oz@yetti.UUCP (Ozan Yigit) (04/10/85)
The Number of the Beast
Attn.: Sci-Fi General advises that DANGER to
mental health increases with amount of NoftB read.
There was some discussion of the NoftB on this network,
and here is my 2-cents' worth:
This book is probably the most pretentious, most time
wasting book I have EVER read, and it is probably the
only book (in any subject matter) that I have ever
thrown into the garbage chute.
I must admit that I was having a great time during the
first hundred or so pages. Later, my enjoyment turned
into nightmare as the characters began screaming at each
other "pipe down" every page, and began to display an
I.Q. level of 270, happily traveling on the yellow
brick road. Heinlein created a tight situation; he
also invented a super human capability for one of his
characters to deal with the situation. The characters,
now truly bloated smart-ass-genius-prodigy-philosophers,
talk in phrases that would put the best of Superman comics
to shame. The pseudo-philosophical quips and pieces
of whizdom that were enjoyable in "Time Enough For Love",
are completely out-of-order here, and make as much sense
as the blurbs of a loonie who had one too much to drink.
Having read SF books from all parts of the spectrum,
[Brunner, Lem, Asimov, Clarke, Sheckley, Farmer, Pohl,
Ellison, Niven, A.D. Foster, P.K. Dick, Hogan, R. Forward,
D. Adams, Varley etc.], I consider this book an insult to SF
readership's intelligence and sensibilities, and it
should be avoided. I had the expectation of something as
good as "Moon is a Harsh Mistress" or "Time Enough
for Love". I forgot that very few SF writers can
live up to their name consistently.
So, close your eyes in your favorite book store, and grab
a SF book at random. The probability is that you
will get something better than NoftB.
Oz
Electric: {ihnp4|decvax|..}!{utzoo|utcs}!yetti!oz
wab@reed.UUCP (William Baker) (04/15/85)
> > The Number of the Beast > > Attn.: Sci-Fi General advises that DANGER to > mental health increases with amount of NoftB read. ... > Having read SF books from all parts of the spectrum, > [Brunner, Lem, Asimov, Clarke, Sheckley, Farmer, Pohl, > Ellison, Niven, A.D. Foster, P.K. Dick, Hogan, R. Forward, > D. Adams, Varley etc.], I consider this book an insult to SF > readership's intelligence and sensibilities, and it > should be avoided. I had the expectation of something as > good as "Moon is a Harsh Mistress" or "Time Enough > for Love". I forgot that very few SF writers can > live up to their name consistently. > So, close your eyes in your favorite book store, and grab > a SF book at random. The probability is that you > will get something better than NoftB. > > > > Oz > Electric: {ihnp4|decvax|..}!{utzoo|utcs}!yetti!oz > > Now, now, let's not be too hard on old Bob. True, just about everyone thinks that "NoftB" is a real dog. However, don't write off Robert Heinlein on the basis of that book. Yes, it was self-indulgent, almost like reading a bad parody of his earier books. It is true that after one reads two or three of his books, the characters all sound the same, but that is not what makes him a great s.f. writer. It is, instead, his tremendous vision into the future, the fascinating nature of his speculations, that hold the reader. I have read just about everything he has written. Some of his books have offended me (Starship Troopers, Farnham's Freehold) and some have bored me (Number of the Beast and most of his childrens books). Still, I come back for more everytime, and I find it irritating to have to wait until the paperback comes out so that I can afford to read his latest novel. Remember, his next book after "NoftB" was Friday. That was a work up to the standards of Stranger in a Strange Land or The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. As regards your comparison to the list of high-powered s.f. writers, I would suggest you do some homework. Look back sometime and read what Clarke and Asimov have to say about Heinlein and his books. I think you'll find that they're quite appreciative. Joe Haldeman, my pick as the best of the second generation of s.f. writers, makes no bones about it: He grew up reading Heinlein and pays homage to him in many of his books. I'd say that that kind of tribute should suggest something to you. Bill Baker tektronix!reed!wab
rwl@uvacs.UUCP (Ray Lubinsky) (04/17/85)
> He grew up reading Heinlein and > pays homage to him in many of his books. -- I grew up watching cartoons on Saturday morning, but I out-grew those, too! To say that Heinlein is self-indulgent in the greater part of his novels is understatement indeed. I haven't bothered with ``Number of the Beast'' but, for my money, to say that ``Friday'' was up to RAH's standards is pretty damn- ing. It was hundreds of pages of non-story mascarading as character develop- ment. Heinlein has never shown that he has any depth of understanding when it comes to real human beings, but his portrayals of women are simply travesties! ``Friday'' is, as I had expected, just that. Now, before you scream about unfairness, I liked Heinlein's juvenile stories and I liked ``The Moon is a Harsh Mistress''. When Bob stays in his place (writing hard-SF idea stories) he's OK; when he starts to think that he's a Writer of Merit and a Philosopher, that's when the bullshit starts flying and that's when I drop his book for something more enlightening. Like scrubbing my bathroom, or taking out the trash. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ray Lubinsky University of Virginia, Dept. of Computer Science uucp: decvax!mcnc!ncsu!uvacs!rwl
brust@hyper.UUCP (Steven Brust) (04/26/85)
> ...... It is true that after one reads two or three of his books, > the characters all sound the same, but that is not what makes him a > great s.f. writer. It is, instead, his tremendous vision into the > future, the fascinating nature of his speculations, that hold the > reader. I have read just about everything he has written. Some of > his books have offended me (Starship Troopers, Farnham's Freehold) > and some have bored me (Number of the Beast and most of his > childrens books). Still, I come back for more everytime, and I > find it irritating to have to wait until the paperback comes out so > that I can afford to read his latest novel. .................. > > > Bill Baker > tektronix!reed!wab Yes. To paraphrase one notable SF writer (Pamela Dean), "Starship Troopers is infuriating and you can't stay away from it." This happens a lot. The thing is, as Alexi Panshin said, Heinlien could write a laundry list that would read well. And the other thing is, check out which standard SF themes were FIRST covered by Heinlein, and in many cases covered best by Heinlein. Oh, and by the way, I LIKE most of his children's books. -- SKZB