REVIEW: Science fiction genre has much to offer,
Over the past decade or so, the science fiction and fantasy genres have broken out of the obscurity of things geeks read. They have now merged into the mainstream world over the last decade or so with phenomena like Harry Potter and Twilight.
Helped along by book-to-movie successes like “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and the most recent Star Trek film, the entertainment value of formerly nerds-only reading material has begun to gain recognition from the masses, and more importantly, the average reader.
One of the my favorite science fiction authors, Robert A. Heinlein, wrote his first novel in 1938, but it didn’t see shelves for over 60 years, passed over in favor of books like “Time Enough for Love,” “Starship Troopers” and eventual cult-classic “Stranger in a Strange Land.”
In 2003, 15 years after Heinlein’s death, acclaimed sci-fi writer Spider Robinson uncovered the buried treasure chest that is the almost-ironically titled “For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs,” with a foreword Robinson wrote himself.
While living, Heinlein wrote this story of a young engineer in what was then the present, who suffers an accident and wakes up in the year 2086. After his death, the book was a time capsule of immeasurable value.
Not only does the book contain little hints of what Heinlein would later develop into full-length novels of their own, it contains great insight into the development of science fiction as a story-telling mechanism and a genre.
As a fan of Heinlein’s work, it made me giddy with excitement to catch sight of what would later be and yet already was while reading, but as a reader and a critic, it was something else entirely.
The title “For Us, The Living,” implies that the story is meant for all those navigating the waters of life, author included – ironic, then, that it was published long after his life was over. It leaves a spooky, message-from-beyond-the-grave feeling about the entire thing, especially after reading Robinson’s profound foreword.
The novel follows the chronologically challenged engineer, Perry, as he attempts to navigate life, not just as a human being, but as a newcomer to a world he doesn’t understand and yet must immediately accept in all its crass, new-fangled, strange and awesome glory.
It has humorous moments, involving the uninhibited woman who finds Perry and takes him in, her cat and many other aspects that the future Perry encounters, as well as profound moments touching on themes of utopia and feminism.
Perry eventually requires psychiatric assistance to come to terms with the changes from his time to the one he lands in after punching a friend of his host in a fit of jealousy. He must come to terms with a zero-tolerance violence policy as well as what were, at the time the book was written, radical concepts like womens’ freedom to choose a career or the lack of marriage as an institution.
Robinson himself has said the book reads more like a series of lectures or essays rather than a popular novel, and this should be kept in mind when reading. It was originally rejected by publishers – for a good reason because it is not his best work – but many great novels blossomed out of it.
I benefited a great deal from reading this slowly over time rather than devouring it like I do with most sci-fi I pick up. The subtle message for me, the living, came through much more clearly here than it does in a lot of similarly themed novels written for mass entertainment. It is well worth the patience needed to find Heinlein’s message for you, the living.
This novel is not an undertaking for the casual reader. It is part entertainment, part history lesson, part cultural commentary, which are all valuable and deeply fascinating, but not necessarily in the ‘fun’ category.
If a heavier novel is not your thing, or you are too busy to take it on right now, there are a lot of great sci-fi options that can ease you into the genre or entertain even the seasoned reader.
Try the new “Leviathan” by the aforementioned Westerfeld, classics like writers Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game, et. al) and Isaac Asimov (I, Robot), or the highly underrated Ursula K. Le Guin, who wrote a brilliant dream-turned-reality novel called “The Lathe of Heaven.”
For more book suggestions, or to tell me what I should review next, email chelsey.gensel@aggiemail.usu.edu