Stranger in a Strange Land

Do you grok? You might have heard this expression somewhere and it was invented by an American sci-fi author and futurologist Robert A. Heinlein. Cited from his most famous book Stranger in a Strange Land: “grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed.” The book opens with “once upon a time there was a Martian named Valentine Michael Smith.” All right, we know now that there are no Martians and probably no life at all on Mars, but the story is really interesting and it is not about planet Mars. And how come that the Martian has an English name? The story starts with the second expedition to Mars, the first one failed for unknown reasons. This second one which is happening many years after is more like a rescue operation. Upon successful landing on Mars surprisingly they find not only one survivor but also that the planet is inhabited by Martians. The survivor’s name is Valentine Michael Smith and he is our main character in this book. Smith was born on Mars to the couple from the first expedition. He was orphaned when the crew died and then raised by the Martians only. Now he is in his adulthood and came back “home” to Earth. The story is about how Smith adjusts himself to our culture, tries to understand it and also how people try to understand him. Is he more an Earthman or a Martian? Martians taught Smith some really useful tricks, he can levitate, slow down his metabolism and stay underwater for hours, converse telepathically, and many more. And he is able to teach us all of this! But we are not so easy to understand other cultures not to mention other extraterrestrial ones. It is a good read!