Heinlein a most amazing author i have read
    most of his book enjoying most of all Space Cadet,Starman Jones
    and The Man Who Sold The Moon. I am interested to hear the views
    of anyone else on the above books please reply quickly though i
    won't be here for long.
    
    Kane Martin (a new name eh! totally British)