Last updated on 2014-09-07
After reading Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, I have definitively become a Robert Heinlein fan. This last book, like the previous ones, has both good narrative and impressive philosophical depth.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress tells the story of how the moon colonies became independent, being helped by a very unusual subject. The moon is populated by earth criminals, that are given the choice of “freedom” by going to live on the moon. An as the title says, the moon is a harsh place to live in. But once you manage to survive the initial shock, the lunar society is a lot more civilized than the earth. As in previous books, Heinlein experiments with different types of family arrangements, social conducts and specially on how women affect the behavior of men.
The political views proposed in the book are very interesting, and most of them make sense. The law of the people is the law, and the government has close to zero influence on how this works. This creates a very effective place where there is no wasted government expenditure (unlike what we have now in the world where in some countries the government consumes some half of the country’s money!). But I think this can only work in small societies where anonymity does not exist.
Another great book by a great author. Definite recommendation.
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