Yes. You and 14 other people, with the aid of a large rubber band…… What?
Ms. Wilde better make damn (oops!) sure her little brat stays away from the Bible then! A couple of those passages in the Song of Solomon aren’t exactly 1st grade happy faces.
I’m a major Heinlein freak, but I totally agree that SIASL sucks major…
Julie Wilde sounds like a porn star name.
Or (Gawd forbid) Friday, with the sexy Michael Whelan cover art. That way, her head would explode before she even had to open the book.
I’m glad to see that the books were kept, anyway. A minor victory in a long, long war. I recently heard about a local school board trying to ban Huckleberry Finn because it’s “racist.” I think Darth Nader is right, and these people trying to ban these books simply haven’t read them. Huck Finn is one of the finest indictments of everything that’s wrong about racism I can think of… to call it “racist” is simply ignorant of its story.
But Huck Finn has the “n-word” in it, if I remember correctly. ANY use of that word is automatically racist, isn’t it? :rolleyes: Heaven forbid some people realize that sometimes it really is all about context, not just the evil evil evil “n-word.”
Ignorance is what this is all about. I really am trying to think of anything even remotely titillating in SIASL and am not coming up with anything. The one actual sex scene is so very very tame it’s funny, since I’m sure it was cut for being way too racy back in the '60s.
Objecting to Stranger in a Strange Land is silly and misguided, but Brave New World? Sure it mentions promiscuous sex and drug-taking – but they’re held up as examples of a civilization in decline – you’d think that prudes would eat it for breakfast. “Here, kids! A nice adventure story about some real heroes who decide to follow their hearts, stay off drugs, and pair up and settle down instead of engaging in all sorts of serial sex.” 
Hell, I’ve got a radio adaptation of BNW, complete with pneumatic secretary shagging and dope taking – which was considered suitable for broadcast in the freaking 1950’s, when it seems that the only hope of a narrative reaching a radio-listener’s ears hinged on it being a black-and-white morality play.
Hell, whiterabbit. Let’s not forget that even the use of the word niggardly is racist according to some people.
I wonder how many conniption fits those fools against SIASL would have if that school had the children reading Panshin’s Rite of Passage.
Just chiming in that I also hated Stranger in a Strange Land. Gee, I thought it would be considered heresy to say such a thing on this board!
I’d forgotten about the niggardly people. Now there is stupidity in action!
Nigger is not a nice word. And I wouldn’t really want my kid reading sexually explicit stuff as a school assignment. But in this case, NEITHER APPLIES. SIASL is not sexually explicit. Huck Finn is not racist. You want racist stuff in the classroom? Read Heart of Darkness. Oh, I HATED HATED HATED that piece of so-called literature, and it was the most racist thing I ever read. Though I got an A on the paper about how much I hated it…
I want to bitch-slap every person who wants a book banned, and then says, “I wouldn’t read that piece of trash,” but apparently still know enough about it to want it banned.
Why? The only reason I can see is that it might not be considered “classical” enough–that it’s lacking in literary value. Personally, I think “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” would actually be a better book, but only because I think it’s more interesting. I’m sure the same parents would object to it, what with the polygamous marriages and all.
My class read Elie Wiesel’s “Night” in 9th grade, and no one objected. I don’t see how “Stranger in a Strange Land” could be considered any more ‘adult’ than that.
Besides, these books were apparently part of the “summer reading list”–I’m guessing they were just two among many options that students could choose themselves. That’s usually how these kinds of lists work, right?
SIASL featured a sort of commune in which casual sex was encouraged. Everyone did it with everyone else and that was presented as a positive thing. Of course, I read the 800-page unabridged version, so I don’t know exactly what was left out of the shorted book, but I can see how some would consider this offensive. I certainly don’t agree with them in any way, shape, or form, but I do understand what they’re bitching about.
As far as the quality of the book itself, I feel it was a bit overrated, but still a decent read.
I have never actually read these books (I think I might now, I’m kinda curious. I always meant to read more Heinlein anyway!) but from what I’ve heard I really don’t see a problem with it.
Of course I was raised where my reading was never really censored. If I wanted to read something it was fine and I got into some pretty… well, erotic books around 11. Somehow I think the romance novels I read for a couple years straight would be worse than these, and I’ve gotten into some books that are more explicit then they ever were!
I can see how some people would have problems with them though, but as long as it’s optional and they can pick and choose from a list of books it wouldn’t be bad. That way if someone wants to read all the books on the list, or skip over certain ones because of problems with the content, they can.
Is the list completely required reading? Or must they read a minimum number of the books on the list and can choose to read more if they wish? If it’s the latter there shouldn’t be any problem.
You are heathens, all of you. But you actually read SiaSL before rendering judgement, so we won’t burn you.
I missed the ‘summer reading list’ part. In other words, these are books they’ve known were assigned since June, and are only now complaining about it? Ok, now I’m positive this started out as a ploy by someone who didn’t do the assigned reading.
So, is it time to inform Mrs. Wilde that we want the whip?
We had one of our local high schools considering banning Huck Finn, based on a petition from some of the black students at the school. One of the local talk radio hosts was interviewing three of the students involved in writing and passing the petition, and they were using the “it’s offensive because of the N-word” argument. He got the girls on the call to admit that only one of them had actually READ the book, and that only about 6 people (out of 30 to 40) that had signed the petition had read the book.
I don’t have a damned thing to say that hasn’t been well said,but even if I happened to somehow be the only poster to this thread,I couldn’t say much because this sort of lunacy maniacally enrages me and I become absolutely incoherent.
ROWRBAZZLE! (No,not the user name, what one of the POGO characters used to say,and my take on this whole subject).