Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Starship Troopers
Book Review: A 1959 sci-fi classic that has aged well, even in 2008!
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't know how Starship Troopers got past me. This Robert Heinlein novel about a future Army Mobile Infantry recruit going through boot camp and into space battles is not so much about blasting multi-armed "bugs" into oblivion, but rather about the philosophical and ethical debates regarding military indoctrination and earning the right to call yourself a citizen.
I had watched the Starship Troopers movie (liked it) and Starship Troopers II (on the top 50 list of worse movies ever). The book is less action, more intellectual debate.
The cover of my copy has printed on the upper right hand corner, "The Controversial Classic of Military Adventure!" So why would this be controversial in the late 20th century (it was released in 1959)?
Well, the earned floggings and high injury and death rate in boot camp could suffice. And there is the argument that a person who serves his or her country has earned the right to vote and participate in government life as a citizen. Everyone else is a bit parasitic.
I guess those could qualify as controversial.
This was a well-written sci-fi adventure, through and through.
Book Review: A Boy's Search for A Father
Summary: 5 Stars
The first time I read "Starship Troopers" was in 1965, during the Vietnam War. The second time I read it was in 1977, in conjunction with Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War." I finished re-reading it for the third time last night.
Each time I read the novel I see something different. In 1965, I read it as space opera. In 1977, I read it as an anti-war novel.
Now, as an old man, I found two new readings: one, it is a Freudian bildungsroman wish fulfillment fantasy. Juan Rico seeks a father figure and by the end of the novel he comes of age and is surrounded by the men who taught him and led him to his maturity.
In the final battle, in which he plays a small part, he is surrounded and aided by his father,now a sergeant, by Zim, his instructor and now a sergeant, and inspired by the Admiral. They are all father figures and each one aids Rico.
And two, it is a story with an unreliable narrator. Robert A. Heinlein was a consummate novelist. Unlike some of the current crop of science fiction writers, he knew how to use point of view. He chose to have the young Juan Rico tell the story. We see every event through his eyes. His interpretations are only as reliable as his immature vision. As we read the work, we must always ask ourselves if Rico's interpretation is accurate or is his vision colored by his youth, by his instructors, or by the military.
"Starship Troopers" remains in print year after year, whereas other novels and novelists of Heinlein's generation disappear. I believe the reason is that it cannot be reduced to space opera or escapist fiction. There is too much going on under the surface: through its speculation and through its characterization of the young fighting and dying for others in a foreign war.
Book Review: A Bug War
Summary: 5 Stars
The Book was very exciting and the ideas were well thought out.I thought it was interesting that you had to join the military for a certain amount of time in order to become a citizen.If you like Robert Heinlein then this is a great book.Book Review: A Classic Science Fiction\Military Tale
Summary: 5 Stars
RAH was among the great science fiction writers of the 20th Century and while Double Star earned him his first HUGO, this his second is much sweeter and focused. Stranger is a Strange Land is more complex and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is much more bitter but Starship Troopers is without a doubt his most concise statement about the human animal. Not until Time Enough for Love and I Will Fear No Evil does he return to these themes with any cohesion and then he is much more mellow than here. The film is without a doubt a travesty, it contains but the surface elements of a wonderful story. It would have being kinder if the film had suffered the same fate as IA's proposed I Robot film - It was never made - although in that case the script was actually quite good. Film executives should be given combined aesthetics and intelligence test before they are given the authority to finance such grotesque bastardization s while failing to finance films of such potential grandeur. Must we permanently live with Stanley Kubrick's 2001 as the best SF film because no other combination of executive and director is willing to actually be creative. Millions of dollars on special effects is not directorial creativity.Book Review: A Classic and Unique Cornerstone of Science Fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
The classic story of Johnny Rico looking for identity and personal self respect in a futuristic society where citizenship must be earned. Heinlein really pushes the outside limits of this concept which makes it an intriguing read. I first read this many years ago, and have never forgotten it. It holds it's own unique cornerstone of classic Science Fiction.