★★★★★ 5
Wicked Satire, yet Strangely Familiar
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Heinlein's satire is wicked and well-placed, reminiscent of Voltaire and Swift. IF you love British comedy, you'll love this book. Both come from the same sarcastic taproot. I'm still debating whether or not the main charter is Smith or Jubal. Maybe it is us, since we need to recognize that we are Juba, and must nurture, and eventually become like Smith.
Smith's reflective, contemplative message, reminds of Thomas A Kempis (
), James Allen (
), Lao Tzu (
). Smith's message is nothing new: as C. S. Lewis pointed out, "Really great moral teachers never do introduce new moralities: it is quacks and cranks who do that... The real job of every moral teacher is to keep on bringing us back, time after time, to the old simple principles which we are all so anxious not to see."
.
In fact, Smith's slogan "Thou art God" is merely run-of-the-mill Christianity:
* "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
* "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
* "Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am."
* "Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High."
* "God became man so that man might be god."
* "It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you may talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet if at all only in a nightmare. . . . There are no ordinary people. You have never met a mere mortal, Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations, these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or ever lasting splendours."
.
Heinlein seems to have stolen a page from Søren Kierkegaard, who tried to re-Christianize Christianity (
, 458). To paraphrase John, "Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning."
As I read this book, Smith struck me as oddly familiar. His first name, Michael, refers to the Archangel, the captain of the Lord's army. The second name, Valentine, is the patron saint of all shades of love, phileo, agape, eros, and romance. The last name, Smith, makes him Everyman.
But I wonder if there is something more. What happens to Smith is common to all founders of religions--Abraham, Jesus, Mohammed, and so forth. There is evolution, turns and twists of fate, and eventual triumph. However, there is a deeper nuance. Society begins with vulgarized Christianity, then there was the Fosterite Revolution, and another apostasy and commercialization of religion as a Megachurch. And lastly comes along Smith, with his Martian philosophy. This bears a strong parallel to the life of Joseph Smith
. In fact, both have a similar martyrdom: "Thou art God" versus "O Lord My God."
The satire can get tedious at time, but I think this flaw is excusable. As I read, I kept thinking that this book could loose about 1/3rd of the text. But on the other hand, the artistry and beauty of the wicked satire forces me to say, "Leave it alone."
Note: This book is the Q document for so much other fiction. I see shades of "Dune" here and there. Smith the new prophet is akin to Ender, the Speaker for the Dead. And if you have seen Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Charlie X," some of the elements will seem a bit too familiar. Keep in mind that this book came first, and that it does a much better job of mixing wit and wisdom than Kirk and Spock. There is no comparison--after reading this book, "Charlie X" rolls like a flat tire.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2007
