tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109330298373881994.post7180107435659710796..comments2023-10-26T11:24:50.157+03:00Comments on Strange and Curious Things: Science Fiction Classics: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinleincuriousthingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07600806228177309511noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109330298373881994.post-79669216661856117842016-11-30T21:21:56.592+02:002016-11-30T21:21:56.592+02:00Thanks for the comments! And you're right, con...Thanks for the comments! And you're right, context matters, like the similarity to westerns, which were a big deal at the time. <br /><br />Yes, the other colony/city was Chinese, I think. I don't recall picking up any Chinese influences in the way the loonies spoke, though? <br /><br />The Brass Cannon? I have to side eith the editor on that one :) And thanks for the link, I'll check it out!curiousthingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07600806228177309511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109330298373881994.post-80068940969997234222016-11-30T15:41:39.857+02:002016-11-30T15:41:39.857+02:00Heinlein's intended title was The Brass Cannon...Heinlein's intended title was The Brass Cannon. It was the editor who gave the book such a long mouthful of a title, because he was afraid people wouldn't know it was sf. <br /><br />Heinlein's title implied that decisions between governments, such as giving a colony independence, are made not by educating a government to, for example, believe in allowing freedom, but by having an ability to use force. Not something naive Americans like to hear.<br /><br />I once wrote an essay called The Brass Cannon to explore the idea. Here's the link:<br />http://essaysbysean.blogspot.ca/2010/12/brass-cannon.htmlSean Crawfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13724844971087639706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109330298373881994.post-11522474627300789542016-11-29T18:33:14.401+02:002016-11-29T18:33:14.401+02:00Hi Anna,
I have lots on my mind.
Part of the book&...Hi Anna,<br />I have lots on my mind.<br />Part of the book's appeal at the time was the readers would have grown up on black and white TV, wearing coonskin caps and watching westerns, and been used to the frontier where women were a precious minority on a pedestal. Sexual assault back then was like horse stealing: a hanging offence. <br /><br />Another nostalgia appeal was the similarity to the American Revolution.<br /><br />In the sixties, of course, people were questioning society and marriage.<br /><br />Another appeal was that nearly all the third world had just broken away, or was breaking away, from being colonies: how could they fight imperialism, and how could they govern themselves? Simply copying the U.S. constitution would not work—although Americans hate to hear that: They have little idea that the Canadians have made a new, improved one back in the 1970's.<br /><br />Pet peeve: Incidentally, in Canada just now no one is saying the word "imperialism," but the government is trying to break the U.S. monopoly on Canadian oil. The U.S. is responding by funding anti-pipeline efforts (it was in the news) for getting to Canadian coasts, and building many, many miles of their own interior pipeline while federally opposing a single Canadian one that would cross the U.S. to get to the ocean.<br /><br />I think at the time I saw the dialect as Russian, not Chinese, but still, a lot of the people on the moon were Chinese... As you like language: I wonder if dropping the word "the" comes from pidgin Chinese? I read once that Koreans get very annoyed at how English speakers say "the sky is blue." What, is there more than one sky?<br />I once used pidgin on the Chinese fellow seated next to me at my club: He showed pleased surprise and then told I had used Chinese (in English) What I said was, "Long time no see."<br /><br />More language: Some famous author (I forget who) has pointed out that Manuel, or manual, means arm, and just as he has an artificial arm so too is he the arm of Mike, meaning: The story is in fact Mike's story, beginning with Mike coming alive, and ending after Mike departs.<br /><br />As a boy I read the book with the same cover. On our farm we had some (boardwalks) duckboards like for crossing the mud in WWI and I recall trying to bounce down like a loony on a ramp. My sister cried at the fate of Mike.<br /><br /> Someday I'll read it again.Sean Crawfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13724844971087639706noreply@blogger.com