Starship Troopers (review)
Posted: 01 Apr 2009 08:34
I've been working my way through a couple dozen books to better acquaint myself with the science-fiction genre, and I'm going through so many that I thought it would be a good idea to write down my impression while it's still reasonably fresh. A short review also seemed a fun way to go about it, in part inspired by Omph.
This could also be a springboard to discuss other books, though if that's not welcome (OHH might be better for this), so feel free to talk about your experiences reading this and whatever other books I post, or to respond to what I say.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I first read Stranger in A Strange Land a couple years ago and I was completely disgusted with it. This was during my most conservative time, so I it was a struggle to keep 'til the end. I didn't pick up anything Heinlein-related until recently, as part of my personal reading program. I worked my way through a few of his juveniles, (Citizen of the Galaxy and Red Planet); then two of his adult works (Podkayne of Mars and Troopers). I'm planning on reading a few more juveniles, then capping it off with The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.
This is probably a good example of one of his philosophical works. There's not much here except Heinlein using the book as a mouthpiece to describe an idea, so I'm tempted to just describe it as a story of ideas rather than any characterization. But he does it so well. Heinlein has that ability to describe things in such a way that you can believe it. I believed a lot of the things he was outlining in here, but he just worded it perfectly.
I especially liked the flashbacks. Heinlein doesn't stay too long on any given chapter; the story progresses back and forth and focuses on the important stuff that you don't feel stuck. Everything in there had a purpose for demonstrating the ideas, or bringing out Rico's character.
The book seems like an obvious philosophical work, but looking back I can recognize a true character story. Rico was much different at the end of the novel than who he was in the beginning, but you hardly notice it. (I shouldn't analyze it too much after a first read, but this is my first impression) It seemed like there was a lot going on, especially with his relationship with his father. With my next reading of this book I'll have to pay closer attention to the character development, since I was too focused on the development of the philosophy the first time around.
As I said before, only the important details are described. This makes the story fluid. I also feel that there were never any characters that didn't have to be there (another good sign). Everything had a purpose for moving the story/message along.
The books ending was rather vague: "Johnny goes off to continue the fight." That's the problem with philosophical works; it can be difficult to end it on the right tone. But if you look at it from a character's perspective, I think the ending was just right. I feel this book is really a character story at heart, and I'd love to read it again as if it was something completely different than I thought at first.
So I'd give it a 4 out of 5. It's not the best that could have been done, but it did it right and it did it first.
This could also be a springboard to discuss other books, though if that's not welcome (OHH might be better for this), so feel free to talk about your experiences reading this and whatever other books I post, or to respond to what I say.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I first read Stranger in A Strange Land a couple years ago and I was completely disgusted with it. This was during my most conservative time, so I it was a struggle to keep 'til the end. I didn't pick up anything Heinlein-related until recently, as part of my personal reading program. I worked my way through a few of his juveniles, (Citizen of the Galaxy and Red Planet); then two of his adult works (Podkayne of Mars and Troopers). I'm planning on reading a few more juveniles, then capping it off with The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.
This is probably a good example of one of his philosophical works. There's not much here except Heinlein using the book as a mouthpiece to describe an idea, so I'm tempted to just describe it as a story of ideas rather than any characterization. But he does it so well. Heinlein has that ability to describe things in such a way that you can believe it. I believed a lot of the things he was outlining in here, but he just worded it perfectly.
I especially liked the flashbacks. Heinlein doesn't stay too long on any given chapter; the story progresses back and forth and focuses on the important stuff that you don't feel stuck. Everything in there had a purpose for demonstrating the ideas, or bringing out Rico's character.
The book seems like an obvious philosophical work, but looking back I can recognize a true character story. Rico was much different at the end of the novel than who he was in the beginning, but you hardly notice it. (I shouldn't analyze it too much after a first read, but this is my first impression) It seemed like there was a lot going on, especially with his relationship with his father. With my next reading of this book I'll have to pay closer attention to the character development, since I was too focused on the development of the philosophy the first time around.
As I said before, only the important details are described. This makes the story fluid. I also feel that there were never any characters that didn't have to be there (another good sign). Everything had a purpose for moving the story/message along.
The books ending was rather vague: "Johnny goes off to continue the fight." That's the problem with philosophical works; it can be difficult to end it on the right tone. But if you look at it from a character's perspective, I think the ending was just right. I feel this book is really a character story at heart, and I'd love to read it again as if it was something completely different than I thought at first.
So I'd give it a 4 out of 5. It's not the best that could have been done, but it did it right and it did it first.
