But love or hate, most of my interlocutors can't mention Heinlein without talking about Stranger in a Strange Land- a book I have never read because it couldn't hold my interest past the first few chapters.
On a quest to understand whether or not books whose first chapters don't grab me are or are not worth reading (see my post Stardust in our eyes), I picked up Stranger in a Strange Land. I muscled through the first several chapters, and read through to the end.
The result of the experiment was clear. My feelings toward the book softened a little as I continued to read, got to know the characters and situations better, and to recognize certain Heinlein characteristics that I've come to know and love. But I never felt a fraction of the warmth toward the book that I did toward Heinlein's Friday (read five times and counting), The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, To Sail Beyond the Sunset, The Number of the Beast or the adventurous sf Heinlein books geared toward children.
The first few chapters of Stranger in a Strange Land didn't grab me, and neither did the rest of the book.
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