Starship Troopers

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Summary: So it's a nazi book after all!
Review: I truly loved this book, a challenging combination of action adventure novel and philosophical tract. I didn't agree with everything -- certainly not the idea that corporal punishment is a cure-all -- but I have always felt that society is a product of history, of cumulative sacrifices and thus can never be handed to the next generation free of charge. However, now we know that this idea is nazi, thanks to Paul Veerhoven and his Hollywood idiots. Can you imagine the nerve -- he put Doogie Howser in an SS uniform just to make the point! Well, it isn't the point. I hope everyone reads this book, and *thinks*. I shiver to think of what Kevin Costner is doing to "The Postman."

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Summary: Great book, full of ideas!
Review: I enjoyed the movie and it led me to reread the book after 30 years. It is a great book filled with ideas that force one to think and yet is still enjoyable fiction, a superb story, well told. The book is much much better than the movie. It this kind of book that got me interested in science fiction in the first place.

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Summary: A fantastic, thought provoking book. Truly a classic.
Review: What can you say about a book that resonates so clearly with common sense? Most people of a liberal bent are attacking the political ideas as "facist", to the point that I've seen the term "right-wing" applied in the newspaper reviews of the movie. RAH's idea that the franchise is purchased with service (not combat service mind you, which most of the half-wits seem to miss) is not far removed from Thomas Payne's statement, paraphrased, that freedom is purchased each generation with the blood of patriots. How about holding people responsible for their actions? What a concept! In an age where only 20-30% of the electorate bothers to vote (how many of you bothered to even find out if their were any ballot issues this Nov 4?) perhaps the vote should be earned; maybe then we'd have some people who knew the true cost. Bottom line, the book was not only a great read, but helped mold some political ideas that have lasted (in this reader) over 25 years.

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Summary: excellent and a possible prediction of our future
Review: I thought Starship Troopers was a creative and thoughtful book. I thought it had powerful characters and a barren, alien setting where noone has been before.Altogether, Starship Troopers was an exotic sci-fi novel.

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Summary: An ageless science-fiction hit!
Review: For those who know that science-fiction is more than just having fun with what the future may have in for you... I read this book for the first time some twenty years ago, and still enjoy it and discover new things in it!! By the way, since I have the French translation (excellent), the French title reflects a song written by a famous French singer. A perfect match, maybe even better than the original: Etoiles, garde-à-vous...

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Summary: Predictable plot; interesting philosphy.
Review: Heinlein is only sometimes up with the best in his science of the future. However, he is the best at putting up a political/social philosophy, and seeing where it leads. This time he uses the idea of citizenship (voting) as something that is earned by federal service, and throws in a war against aliens to stress the philosophy, and the people who think they believe in it. The plot is predictable, but the philosphy and ideas are intriguing. This is not the best job Heinlein did with this type of approach, and this book's origin as a juvenile book are obvious. But it is a good read. Do not judge it by the movie.

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Summary: Movie misconceptions
Review: I keep hearing people knock Heinlein as a fascist a sexist and all that garbage but lets face some facts people. to gain your franchise you have to give federal service, not serve in the military, most people end up as cooks, park rangers and paper pusher. You have to volunteer for the Mobile Infantry. Second, women serve in military positions like starship pilot and retrieval boat pilots for reasons. Thirdly, in the fifties when this book was written, the cold war was at its worst, segregation was all over the US, sexual harrassment was not even a fantasy. Heinlein gives us a book where the protagonist is hispanic, the highest ranking officer on his ship is female and where they don't care if you are purple as long as you will fight for your country. The United States was not treated as the savior of all and it had the cajones to tell a paranoid reactionary country what the world was really like instead of the 1950's high school films where the cheerful male voice tells you a stilted version of the world as cheesy as it is wrong. The movie made the news coverage as bad as that which Heinlein wrote against.

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Summary: A thinking persons Sci-Fi novel.
Review: I think that the movie version will loose some of the great moral and thought provoking ideas that Heinlein had in mind. This will be sacrificed for slick special effects and a universal "us vs. them aliens" story line. My take is that you have to differentiate the movie from the book. Read the book for the literary content and see the movie for the escapism. Also interesting (to me) is that after I read Starship Troopers, the now defunct (due to FOX Broadcasting's Management's myopia) series "Space Above and Beyond" seems to be a loose adaptation of Starship Troopers.

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Summary: Questions are not harmful, only assumed answers...
Review: For everyone who has compared ST to other works of literature, I say simply this: Books across genres can not be compared. It all seems to come down to one point: ST had a purpose (as all good novels) and it fulfilled that purpose better than most 20th century writing. In that respect, Heinlein was more "responsible" than most. We can argue the message, but not the voice. Heinlein's style was simplistic (though some call it childish). He was never really interested in teaching lessons, only about forcing us to think. The thing that strikes me the most about Heinlein's work is how he constantly questions our assumptions about social interaction, government, duty, morality, and all other aspects of life. Though we often disagree with him, his work makes sure that we have come to our conclusions through rigorous thought and with open minds. What can be better in the search for the truth? Heinlein was more than just a SF writer, he was a two-way mirror, that reflected our past and gave glimpses of our future. Starship Troopers was one of his best works. The movie could be a good one, but it won't be Heinlein.

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Summary: about duty to oneself and society
Review: I first read ST when I was about 11 in 1964. I still remember reading the final chapter in the hospital. I feel that the book is one on the reasons that I joined the US marine corps out of High School. I have read it several times in the last thirty years or so. I find some people that are angry about the book don't really understand that RAH was trying to get people to THINK about their duty to society and their selves. I could go on and on, but for people who condem it, READ IT FIRST. Semper Fi