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Starship Troopers | 
| Author: Robert A. Heinlein
Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 10090
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 0340837934
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780340837931
ASIN: 0340837934
Publication Date: March 14, 2005
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Interesting experiment (look up Rodger W. Young) on the net. September 7, 2008
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Interesting experiment (look up Rodger W. Young) on the net., 18 Sep 2001
Basically this book is not fascist like the movie. It suggests that people should be responsible for their actions and have a stake in what they make decisions on. Never did it say that these people were smarter or better, just that when you have a vested interest your decisions tend to work or you will pay.
I have to admit even thought I am no a shoot-um-up sort of person, I was intrigued in the process that Johnny Rico was going through in the story. The movie did not phase me as it looked like cartoon hype. But the book was too close to home. I hope my memory is flawed as I remember every one of the people types that he described. Actually I think with the volunteer Army today it is closer to the book than was Vietnam where conscripts looked on it this as slightly preferable to prison. I know that this story is not about the military but it is too real to be ignored as just the story.
And you could have floored me with I found out their were no naked women in the book. Dizzy Flores must have had a great Swedish doctor. This could have been a genuine attempt to update the story; however it distracted from the original purpose.
To make this an independent review I will have to tell something of the book. Basically after school Johnny Rico is sort of whisked into the military by peer pressure and to find out if he was more than just the factory owner's son. While going through boot camp he learns of different cultures and the intricacies of military life. Naturally he makes mistakes and learns from others mistakes. As he grows he learns what make the world the way it is. I will not contrast with the movie because I think you enjoy the story more if you find out what happens as it unfolds.
The tape version has an extra dimension as the reader pauses and emphasizes to make it feel like Johnny is really telling the tail.
 Short, as most books ought to be July 26, 2008
I'll try to make my review short; as the title says, the book is short - about 1 cm thick. Good books, including good SF doesn't have to be thick like a brick.
Now about the content - the emphasis or overtones of the book are political, despite all the SF-mandaory inclusion of interstellar travel, starships, superweapons and whatnot; politics were one of Heinlein's major pet rocks.
A criticism I often hear of this book (or the movie, rather, since more people have snapshots from the movie in their mind's eye when the title is thrown up into the air) is that is it fascist in some way. This is however wrong. The trigger for this knee-jerk reaction is most likely from the movie, and the costume designs for the movie uniforms (which considering that military imagery and themes take an absolutely dominant position) obviously look like the ones that Nazi germans wore during WWII - largely same fashion, hues and decorations - that is one immediate explanation of the faulty association.
Another - IMO the more important, which does not depend on the choices of the film crew/firector - is the actual book content, specifically the early part where there is discussion of why "democracy of the old days" was abandoned. But again, it wasn't as such - what was abandoned was the notion that all have an equal right to vote and influence public policy.
What is instead offered is the model where only people who have served in the Armed Services are allowed full rights of Citizenship; apart from rights to free speech etc. which all 'baseline' citizens enjoy (the existence of which debunks the notion that the system presented in the book is fascist) - only full Citizens are allowed to vote and hold public office.
Thus, the book's political backdrop is not one of a fascist dictatorship, but that of a limited franschise democracy, not much different from that of pre-WWI Western nations.
What is also worth noting is that Switzerland, which is probably the oldest functioning democracy in the current/Western mold, was founded on this exact idea, namely that to be able to vote, you had to show dedication to the community beforehand, by being willing to fight for the defense of the nation. This would proabaly give pause to many who claim that Heinlein was rooting for fascism.
(Lastly, Heinlein was anti-authoritarian to a degree of bordering on the anarchist. Wikipedia offers more detail, which is naturally recommended reading.)
Great Book July 17, 2008
I first read "Starship Troopers" as a young teenager in 1960 and it had a massive effect on me. Apart from being a first rate story, even at the tender age of 14 I agreed with Heinlein's philosophies.
At the time it was released (1959) the book was attacked as being "fascist". However, it has stood the test of time well, and there are many of us who would welcome Heinlein's method of dealing with troublesome youngsters and adults.
Take a walk around any council estate at night (if you dare) and see if you wouldn't agree to young thugs being publicly flogged.
Excellent book - my 1960 copy (cost 5/- in old money) has fallen to bits and I have purchased another from Amazon. One of the best sci-fi books ever written.
Read and enjoy (and the film ain't too bad either!)
PS Whoever proof read this print must have had a lisp. When refering to British and American warships they are prefixed "HMS" and "USS" and not
"HMF" and "USF" (Page 167)
Heinlein at his best July 22, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Considering that Heinlein wrote this book as one of his series of `juvenile' novels it is quite amazing how much effect it has had. It seems the novel is violently hated by many because of it's, apparently, militaristic approach (a fact which Verhouven seems to have picked at the cost of almost everything else!). In my view it is one of the most interesting political documents in the realm of SF - on a par only with that other great Heinlein classic, `Stranger in a Strange Land'.
In the first place it's a rollicking classic `coming of age' story with the spoilt hero growing up to be a man (shades of Perseus, Theseus, and the rest). The baddies are `bad', the goodies are good - and Rico is a goodie but that doesn't detract from his characterisation: he still struggles with his conscience.
To correct a reviewer below, you don't become a citizen for fighting the `bugs' specifically, but for serving in the defence of your country. Not a bad concept one may think but probably too difficult to impose right now! There is much political philosophy in the book but, in general, the major drive is of individual `responsibility' together with an idea to appear later in `The Moon is a Harsh Mistress', i.e. TANSTAAFL - there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. It may not be top-hole political philosophy but it can sure make one think!
I have an original paperback of this brought when I was much (much!) younger that is now so brown and broken I had to buy a new copy. I read it regularly and would recommend it to any SF reader as one of Heinlein's very best.
Science Friction! March 28, 2007
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
In Starship Troopers Robert Heinlein does what he did best: challenge human convention; conviction and ideologies with scathing ease. Set in a future where social inclusion or 'citizenship' is earned through right of passage (ie: undertaking national service in a fruitless war against arachnids in a distant star system) Heinlein's vision is daunting and bleak, yet satire adds a degree of science friction evident in many of his works. Those who are looking for the 'in your face' gorefest approach of Verhoven's movie take on this book will be sorely disappointed; but if you enjoyed the film's darker satirical edge then you may still take something away from this great book.
Highly recommended.
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