Minor Thoughts from me to you

Red Planet
by Robert A. Heinlein

My rating: ★★★★☆
Read From: 26 July 2013 - 27 July 2013

Once I'd finished Tunnel in the Sky (it was such a quick read), I wasn't ready to be done with Heinlein. And I had this book sitting around, checked out from the library. So I went ahead and read it. It's another of Heinlein's juveniles. It's not as much of a coming of age story as Tunnel in the Sky. It certainly has elements of that but it's a bit more focused on the line between authority and tyranny.

Heinlein hits on some familiar themes: responsibility is a matter of maturity and skill, not of age. Self-defense is the right of every person. The man asking (or requiring) you to disarm yourself doesn't have your best interests at heart. He undoubtedly has someone's best interests in mind, but it's not you. Respect for other civilizations and peoples is not only a matter of decency, it can also be a matter of life and death. Self-reliance and initiative is far preferable to dependency and trust in good intentions.

It's an entertaining story, with a necessary message about life. It's another one that I'll be recommending to my daughters, as they grow up.