From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@datamann.com)
Date: Sat Aug 11 2001 - 15:56:03 MDT
Samantha Atkins wrote:
>
> Mike Lorrey wrote:
> >
> > Harvey Newstrom wrote:
> > >
> > > > >> Would you please explain further your belief that Heinlein was actually
> > > > >> pandering to leftists when he utilized Russian slang in that book? I
> > > > >> naively thought that it was because he foresaw a greater role for the
> > > > >> Soviet Union in the future than has so far turned out to be the case.
> > >
> > > I always assumed that the Russian slang on the Moon was due to the race
> > > between the Americans and the Russians to reach the moon first. Regardless
> > > of which side one, most people expected the moon to be populated by half
> > > Russians and half Americans.
> >
> > Yes, but there was a similar number of chinese people, yet there was a
> > total absense of chinese slang, proverbs, etc. I don't know if this was
> > simply something RAH overlooked, but the use of Russian slang does fit
> > with the desire by Heinlein and others for literary acceptance. I did
> > not say that he was 'pandering to leftists', but he rightly recognised
> > that gaining literary recognition would translate to more sales.
>
> Good grief. Heinlein wrote straight from the heart as well as
> the head and I doubt very much he had any intention whatsoever
> of appealling to supposed reds in the literary world.
> Especially as he wrote in an era when the literati had very
> little if any use for science fiction. They were not his
> audience.
If you have not already, I suggest you read "Grumbles from the Grave".
>
> Heinlein is also infamous as the original libertarian sci-fi
> author. No other sf author of the time wrote so elogquently for
> the importance of and rights of the individual beyond any State.
> To accuse RAH of cozying up to the Russians to be more
> acceptable to a literati that had no use for such "pulp trash"
> is ridiculous and an insult.
Why is it Samantha, that after explaining myself THREE times here, you
STILL don't get what I am saying?????
>
> Russian slang could be part of his books simply because the
> Russkis were there first and because they launched 10-100 times
> as much stuff into space as we did over many years. Also, the
> Russians after WWII acquired as much (or more) of the rocket
> scientist talent than the US did and pushed harder and earlier
> for space exploration and conquest. It would be very wierd if
> there weren't Russian slang (at least) present in tales of near
> earth space. Its absence would betray even more bias.
If Russia had so much influence on the Moon, then why is there not a
ComIntern office there in the novel??? KGB??? GRU??? All of these
entities would have presences on the moon if it had that degree of
influence.
In the Heinlein universe in which MIAHM was written, the US beat the
USSR to the moon, and it is the UN govt that administrates it.
I don't deny that it would be wierd if there were no Russian slang. My
point, which you don't seem to get, is that it is also quite wierd,
given the population of Chinese on the moon in the novel, that there is
absolutely no chinese slang in the novel. This is a major oversight.
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