

S'està carregant… Between Planets (1951)de Robert A. Heinlein, Robert A. Heinlein
![]() No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra. It’s been a few years since I read this one for the first time, but I'm quite sure that one of the first SF books I ever read was "Between Planets". Why do I know this? Because I didn't know what a Geiger counter was when I first read it. It seems quite strange by today’s standards to remember the pre-Internet Universe of the 80s where I might be interested in what a Geiger counter was and had no practical way to find out! I could have searched in an encyclopedia the next time I was in the library, but I was too young to think that, and I'd have slipped my mind anyway. In the early 80s, as a teenager I gobbled up his stuff like manna from the skies. I just wanted to be a part of the Lazarus Long family, and have some hot chick offer herself to me for “Many Hours of Pleasure…” I also thought Valentine Michael Smith had the dream life! Literally tons of dough sitting around the house, and women who were so into sex they'd starting 'doing it' right on the living room couch in front of everyone who happened to be there. Who wouldn't want that? I sure did! And being more than a little nerdy at the time, I found myself captivated by giant Rolling Roads, Star Beasts, Martians, Waldos, and larger-than-life magnates who gambled it all to go to the Moon to wreak havoc. I read and re-read many of his books well into my 20s and 30s, so entranced by those aspects (I still do as you can see by reading the reviews I wrote in 2018 and now 2019). Heinlein is usually bashed to the extent that people are bashing Shakespeare when they point out that “The Merchant of Venice” is anti-Semitic or that “The Taming of the Shrew” is misogynistic. If that is fair cultural criticism, so is talking about Heinlein's “weird” women issues which is also nonsense (vide “The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein by Farah Mendlesohn for a good analysis on Heinlein’s Women). Rather clunky. It's dated even more than Heinlen's other books. A breathable atmosphere on Venus tells you just how long ago it was written. It's not as well developed as a novel as later works either. The characters don't have a lot of depth to them, but it's a passable adventure story. It was just about worth the effort of reading, but only just. I have been rereading, as I found them, the Heinlein juveniles that I grew up on. This seems to be the last of them. I am inclined to think it is the best -- certainly the best at maintaining a steady thread of narrative tension throughout. It also contains its due share of Heinlein's anti-racist message, which is quite clear when you translate the good guys' respect and understanding for non-human cultures into terrestrial terms. It is also, I think -- SPOILERS -- the clearest statement in the juveniles of Heinlein's libertarian tendencies. The Macguffin around which the story revolves turns out to be -- TOTAL SPOILERS -- the key to technology that gives a secret cabal of scientists the power to overthrow an interplanetary government. You can believe if you want that rule by techies is what we need to get us out of our present straits; but looking at the recent performance of the magnates of Silicon Valley, I beg to differ. Almost abandoned it 20 pages in when he used the word "squaw." It got better, then deteriorated. The seeds for Starship Troopers (space soldier stuff) are evident. Sense ressenyes | afegeix-hi una ressenya
Pertany a aquestes sèriesPertany a aquestes col·leccions editorialsAlpha science fiction (1979) Bastei Science Fiction-Abenteuer (23263) Colecção Argonauta (221) Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy (06/3896) SF Nova (1)
When war threatens to break out between Venus and Earth, a boy with citizenship on both planets, attending school on Earth but whose home is on Mars, finds himself in an awkward situation. No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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It was written in 1951 and it certainly bears some of the hallmarks of that. Most notably in the fact that there is very little for the women in this novel to do. That said, the main love interest does express an interest in joining the women's corps in the military when the planet is at war, although it comes across as more along the lines as their participation in WWII, than full participation.
It's basically a boy's adventure novel like most of his juveniles (with the exception of [b:Podkayne of Mars|50839|Podkayne of Mars|Robert A. Heinlein|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309211249s/50839.jpg|2534895] which has a female protagonist). It's a decent novel, and explores themes that he'd revisit in later novels. Here we have a colony world (Venus) rebelling against the Earth regime, very much like [b:The Moon is a Harsh Mistress|16690|The Moon is a Harsh Mistress|Robert A. Heinlein|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348768309s/16690.jpg|1048525] which had Luna rebelling against Earth.
I think a number of his juveniles perform a useful service in raising issues for young people to consider in a safe environment. It also helps in preparing them for other themes that will arise in his later novels (e.g., [b:Starship Troopers|17214|Starship Troopers|Robert A. Heinlein|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348024291s/17214.jpg|2534973] which could be misconstrued) as well as themes in more weighty texts.
I listened to the Full-Cast Audio production which is kind of a mix of a book and a radio play. It's the full text of the book, but they use different people to play (i.e., read) the individual parts, along with the main narrator. I've quite liked their productions of Heinlein juveniles in the past and they once again did an excellent job here. Overall, it's a decent novel, but not a great one. If one is an adult interested in starting to read Heinlein, I'd really recommend his [b:The Moon is a Harsh Mistress|16690|The Moon is a Harsh Mistress|Robert A. Heinlein|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348768309s/16690.jpg|1048525] as a starting point. But, for the YA audience, I think the juveniles would work fairly well and this certainly isn't a bad one. (