The passage in Job: a comedy of justice where Heinlein describes what it’s like in heaven should be compulsory reading in every library school.
I don’t think The Moon is a Harsh Mistress can be seen as a direct parallel to any historic independence movement. Australia was known as a penal colony (although in reality Australia was settled more by miners than convicts) but it never had a real revolution. Ireland did fight for its independence but Ireland wasn’t a penal colony and the Irish certainly didn’t feel the problem with the British was they were too far away - rather the opposite.
TMiaHM parallels several revolutionary movements, so you really can’t equate it with just one. There are elements from Australia, Ireland, France, Russia and the US all woven together.
At least partly by design, too: Prof was actively trying to make it look like any number of Earthly revolutions, to make the people of those nations more sympathetic to the cause.
And Rala, none of those books is one I’d recommend to someone just starting on Heinlein.
I haven’t read it for a while now - I’ll bow to your opinion. 
I really enjoyed “Job,” too. I did forget that one.
Job is good, but not a good starting place.
longhair75 mentioned a good one: Revolt In 2100. Really two novellas slapped together, at least the first half is excellent, timely and all-too-possible.
Revolt in 2100 is entirely contained within The Past through Tomorow, which also contains a lot of other good stories.
I like “The Door Into Summer” and “The Roads Must Roll”.
I like Heinlein because he is a mid-century author (20th century)-and its fun to see how technology has advanced . As for his politics, yes, that it 1950’s as well-with the ever-present Red Scare.
It’s like reading Jules Verne-you have to accept that the world has changed quite a bit since the books came out.
I liked it. I re-read it every few years.
RetitledThe Day After Tomorrow.
It’s infinitely better than Campbell’s version, which was published after his death under the title All. But even Heinlein didn’t much like the plot.
cat Whisperer wrote:
Yes, but, just as you wouldn’t recommend them for a beginning Heinlein reader, neither would I, which is why I wrote what I did.
And I suspect that you wouldn’t be so happy with For Us the Living if you’d come across it unattributed. It’s only interesting as a historical artifiact and one of our earliest pieces of Heinleiniana.
I’ve read Friday, Stranger in a Strange Land, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. The last is one of my favorite books ever, but I wouldn’t really recommend the other two.
Man! Did you ever get the booby prize!
If I were coming up with a list of the worst possible Heinleins to start with, it would not be far off of yours. There is some good stuff to be had in there, but it’s definitely an acquired taste.
As noted above, the juveniles, the several adult (in the sense of being written for grownups) novels of the same period (Double Star, Puppet Masters, Door into Summer), the short stories, and Moon is a Harsh Mistress and all much accessible works.
I’m bumping this thread from pure fanboy exuberance.
Well, as you’ve awakened the zombie, I’ll feed it.
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
Starship Troopers
Tunnel in the Sky
The Door Into Summer
Citizen of the Galaxy
Have Spacesuit, Will Travel
Starman Jones
Red Planet
A couple of years later and I stand by my list in Post #7.
With the passage of time, I will admit that I reread To Sail Beyond the Sunset every now and then.
Don’t judge me.
Good lists, both. I still get asked for such lists and while I try to tailor them to age and interests, my lists look a lot like these. A little iffy on TEFL - too long and confusing for some new readers.
I just reread The Rolling Stones while on vacation and I probably reread Moon is a Harsh Mistress every other year. I reread Puppet Masters last year. These classic don’t get old. Though I probably only reread about 3 Heinlein’s per year now.
“The Number of the Beast” is the very first book I EVER failed to finish. In fact, I slogged on to within 50 pages of the end, and threw the book in the garbage in disgust.
However, I LOVE Golden-Age Heinlein.
People didn’t like Space Cadet?
Number of the Beast leads into some better stories. By itself, I’d still put it ahead of Farnham’s Freehold.
I listened to Variable Star, by Spider Robinson, based on Heinlein’s notes.
Interesting and fun. Parts read like Spider Robinson, and parts read like a Heinlein juvenile.
It’s set in the Future History, but not the main branch. We get to see a bit about how the Prophet came to power, a story Heinlein dreaded writing.
Some scenes are quite funny, I LOLed out loud more than once.
As a Spider Robinson novel, it’s good. As a Heinlein novel, it’s not the worst ever.
I feel similarly, about Time For The Stars. Two dis-recommendations, one recommendation, and no mention of the book otherwise.
I like best, (many of) Heinlein’s stand-alone novels / “juveniles”, and would suggest same to a new reader. TFTS is one of my four or five top favourites among those. I wonder why many readers seemingly find it wanting?