this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2024

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Robert Heinlein's form letter response to people who wrote to him (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by FlyingSquid@lemmy.world to c/sciencefiction@lemmy.world

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[–] snooggums@midwest.social 77 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My favorite two are saying he can't help with class assignments because of a lack of time followed by it being unfair for a student's grade to be determined by the willingness or capacity of a stranger to help and he is ready to discuss this with the teacher, principal, or school board. It shows that he does care and wants to help, but lack of available time really is the issue.

My third favorite is ( ) Please do not write to me again.

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 28 points 1 year ago

Likewise. It's a great way to say "I don't have time to help you, but I will gladly stand up to a bully for you"

[+] wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee 32 points 1 year ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 38 points 1 year ago (2 children)

He was pretty misogynistic and kind of nuts, but I do enjoy his books, especially The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, which is a great example of how to use a science fiction setting to retell a historical event.

[+] wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I don't know if I would agree with you. Maybe he wasn't misogynistic earlier in life, but by the end? Did you ever read Friday? It's kind of disturbing. Yes, the main character is a woman who is better than a normal human through genetic engineering. She also enjoys getting raped.

[–] RaoulDook@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

I think you misunderstood that whole scene. Friday was pretending to like the rape to throw the rapists off guard, so she could find her way to get the upper hand and kill them.

[+] wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (3 children)

When the idea is "if you get gang raped, just lie back and enjoy it," I think that says something about the person.

[–] NoRodent@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago

(×) I don't discuss my colleagues' works or my own. A novelist writes from
many viewpoints; opinions expressed even by a first-person character are not
necessarily those of the author. Fiction is sold as entertainment, not as fact.
(×) Please do not write to me again.
                        Sincerely yours,
                                         Robert A. Heinlein, by ____

[–] blackbelt352@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

That idea is also a very common thing in Ayn Rand's writing too, which he's said he was quite influenced by her writing in an interview in the mid 70s.

[–] Diplomjodler@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago

He was pretty misogynistic and kind of nuts

Not to mention very much into eugenics.

[–] nnschiller@glammr.us 21 points 1 year ago (2 children)

@wintermute_oregon @FlyingSquid At very least, Verhoven's film was one of the most point by point perfect parodies of fascism we've ever seen. The original novel, IIRC, was written out of terrified nuclear paranoia and very sincere in its genocidal authoritarianism.

[–] Pronell@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I've never seen it that way - the opening pages say what the protagonist is doing. He's landing on a planet to kill bugs, using all his ammo and nukes even though there are sentient beings living on the planet.

All because it isn't cost effective to evacuate the ammo as well.

Immediately following that we move to the viewpoint of the teenager being brainwashed.

As such I think the movie did a decent job of adapting the story, even though we lost those awesome mechs and dropships.

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Boy have I got news for you- Starship Troopers3: Marauder has mechs. I haven't seen the next three movies/serieses.

[–] Pronell@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah, I've never seen any of the sequels. Might check it out, thanks.

[–] redhorsejacket@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Only do so if you have high tolerance for bad filmmaking. I've seen the live action sequels, and they are BAD. The second film feels like an unrelated script that got attached to the IP for name recognition. As I recall, it's dull, poorly acted, ugly, and cheap. The third film does lean into the IP, complete with satirical propaganda gags and, yes, mech suits make an appearance. However, my recollection of the rest of the movie is that it is dull, poorly acted, ugly, and cheap, but less so than the second.

If you enjoy Sci Fi Channel original movies from the early 00s, these movies are birds of a feather with those.

[–] Pronell@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I honestly don't have the time to watch all the shit I want to anyway, so it's a long shot.

[–] redhorsejacket@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Fair. I felt I should jump in and provide some more context than the other poster for exactly that reason. The worst thing a movie can be to me is dull, and those sequels qualify, in my opinion.

[+] wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

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[–] NielsBohron@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

In his memoir I, Asimov, Isaac Asimov wrote chapters about his contemporaries and apparently Heinlein was notorious for changing his political convictions based on who he was married to/sleeping with at the time. Hence, free-love hippie in Stranger in a Strange World and boot-licking war-hawk in Starship Troopers.

[–] DaMonsterKnees@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Interesting, thanks for the info, and great name! I found a first edition of his in a basement bookstore in Switzerland as a teen. Totally random, I know.

[–] NielsBohron@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Interesting, thanks for the info

No problem! Obviously, I like talking about this stuff. And if you're interested, I'd also recommend reading the whole book. It's pretty fascinating, although in his reminiscing and pontificating, Asimov does get a little "get off my lawn" for my taste at times.

great name! I found a first edition of his in a basement bookstore in Switzerland as a teen. Totally random, I know.

Thanks! And it's not too random, I'd say; we're in a sci-fi forum talking about historical sci-fi writers, many of whom were also trained as scientists, after all.

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Heinlein changed his mind.

There are 7 years between Starship Troopers and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, during which the world didn't end or devolve into anarchy.

That's a long time to think about something, especially if you do so by writing an entire book about the theme.

[–] Murdoc@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

Well, then there's what he said in the form letter above, that the views expressed in fiction aren't necessarily those of the author in real life.

[–] Scrath@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I love the last response

[–] Th3D3k0y@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

"ugh finally someone isn't whining"

[–] pixelmeow@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This post would fit well in !the_heinlein_society@lemmy.world!

[–] aniki@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

sweet new sub! I fucking love Heinlein.

[–] pixelmeow@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Awesome! Welcome to post stuff, I haven’t been posting the same things as instagram and facebook because I don’t know that people want that here.

Share water!

[–] aniki@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

As it says in Bible, God fights on side of heaviest artillery.

[–] person420@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 1 year ago

I actually just read that one for the first time. Such an interesting take on traditional alien and religious stories.

[–] psmgx@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Hah, so that's where Slashdot got it from