Brian Singer to Bring Heinlein's 'The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress' To the Big Screen

'The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress' Coming To the Big Screen - Slashdot 

Read and re-read Heinlein voraciously as a kid, still have a shelf and a half of his books, though it's hard to get my today head around the fact younger me thought that they were that great. (Wish I'd spent some of that time giving Asimov another shot instead.) Still, I'll be interested to see what Brian Singer makes of TMIAHM.

If the new adaptation is news, the old news I (can't believe I) missed is that Red Planet was made as an animated miniseries back the early 90s and "All You Zombies" was made as Predestination with Ethan Hawke just last year. Throwing an embed of the former below, even if it's unlikely I'll make the time watch it myself -- though I remember the novel (both the 1949 release and the uncut version) fondly -- but the movie looks to be worth checking out.

Heinlein’s Worst Novel (Agreed.)

Heinlein’s Worst Novel | Tor.com:

... I have a firm opinion on which was his worst book, and for me it’s unquestionably To Sail Beyond the Sunset. I haven’t re-read it recently and I’m not going to re-read it, even though I do re-read all of the others from time to time. So I’m going to do something I very seldom do and talk about a book from my memories of it without revisiting it, because I just don’t want to read it again. It’s the only Heinlein book I really don’t like.

TSBTS and Number of the Beast are the only two Heinlein's I read just the one time. I've gone back and re-read every other at some point, the best of them I've read several times. Gardner Dozois makes a very solid point in the comments of the original post and I'd actually forgotten, mercifully, and I have no desire to go back and remind myself why I didn't much care for it. The next time I go back to revisit a Heinlein, it's probably going to be the short story collection, The Green Hills of Earth.

Via Friendfeed's Mitch Wagner

Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 1

Amazon.com: Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 1 (1907-1948): Learning Curve (9780765319609): William H. Patterson: Books: "Hardcover: 624 pages." That's a lot of Heinlein for a Volume 1.

From the peak inside:

I guess that's the inception of the idea of Lazarus Long.

Nothing says 'topical and relevant' like an Asimov-themed webcomic.

Sheldon® Comic Strip: Daily Webcomic by Dave Kellett

Clickthrough for the mutton chop-tingling conclusion!

Honestly, I don't know why this struck me funny. But it did. I don't see a search on the site, otherwise I'd have been looking to see if any Heinlein comics were there to be found.

Interest Level in "Electric City" Just Clicked Up a Notch

OK, my interest level was zero, so a modest uptick is not exactly me jumping out of my chair, but any chance that the series will be informed by the sensibility of Heinlein's juvenile novels is reason enough to take note.

Tom Hanks' animated, anti-dystopian Star Trek-inspired Web series | Blastr:

'I remember the first story I read by Robert A. Heinlein,' said Hanks, 'which was Have Space Suit—Will Travel. I literally thought, where has this guy been? Then I read everything of his that I came on, and I discovered this whole new racket. This is the most fun you could possibly have with a typewriter.'

Sci-Fi List Meme

My Secret Science Fiction Past – waggish is my jumping off point. Basically, it's a list of Sci-Fi classics where I'm bolding the ones I've read and italicizing the ones I still like and would recommend:

1 – The Forever War – Joe Haldeman
2 – I Am Legend – Richard Matheson
3 – Cities in Flight – James Blish
4 – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
5 – The Stars My Destination – Alfred Bester
6 – Babel-17 – Samuel R. Delany
7 – Lord of Light – Roger Zelazny
8 – The Fifth Head of Cerberus – Gene Wolfe
9 – Gateway – Frederik Pohl
10 – The Rediscovery of Man – Cordwainer Smith

11 – Last and First Men – Olaf Stapledon
12 – Earth Abides – George R. Stewart
13 – Martian Time-Slip – Philip K. Dick
14 – The Demolished Man – Alfred Bester
15 – Stand on Zanzibar – John Brunner
16 – The Dispossessed – Ursula K. Le Guin
17 – The Drowned World – J. G. Ballard
18 – The Sirens of Titan – Kurt Vonnegut
19 – Emphyrio – Jack Vance
20 – A Scanner Darkly – Philip K. Dick
21 – Star Maker – Olaf Stapledon
22 – Behold the Man – Michael Moorcock
23 – The Book of Skulls – Robert Silverberg
24 – The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds – H. G. Wells
25 – Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes
26 – Ubik – Philip K. Dick
27 – Timescape – Gregory Benford
28 – More Than Human – Theodore Sturgeon
29 – Man Plus – Frederik Pohl
30 – A Case of Conscience – James Blish

31 – The Centauri Device – M. John Harrison
32 – Dr. Bloodmoney – Philip K. Dick
33 – Non-Stop – Brian Aldiss
34 – The Fountains of Paradise – Arthur C. Clarke
35 – Pavane – Keith Roberts
36 – Now Wait for Last Year – Philip K. Dick
37 – Nova – Samuel R. Delany
38 – The First Men in the Moon – H. G. Wells
39 – The City and the Stars – Arthur C. Clarke
40 – Blood Music – Greg Bear

41 – Jem – Frederik Pohl
42 – Bring the Jubilee – Ward Moore
43 – VALIS – Philip K. Dick
44 – The Lathe of Heaven – Ursula K. Le Guin
45 – The Complete Roderick – John Sladek
46 – Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said – Philip K. Dick
47 – The Invisible Man – H. G. Wells
48 – Grass – Sheri S. Tepper
49 – A Fall of Moondust – Arthur C. Clarke
50 – Eon – Greg Bear

51 – The Shrinking Man – Richard Matheson
52 – The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch – Philip K. Dick
53 – The Dancers at the End of Time – Michael Moorcock
54 – The Space Merchants – Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth
55 – Time Out of Joint – Philip K. Dick
56 – Downward to the Earth – Robert Silverberg
57 – The Simulacra – Philip K. Dick
58 – The Penultimate Truth – Philip K. Dick
59 – Dying Inside – Robert Silverberg
60 – Ringworld – Larry Niven

61 – The Child Garden – Geoff Ryman
62 – Mission of Gravity – Hal Clement
63 – A Maze of Death – Philip K. Dick
64 – Tau Zero – Poul Anderson
65 – Rendezvous with Rama – Arthur C. Clarke
66 – Life During Wartime – Lucius Shepard
67 – Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang – Kate Wilhelm
68 – Roadside Picnic – Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
69 – Dark Benediction – Walter M. Miller, Jr.
70 – Mockingbird – Walter Tevis

71 – Dune – Frank Herbert
72 – The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein
73 – The Man in the High Castle – Philip K. Dick
74 – Inverted World – Christopher Priest
75 – Kurt Vonnegut – Cat’s Cradle
76 – H.G. Wells – The Island of Dr. Moreau
77 – Arthur C. Clarke – Childhood’s End
78 – H.G. Wells – The Time Machine
79 – Samuel R. Delany – Dhalgren (July 2010)
80 – Brian Aldiss – Helliconia (August 2010)

81 – H.G. Wells – Food of the Gods (Sept. 2010)
82 – Jack Finney – The Body Snatchers (Oct. 2010)
83 – Joanna Russ – The Female Man (Nov. 2010)
84 – M.J. Engh – Arslan (Dec. 2010)

I haven't investigated the criteria of the source list but, of course, many omissions leap to mind. Primarily, where the heck are the Kim Stanley Robinson novels?

Non-Random Book, Non-Random Passage #2

For the last twenty plus years, Kim Stanley Robinson has been my favorite writer. Prior to that, it was either Robert A. Heinlein or Mark Twain. I already hit Twain in the random series, so I'll pick a Heinlein passage to take me back to the those heady high-school days when reasonably bright (I'll be haughty here and put myself in that category) kids' brains are soaking up knowledge like sponges, awash in destabilizing hormones, and still, for having ten or more years of schooling, remarkably empty.

Heinlein is like crack for teen geeks with a sci-fi bent. All that machismo, science, solipsism, and wacky libertarianism: Danger, Will Robinson! I shudder to think some of the stuff I thought back then, but I still treasure these old books, and there are lots of them. The juveniles, the classics, and even the ones near the end where (To Sail Beyond the Sunset, I'm looking at you) things were just getting plain weird.

Since Starship Troopers is first Heinlein that leaps to mind, I've got go with Major Reid and Johnny Rico in History and Moral Philosopy class.

"Are a thousand unreleased prisoners sufficient reason to start or resume a war? Bear in mind that millions of innocent people may die, almost certainly will die, if war is started or resumed."

I didn't hesitate. "Yes, sir! More than enough reason."

"'More than enough.' Very well, is one prisoner unreleased by the enemy, enough reason to start or resume a war?"

I hesitated. I knew the M.I. answer -- but I didn't think that was the one he wanted. He said sharply, "Come, come, Mister! We have an upper limit of one thousand; I invited you to consider a lower limit of one. But you can't pay a promissory note which reads 'somewhere between one and one thousand pounds' -- and starting a war is much more serious than paying a trifle of money. Wouldn't it be criminal to endanger a country -- two countries, in fact -- to save one man? Especially as he may not deserve it? Or may die in the meantime? Thousands of people get killed every day in accidents ... so why hesitate over one man? Answer! Answer yes, or answer no -- you're holding up the class."

He got my goat. I gave him the cap trooper's answer. "Yes, sir!"

"'Yes' what?"

"It doesn't matter if it's a thousand -- or just one, sir. You fight."

"Aha! The number of prisoners is irrelevant. Good. Now prove your answer."

I was stuck. I knew it was the right answer. But I didn't know why. He kept hounding me. "Speak up, Mr. Rico. This is an exact science. You have made a mathematical statement; you must give proof. Someone may claim that you have asserted, by analogy, that one potato is worth the same price, no more, no less, as a thousand potatoes. No?"

"No, sir!"

"Why not? Prove it."

"Men are not potatoes."

What I still enjoy in Heinlein is captured here.  What I outgrew is as well.  He's very directly challenging his reader to tackle questions of ethics and morality.  And he's strident about it.  All those italics and exclamation points, I didn't add those.  I don't mind that so much, sure it's a bit florid but I think that's a great approach to go after a young reader.  Pose the questions, demand an answer, then demand a justification.  The problem is he's sloppy.  Where he has Reid say they've established an "upper limit" of one thousand, no, that's not what they did at all.  That's saying up to one thousand prisoners are enough to go to war over, more than that is not sufficient reason.  I know what he was trying to say but you can't have a character say they're being held to mathematical standards of proof and morality is an exact science and be so careless with your words.  The whole situation is the kind of overwrought there's-a-terrorist-who-knows-where-the-bomb-is-do-you-torture-him-for-the-information scenario.  Obviously, a nation should not just forget about a P.O.W. still behind enemy lines.  But, neither do we need to suppose that immediately after the last signature is on the armistice document, the presence of P.O.W.s behind enemy lines means lobbing a nuke or immediately picking the rifles back up.  (Demand their safety, work out the logistics of their return, explain the consequences of failure to comply or discuss in good faith, then act accordingly.)  At heart, Reid and Rico are right, you risk more than one life to gain the release of a prisoner -- if need be -- because saying, "Well, it's just one prisoner, screw him," would clearly be wrong.  Just like torture is wrong.   The problem is Heinlein's bluster obscures the real process of how you reason through a dilemma like the one discussed.

I'm glad I read Heinlein when I was young, I'm not sure I could stomach him now if I hadn't.  I'm glad because even though the prose and ideology are dodgier than I realized as a teen, the lesson that it's important to get to the right answer, that you arrive at it by reasoning, that there is a science to answering the hard questions (no appeals to mumbo-jumbo and mystical bullshit) -- as long as a kid comes away with that, that kid's going in the right direction.  I hope my kids read this stuff when they get older.  I also hope they don't stop with Heinlein.

And, I never did outgrow Twain.

Heinlein Homework

The Future of Reading - ‘Reading Workshop’ Approach Lets Students Pick the Books - Series - NYTimes.com: I would've loved to spend school time reading the Heinlein novels I was reading at home. I don't think I'd have been any worse off for it. But, I wonder if I'd been allowed to indulge and didn't have some of the classics assigned, how long it would've taken me to get to them? In some cases, I might've been better off getting to them late. If kids aren't picking up Mark Twain on their own, the schools better dang well be making sure they're getting their RDA.

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Now playing: The Toasters - Havana (This Gun for Hire)
via FoxyTunes

Heinlein's Star Fading?

I keep rereading Starship Troopers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and some of the "juveniles" (Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, Citizen of the Galaxy & Podkayne of Mars) every year or two and I still think he's miles better than Asimov or Clarke. Still, I haven't even thought of going back to Stranger in a Strange Land, Friday, To Sail Beyond the Sunset (any of the Lazarus Long novels, actually) and -- long separated from the wild libertarian to fascist swings of my teenage years -- I don't have much stomach for his "hairy-chested" prose, as this LA Times piece dubs it. (Nice synchronicity, btw, with Mark over at Cheek nominating R.A.H. for membership in the Manly Writers Corps.)

Also in the LA Times is a list of fave sci-fi novels of 2007 that'll make it's way to my library hold list.

Update: Heinlein's (manly) optimism in an essay on thisibelieve.org -- he's popping up everywhere these days as his Centenary year winds down.

(via SF Signal)

BookCrossing.com

BookCrossing.com
I like the idea of this, but am thinking that without some kind of obvious visual reference, lots of well intentioned drops would just wind up in Lost & Found bins. Maybe if you printed up a bookmark to stick in the front with the url prominently displayed and a blurb about what it's about would do the trick? I'm going to see if I can pick out one or two books to try this with. Not sure where I'll leave them though ...

One of the threads in the forum at the site is 'What would your pseudonym be?' I think I would go with Alek J. Hidell. It's one of the aliases Lee Harvey Oswald used (at least that's one Delillo mentions in Zodiac ... er, Libra [thanks Bonedaddy]) and it would put me right next to Heinlein in most bookstore shelves.

Have Movie Rights, Will Produce

Yet another Heinlein adaptation the way to the silver screen, one of the 'juveniles' this time: Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. Possibly as a Pixar animation?

My first choice, off the top of my head, for one of the juvies would've been Tunnel in the Sky. Have Spacesuit I don't remember too well. Even reading some reviews didn't do much to help bring it back.

TANSTAAFL

Looks like Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (IMO, one of his best) may be the next to hit the big screen. [Sci Fi Wire] I wouldn't exactly call Verhoeven's Startship Troopers or that Donald Sutherland Puppet Masters (which, tangentially, also starred Richard Belzer who, I just discovered, was born in Bridgeport, CT -- as were Brian Dennehy, Robert Mitchum, ex-SNLer Kevin Nealon, and John "Cliff from Cheers" Ratzenberger according to IMDB) not a strong track record of Heinlein adaptions but still, one can hope for the best.

Early Heinlein

More on Heinlein's unpublished first novel, written when he was a self-described "soft-headed radical." Puts the timeframe of the writing of the novel after his work on Upton Sinclair's failed California gubenatorial campaign and around the time of his own failed run at the state assembly.

My Inner Geek Completist Just Snapped to Attention

Tidbits about the upcoming release of Heinlein's unpublished first novel, "For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs" (1939), from Spider Robinson at Sci-Fi Wire. Given the title, comparisons to Rand's "We the Living" (1936) will be obligatory.

Heinlein Prize

Established to recognize practical accomplishments in commercial space activities by individuals operating without government or corporate funding. [Mission Statement] Nominees?

TANSTAAFL!

Starship Troopers got Verhoeven-ed and is heading for sequelization. It's enough to make a Heinlein fan toss and turn at night. So word that The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress may get adapted for the big screen is greeted with mixed feelings. It's one of his best and could be great movie. If it gets Verhoeven-ed, it'll be unwatchable, which goes without saying. Off the cuff, I'm inspired to list my Top 5 Sci-Fi Novels I'd Like to See Adapted to the Big Screen Assuming They Would Be Handled By Competent Screenwriters and Directors:

1 - KSR's The Gold Coast Would make a great ensemble movie for young unknowns. James Cameron was supposed to be developing this a few years back but nothing ever came of it.

2 - Ballard's High Rise Just don't let anyone associated with Crash near it. That means you, Cronenberg.

3 - Heinlein's Friday Jennifer Garner's a hot property now ...

4 - Stephenson's Zodiac This would be a great movie for Jake (The Zero Effect) Kasdan to take on.

5 - Asimov's Foundation So I don't have to read it.

"It ryhmes with Shane MacGowan, not Puddin' Tane."

For as long as I can remember, I've seen the word "samhain" in print, either in regard to Halloween or Danzig's post-Misfits band, and supposed it was pronounced like it's spelled. Nope. I learned today that it's "sow-en". I feel kinda like I did after I found out Heinlein is pronounced "hine-line," not "HINE-lin" like I'd always imagined. Fortunately, I haven't had much cause to go around saying "samhain," (never found myself saying, "Dude, the new Samhain album kicks ass!") in fact, I don't think I've ever spoken the word aloud. Now that I know how it's pronounced, look out. Any wannabe goths come around "sam-haining" and I'm gonna smugly correct their ignorant asses.

Greatest Characters List

100 Greatest Characters in Literature Since 1900 [via NPR.org via Book magazine]

An intriguing idea for a list. Let's face it though, some things just don't list well. First glaring ommission that leaps to mind: Jim McPherson, The Gold Coast, Kim Stanley Robinson. Worst cheat: someone's getting slighted by listing Nick and Nora Charles together as one character, not that I argue with their inclusion. Clunkiest entry: Big Brother, 1984, George Orwell. (C'mon, I would've taken at least three from Animal Farm first -- Napoleon, Snowball, or Boxer!) Wrong Action Hero: James Bond. I love the Bond books and movies, Simon Templar (Leslie Charteris's "The Saint") was "greater" though. (And along those lines, I still get choked up thinking about Norman Kent in The Last Hero taking one for the team. He ought to at least get an honorable mention.) There's plenty of crime fiction and melodrama (Scarlett O'Hara?!) on the list, so why no sci-fi? Maybe Jim McPherson is too obscure but how not at least one of Valentine Michael Smith, Johnnie Rico, or Lazarus Long from the Heinlein canon? Want more highbrow sci-fi? How about Latro from Gene Wolfe's outstanding Soldier of the Mist. I'm only giving this a few minutes thought so I'm sure I'm going to kick myself for forgetting some more obvious choices. (Keith Talent!) Do we really need all those Philip Roth characters? I can't believe I'm the only person he doesn't impress.

Heinlein-Induced Solipsistic Tendencies

Continuing in my defense, I read a lot of Heinlein when I was younger. Actually, all of it up to and including Grumbles from the Grave, though none of the posthumous stuff since. Read Time Enough For Love and To Sail Beyond the Sunset when you're just a kid and there's no end to the weird ass stuff you'll think makes perfect sense.