From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@datamann.com)
Date: Sun Aug 12 2001 - 09:10:55 MDT
Samantha Atkins wrote:
>
> Mike Lorrey wrote:
>
> > >
> > > 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.
>
> Well, this is a very different point than implying that RAH was
> trying to cozy up to the statist sympathies of the literati as
> far back as MIAHM. Desiring literary acceptance of SF generally
> and as an author in particular and making plot/story decisions
> to appeal to the literati are quite different. Heinlein's sales
> were quite good without the sanction of those you imply he was
> playing up to. I don't see he had a lot to gain and there was
> more than a little to lose if his many fans noticed such.
I think you are still not getting my points. RAH already had good sales,
that is true, but they were specifically to those who liked him because
they generally agreed with him on many things, i.e. any message he was
communicating was preaching to the choir.
Writers who have true impact on society are those that camouflage their
messages in packages that look, to their opposition, like the sort of
literary package they would like to read, like slipping arsenic to
someone in their lemonade. By the time the opposition, as a group,
realizes what hit them, the memes have been injected and are wreaking
their havoc upon old ideological paradigms.
As I illustrated, Heinlein did this to great effect with "Stranger in a
Strange Land", which remains his most widely read work, and enjoys some
measure of critical respect among the boomer generation as a whole, even
those who disagree with him on other issues that he didn't deal with in
that work.
In "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress", he attempted a similar sort of
memetic sleight of hand, but not as well executed. I specifically did
not say he was 'trying to cozy up to communists'. He was trying to slip
them a mickey.
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