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| Heinlein issue of SFRA Review https://heinleinsociety.org/thsnexus/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1443 |
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| Author: | BillMullins [ Sun Jun 09, 2013 5:48 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Heinlein issue of SFRA Review |
The SFRA held a meeting in conjunction with the Centennial in KC. issue of their journal coincided with that meeting and has a great deal of material concerning Heinlein. |
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| Author: | vranger [ Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:03 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Heinlein issue of SFRA Review |
I'm not sure why, but I'm continually surprised at people who even at this late date, never "got" Farnham's Freehold. The review of it in that newsletter is atrocious, skimming along surface events, completely missing the point of the book, and questioning the intent of the book when the intent is crystal clear. Written at the height of the Civil Rights movement, Heinlein "ambushed" his fans with an overtly likeable and sympathetic black character, supported by the book's hero, who was himself color-blind. The introduction of Farnham's son, Duke, was for the express purpose of shocking and offending the reader with Duke's offensive and ignorant bigotry ... targeting a character we'd already come to like and respect. By then turning the tables of bigotry once his group arrived in the future, Heinlein demonstrated that all men or equally good or bad, as they choose, and that race itself is an accident of birth, not a definition of ability or character. Not everything in the book is present to advance his debunking of bigotry. He was, after all, writing a book that needed to interest and entertain his fans, so there is plenty of his signature adventure, common sense versus nonsense, and the struggle of the hero against those who seek to hold him back. It was a courageous novel to publish at its time, and I guarantee helped shape many young attitudes for the better. |
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| Author: | JackKelly [ Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:47 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Heinlein issue of SFRA Review |
I agree with your viewpoint. |
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