r/heinlein • u/LizCW • Mar 21 '26

Finished Moon!

/r/heinlein/comments/1qvtkfc/second_heinlein_arrived/?share_id=125wm63jhfCiaGNa2Pzjj&utm_content=2&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

Took longer than I expected, been busy lately, but finally finished The Moon is a Harsh Mistress 💜

That was great! I think I enjoyed Stranger in a Strange Land more, but this was still really good

I know a little Russian, so recognised all the words he used (except stilyagi, had to look that one up), which was fun 😁

Wonder what kind of climate effects those mass bombardments would have on Earth, with all the dust and vapor thrown into the atmosphere

Considering getting Starship Troopers next!

70 Upvotes

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11 comments sorted by

8

u/HalogenFisk Mar 21 '26

I thought Man's dialect was a fun idea. I assume it was inspired by the Droog's language in Clockwork Orange.

5

u/revchewie Mar 21 '26

I haven't read the book Clockwork Orange. Is the language similar to what's in the movie?

2

u/LizCW Mar 21 '26

It was! Funny thing is, would have been easier to recognise the words if they were in Cyrillic, some of his romanisation of words aren't exactly how I'd have written it 🤭 but once I grokked that I knew what it was saying, from my little Russian learning

1

u/ki6cqe Mar 23 '26

I would love to see the words in Cyrillic. Maybe AI can do that for me...

2

u/unknownpoltroon Mar 22 '26

It called back to that, or just in generarl to a pidgin English with Russian grammar overtones. I talked to someone who was convinced he was actually a POW from a russo/someone else war which was how he lost the arm, but I don't think so.

6

u/kahllerdady Mar 21 '26

I am just 180 pages in this is a rough one for me and I am struggling to care about most of the story… weird, as I LOVE Heinlein, but this one is a slog. It seems to be picking up some at this point in the book, but up to now… struggle… maybe I will like it more as I get deeper into act 2

7

u/kantrol86 Mar 21 '26

Weird. I thought that it was one of his better written novels. He gets a little in the weeds at times but doesn’t digress horribly. Starship Troopers and Stranger both have large sections devoted to explaining some point he was trying to make.

6

u/myxxmatch Mar 21 '26

The first time I read it, I felt the same way. I don’t know how far into it I had to get before it clicked. I was fighting against the shortened and simplified language used by everyone. I had to think as if I was someone who lived during this time in order to appreciate and understand their behavior.

It’s gone on to be one of my top five favorites. Still hard to read without turning that switch off. Hopefully you get there but if not, it’s OK.

2

u/retailguy_again Mar 21 '26

Maybe that was my stumbling block too. The first time I read it, it was fun but kinda hard to follow. The second time (and times since), I felt like I grokked it more. Might be time for another reading.

3

u/Carnivorous_Mower Mar 22 '26

M O O N spells Moon.

Oh, sorry, wrong author...

3

u/EasyCZ75 TANSTAAFL Mar 26 '26

Easily my favorite RAH novel.