Dear Internet,
Audiobooks
are rather enjoyable as a format. That
is provided that they are done well.
Otherwise they turn into piles of boring text that might as well be tax
code rather than sweeping narrative. One
instance I can think of is a version of H.G. Well's "War of the
Worlds." I am not sure what it is
about the specific version I have listened to that constantly puts me to
sleep. I have tried twice to get through
it, but it seems I will have to read it from a physical copy if I want to
finish it once. At the same time, Orson
Welles' radio drama of the same work is one that can send tingles up my spine
and cause me to break out into a nervous sweat.
It should come at no real surprise about the power of spoken
narrative. The first stories were told
by word of mouth. Even to this day, most
people first hear stories read out loud when their parent had read a bed time
story to them. A good audiobook will
have all the qualities of a good bed time story, mainly using different voices
for all the characters. There is one
exception, it cannot make the reader fall asleep. To offset this tendency which I know will
occur more from my own weaknesses rather than those of the audiobook, I was
able to make up for some time doing other things while listening to
"Stranger in a Strange Land."
But I
am supposed to be talking about the contents and not the presentation,
right? "Stranger in a Strange
Land" follows the life of Valentine Michael Smith, the first man who was born
on Mars but at the same time raised by Martians after becoming an orphan. It might be considered Tarzan in space if it
was not based more on "The Jungle Book" than the vine swinging
man. Also there is the fact that the
bulk of the story, thus far at least, takes place on Earth rather than on Mars. Smith is in a unique position. His being born as the sole heir to the
exposition group that attempted to explore Mars years earlier makes him the defunct
ruler of Mars in accordance with laws that have sprung up in the time from now
to the fictitious future of the novel. On
top of that are the numerous fortunes that he inherits from his dead parents,
all three of them. He only has two
biological parents, but being a bastard son of individuals from multiple
countries with different legal standing on what a parent is, he has three legal
pedigrees. When he is discovered, he is
brought back to Earth and becomes the Man from Mars. He must then become accustomed to Earthling
customs, mannerisms, philosophy and many other things. At the same time, Smith must avoid those that
wish to either take advantage of him or kill him to get him out of the
way.
That is
the gist of the first third of the novel that I was able to cover today. I am not sure if the novel is going to divert
into a different direction. I would look
up something of the summary, but I do not want to ruin a good book. And so far it is good. The novel does a balancing act between the
story's plot and the message it is trying to tell. Smith was raised by a race very different
than that of humans, and the book wants to capitalize upon this fact. In many cases, the book takes time to step
aside and assess the situation. This is
usually done when one character makes time to explain the situation to the
other. A few other times, the book will step
back and examine Smith's experiences from his perspective to gain insight into
his own thinking, but this is more due to the fact that otherwise the reader
would have no understanding of the character because of his reduced
communication ability at the start of the novel.
I am
reminded of "Starship Troopers" to a certain extent. This is partially due to the fact that I am approaching
both works from an audiobook rather than in a printed book format. However, what strikes me as similar is how
both books press a type of philosophy within their stories. "Starship Troopers" of course is a
display of a utopian society that could not exist due to ignoring the human
spirit and condition while at the same time forgetting to tell a story in the
first place. "Stranger in a Strange
Land," so far at least, does not go completely towards a soap-box format
as the other work, but I will reserve that decision for later. There are some moments where the book takes a
step back and compares the human race to that of the Martian race, but it remembers
to balance that by not white washing the aliens into some sort of supreme
beings. But then again, that might be
myself interjecting common sense into the equation. For example, the Martians have a tendency to
discorporate, or die, when faced with having committed some sort of faux pas,
even when committed unintentionally. This is done as a sort of reaction to acting
against another individual as a means of recompense. This is a wrong notion considering that some
of the things that Smith thinks of faux pas are things that we would not think
of committing suicide over. Not to mention
that the reaction would do nothing to correct the original action in most
cases.
Well,
is that not funny, Internet? After
having written that paragraph, I realized that the two books are indeed written
by the same man. I was tempted to edit
that paragraph a bit or even omit it all together and write it again, but I
will not. The fact that the two novels
come from the same writer does not invalidate my feelings that, so far at
least, "Stranger in a Strange Land" remembers to tell a story first
and foremost. I will however continue to
scrutinize the book to see if it actually pushes forth the same tumbled around philosophy
that "Starship Troopers" pushed and held as true. There is a difference between claiming a
specific philosophy as true and claiming it as false but using heavy satire to
the point of being misunderstood. It can
be a fine line in these sci-fi works.
As far
as the sci-fi elements go, the book is filled with future gadgets and
inventions that boggle the mind. There
are also a few elements of mind over matter.
In the very least, you can enjoy the story's cosmetics.
That
will be it for now, Internet. The book
will take another two days, so perhaps I will accomplish something with all
that time while listening to this audiobook.
But do not hold your breath. You
are not a Martian.
Yours in digital,
BeepBoop
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