The first book review I wrote, back in 1985, was of Terry Pratchett’s The Color of Magic. It ran in a bookstore newsletter and was signed pseudonymously as by ‘Mycroft XXX’. As everyone knew (and knows), Mycroft (or Mike) is the name of the computer in Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It was first published in 1966, and went on to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel the following year.
To say that Moon was one of my favorite novels of all time is almost an understatement. I first read it some time in the early 70s. I had a battered old New English Library edition with a fairly dull cover which I read and re-read, revisiting the adventures of Manual Garcia O’Kelly Davis, the one-armed computer tech who finds that a computer has become self-aware and gets caught up in a rebellion on the moon in 2075.
You can read all about the book on Wikipedia, but I loved Mannie, Mike, Wyoh, and the Baker St Irregulars. Of course, like many of us, I’ve hit that age where I don’t read the old books anymore. You can’t trust that old memories hold true, and there’s always the fear that you can destroy and old love simply be revisiting it. For that reason, I was interested to see that Charles Brown of Locus has just re-read the book, and still loves it. He’s right to say that Heinlein’s reputation has waned over the twenty years since his death, and issues like his depiction of women, his politics and so on are real ones. But, maybe, I might go back. I’m certainly tempted to visit old friends again.
THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS is still one of my favourites too. I re-read it last year and it has not lost its lustre for me. I also re-read CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY, RED PLANET and GLORY ROAD all of which easily withstood the perils of re-reading, though some in different ways.
I think I’ve been nervous about approaching the book again because I tried GLORY ROAD about two years ago, and hit an enormous wall with it. I found it very dated. I’m hoping that won’t be the case with MOON.
You know, even GLORY ROAD stood up for me, though it is definitely dated if you want to look at it via the lens of popular culture, the early 60s etc. However, I don’t do that. I find that I can adopt a kind of different mind-set to read books that are very much of their time, if the story is strong enough and can carry me along. I think that I just accept that they exist in their own created universe, albeit one with some similarities to our own world and history. Much as someone once said of P.G. Wodehouse’s novels, which notionally take place in the time of their publication (so roughly 1910-1950) but actually just exist in a bubble of Wodehouse time/space where it is always a glamorous and funny 1925.