The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

[Stephen Speicher 0]

Book suggested for rating by Joss Delage.

[Betsy Speicher 0]

Although The Moon is a Harsh Mistress had some good moments and interesting story ideas, I don't consider it among Heinlein's best. It seems as if he were trying to put over political ideas -- often weirdly libertarian ideas -- as a childishly simplistic novel. It reminds me, in many ways, of Henry Hazlitt's The Great Idea (aka Time Will Run Back).

I was also annoyed and somewhat offended by Heinlein's attempt to portray the events in his story as an updated SciFi version of the American Revolution. The founding Fathers were morally superior to Heinlein's protagonists and they were motivated by more rational and noble ideals.

[Joss Delage 0]

I like the book a lot. I love the idea of the small lunar colony being able to repell invasion from much bigger, richer, and stronger Earth, and I think that in that it might be a good transposition of the American Revolution (although in the book the lunar colony is able to retaliate directly against Earth).

I found most of the political ideas supported by the book compatible with Objectivism. Before the revolution, there's mension of what are effectively private courts, and of course this is not compatible with Capitalism.

[dondigitalia 0]

I liked this book a lot, but I read it many years ago, before I had studied any philosophy at all, much less Objectivism. One of these days, I plan to dust it off for a reread, so I can give it an updated evaluation. I do remember being entertained by it, though, as I usually am by Heinlein's books.

I know he won a few Hugo Awards. Was one of them for this?

[HeroicLife 0]

Before the revolution, there's mension of what are effectively private courts, and of course this is not compatible with Capitalism.

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Don't mean to get sidetracked here, but I think within the context of their wild-west society, and the nature of their colonial government, such courts may be entirely appropriate. As their society matures, more formal courts could be organized, just as they were in the American West.

[HeroicLife 0]

It reminds me, in many ways, of Henry Hazlitt's The Great Idea (aka Time Will Run Back).

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I somewhat liked that book too, but I think TMIAHM has a sophisticated humor to it that I really enjoyed. I didn’t read it as a political treatise, and I think that taking the political ideas in the book seriously is missing the point. Like his later novels, this book is essentially about the central characters and the society they shape, and I think that it excels in that regard.