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pinnipedster -> RE: Robert A. Heinlein (5/1/2009 11:37:38 AM)
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If I were going to think about dominant female characters in Heinlein, I might start with Hilda "Sharpie" Burroughs, in Number of the Beast. If you take a look at the structure of that book, the first half or so of the story is mostly about the four protagonists deciding which of them is going to be the captain of their venture -- and after each of them has had a crack at it, the others bestow the title on her by acclimation.
I will say that I know at least one female engineer who said she was inspired to enter the field when she first read Have Space Suit, Will Travel, which features a 10-year-old female genius. Up to the time she read it, she'd never really encountered a female character whose primary characteristic was being smart. (Yet she's still a kid -- very believable, I thought. But then, that's one of my favorite books.)
As for Heinlein more generally: The man can tell a story. Even his bad books often have some very good parts to them, and are eminently readable.
I do not, however, recommend him as a source of political philosophy. This isn't because I disagree with him on everything -- in fact, if you read his entire body of work, he presents ideas that are all over the map himself. (His recently published first, previously unpublished novel, For Us, The Living, is set in what is essentially a socialist utopia, which the characters in most of his later books would utterly revile.) However, he is a good source for presenting some unconventional ideas. He himself said that, when he wrote Starship Troopers, he got a lot of flack for seeming to advocate a system in which only military veterans would be allowed to vote -- but he said he wasn't advocating that at all: merely encouraging people to ask the question: "Is universal franchise necessarily the best way of doing things? Should there be some qualification for voting?" It's a question I think most people don't consider; we just accept it as an axiom. And while I still can't think of a better answer myself (at least, not one that I know doesn't reflect my own prejudices -- e.g., only people who know the difference between "your" and "you're"), at least I have actually thought about it.
As far as sheet storytelling goes, I highly recommend such books of his as Double Star and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and perhaps Tunnel in the Sky. Well, and a number of others, but Double Star in particular isn't widely enough read.
As far as films go, I thought Starship Troopers, taken on its own, wasn't a bad film, but it utterly failed to capture the feel and principle themes of the book. On the other hand, the film version of The Puppet Masters, despite many changes in the details, did quite a good job in that regard.
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