Week 6 Mars: Red Planet

The writing in this novel felt surprisingly modern most of the time.  I guess I'm just so used to seeing "Well, you good ol' chap!" type of dialogue from pulp magazine stories that this was a nice refresher.  There were a few moments here and there that the dialogue seemed dated, but they were few and far between.  I was primarily excited to read this mainly because I found that the author also wrote Starship Troopers, which would be adapted into one of my favorite films.

Its clear to me, upon researching Heinlein, that whatever political views that are held by characters in his novels are not at all shared by Heinlein himself.  He often contradicted himself regarding political matters, but I believe his works were purely satirical in that regard.  Who really would agree with the Doc in Red Planet that anyone that can hold a gun, should hold a gun, regardless of a license?

How about Rico in Starship Troopers?  What American author would really portray their protagonist going from an individual in a fascist society, to just another brainwashed fascist?  I don't believe there is any way Heinlein took these ideologies seriously, or ever agreed with them.  He was trying to show the extreme side of things he disagreed with.