That stupid quiz
2003-05-18 10:01![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beowabbitGrrr. It told me I should be in
You belong in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. You
value freedom above all else. You would fight
and die for your family and your home.
Which Heinlein Book Should You Have Been A Character In?
brought to you by Quizilla
I guess it could have been worse; that's one of his least annoying books. I have this love-hate relationship with Heinlein and his books. There's his casual, unexamined sexism -- yes, it's not as bad as lots of more mainstream authors, but the fact that he doesn't see it and that he thinks he's painting a better world makes it bother me all the more. But mostly, there's his utterly naïve, childish ultra-libertarianism. In real life, any of the societies he sets up and presents as sympathetic would be a fascist (literally so defined) totalitarian police state within fifty years. And he's fond of droning on that "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch (TANSTAAFL)", but his protagonists all get free lunches: they're almost all lucky enough to be born rich, beautiful if female, intelligent (not that you'd know it from how they narrate), powerful, and respected. Okay, once in a while you're told that they acquired their wealth and power before the start of the book through hard work, but that's just hand-waving, and there's nothing in their character to support it. So Heinlein thinks there's no free lunch for the unwashed masses, but his protagonists get one. Grrr.
Not that I don't read and enjoy his books, mind you. (Well, most of them. I started out really liking The Number of the Beast, and then when it abrubtly changed course I felt cheated, like I'd gotten halfway through the book and discovered that the second half of the pages were blank. I like silly fantasy quite a lot, actually, and I like hard science fiction. But I don't want to start a hard science fiction novel and then have it turn into silly fantasy. I'd have been entirely happy with either whole book, but having the beginning from one book and the end from another was not a satisfying read.
Have I said "Grrr" yet? Just in case, let me say it now. Grrr.
You belong in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. You
value freedom above all else. You would fight
and die for your family and your home.
Which Heinlein Book Should You Have Been A Character In?
brought to you by Quizilla
I guess it could have been worse; that's one of his least annoying books. I have this love-hate relationship with Heinlein and his books. There's his casual, unexamined sexism -- yes, it's not as bad as lots of more mainstream authors, but the fact that he doesn't see it and that he thinks he's painting a better world makes it bother me all the more. But mostly, there's his utterly naïve, childish ultra-libertarianism. In real life, any of the societies he sets up and presents as sympathetic would be a fascist (literally so defined) totalitarian police state within fifty years. And he's fond of droning on that "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch (TANSTAAFL)", but his protagonists all get free lunches: they're almost all lucky enough to be born rich, beautiful if female, intelligent (not that you'd know it from how they narrate), powerful, and respected. Okay, once in a while you're told that they acquired their wealth and power before the start of the book through hard work, but that's just hand-waving, and there's nothing in their character to support it. So Heinlein thinks there's no free lunch for the unwashed masses, but his protagonists get one. Grrr.
Not that I don't read and enjoy his books, mind you. (Well, most of them. I started out really liking The Number of the Beast, and then when it abrubtly changed course I felt cheated, like I'd gotten halfway through the book and discovered that the second half of the pages were blank. I like silly fantasy quite a lot, actually, and I like hard science fiction. But I don't want to start a hard science fiction novel and then have it turn into silly fantasy. I'd have been entirely happy with either whole book, but having the beginning from one book and the end from another was not a satisfying read.
Have I said "Grrr" yet? Just in case, let me say it now. Grrr.