My computer has been on the fritz (a wide range of problems that seem to indicate problems with multiple systems) so I've been reading here and there when not at work, and what I've been reading has nothing to do with the poetry group I'm leading on Saturday.  That will comprise another 70 pages worth of material I need to get through by tomorrow.  

What I've actually been spending most of my free time reading are a couple of novels by Heinlein.  The first was "Starship Troopers."  Yes, it was better than the movie, but then that wasn't exactly a difficult feat.  Filming a wet noodle on a wall during an earthquake would likely come out better than the movie.  If you are looking for a futuristic war story featuring people bouncing around in powered armor battling an alien menace I would suggest you read "Armor" instead.  "Starship Troopers" was mostly a book on socio-political commentary with the futuristic war as a backdrop medium to help explain the ramifications of future terran society.  Unfortunately, the parts I found most interesting--the commentary--were few and far between and most of the stuff I looked forward to--the futuristic battle scenes--were largely flat and not terribly interesting.  I suspect that most of the battle scenes were written flat on purpose to force the reader to focus on the social politics but it still didn't really work for me as a novel.  It had some interesting ideas but lacked any characters who you could really latch onto and the impetus for change--usually the driving force in any story--felt stagnant in relation to the politcal landscape of future Terra.

Next on the agenda was "Stranger in a Strange Land."  All I have to say is that the first 350 pages or so were fantastic!  It had several interesting characters--my favorite by far was Jubal--and the story moved along at a largely meandering pace that was both enjoyable and exciting.  (Cassie, if you are reading this then you should definitely check out this book, if you haven't done so already.  It will push numerous of your buttons and I think will give you more ideas than you can possibly sort out for weeks to come.)  As opposed to "Starship Troopers," "Stranger in a Strange Land" was a treatise on religious and philosophical discourse couched in the backstory of a man raised within an alien society and suddenly thrust back into human society.  It will help any reader greatly in understanding the story if you have a decent background in the relgious, historical, and philosophical pretexts of numerous religions across the globe, but a decent knowledge of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism will serve you best.  As for philosphical readings touched up, he touches upon Solipsism--which requires an understanding of Descarte--Hegel, Marx, Kant, Hume, Adam Smith, Apolonian, Dionysian,  Zeitgeist--yes, I know I already mentioned Hegel--the onlological, tealogical, and cosmological arguments and many more.  The good thing about all this philosophy incorporated in the book is that you don't have to know it to enjoy the book.  It will just give you an extra little chuckle if you do, and it will help you keep up with the rapid-fire intellectual-based discussions of Jubal.  Ah Jubal, I do so love that character!  He made the entire novel for me.  After about page 350 or so, I found the book slipping downhill for me and I'm not entirely sure why.  Sure the subject matter is highly controversial and can have you burned at the stake, in at least 17 states, just for mentioning it, but I rather tend to like controversial material, so that wasn't it.  No, I think the ending was a copout and served no real purpose to the story.  I found it unnecessary, and in light of recent history, not very logical.  There was just a better way things could have been wrapped up.  I won't go into any more detail than the sparse details I have provided here for those who might want to read the book, but if you want to yell at me for my disapproval of the ending, just feel free to note me and I'll be happy to bombard you with my less-than-expert opinion.

That being said, I found Heinlein's writing style to intersting.  Details are sparse, especially in comparison with the standard novel format developed in the Realism peroid.  Instead he focuses heavily on ideas and most often does so in very lengthy comversations involving monologues.  If you are looking for detailed action-based stories, then Heinlein is not the writer for you.  If you want complex and controversial ideas couched in a science-fiction setting, he might be your man.