This was deeply enjoyable to read—both because of your intriguing summary/analysis of the novel, and because I've really enjoyed Naomi Kanakia's essays and questions of found family vs biological family, envying bourgeois stability, and queer/trans stories that delve into the tangled and complicated parts of those identities!
Love your closing quote from Samuel R. Delany as well…such a wonderful articulation of how novels map out the choices and outcomes of human lives. Thank you for writing this review!!
I'm a HUGE Heinlein fan. I read dozens of his books growing up, and Starship Troopers and Moon is a Harsh Mistress very much held up on adult re-reads. I deeply admired his ability to create utopias with radically different political valences, from the libertarian to the fascist to the hippy, without any of it seeming like a mere thought experiment
I also grew up reading him—Stranger in a Strange Land blew my 11-year-old mind! That's what Delany praises him for too: a genuine political savvy expressed artfully in narrative, irrespective of his own beliefs.
This was deeply enjoyable to read—both because of your intriguing summary/analysis of the novel, and because I've really enjoyed Naomi Kanakia's essays and questions of found family vs biological family, envying bourgeois stability, and queer/trans stories that delve into the tangled and complicated parts of those identities!
Love your closing quote from Samuel R. Delany as well…such a wonderful articulation of how novels map out the choices and outcomes of human lives. Thank you for writing this review!!
You're welcome—very glad you enjoyed it! I definitely think you'll like the book.
I'm a HUGE Heinlein fan. I read dozens of his books growing up, and Starship Troopers and Moon is a Harsh Mistress very much held up on adult re-reads. I deeply admired his ability to create utopias with radically different political valences, from the libertarian to the fascist to the hippy, without any of it seeming like a mere thought experiment
I also grew up reading him—Stranger in a Strange Land blew my 11-year-old mind! That's what Delany praises him for too: a genuine political savvy expressed artfully in narrative, irrespective of his own beliefs.
The crossover event I’ve been waiting for! Great review: it’s motivated me to inch it up my to-read list.
Thank you! I think you'll enjoy it.