Friday

After reading many of the reviews here, I note that opinion seems divided on whether it's truly a good Heinlein book or not. Most still consider it a pretty fair Heinlein yarn, and yet all the reviews I read missed one of the main points of the novel--which is the main reason why it's so interesting--whether it's a great Heinlein novel or not. Many have already commented on the various themes of the book, most of which will already be familiar to Heinlein fans. The one that was new was the bigotry against the main character, an artificial and genetically enhanced human. It seems most readers found this reaction unlikely, although this theme pervades the entire work. One reviewer asserts that it's even the primary idea of the whole book. Another important theme is the revolt against authority which many Heinlein readers will certainly know from his other books such as The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Double Star, Citizen of the Galaxy, Stranger in a Strange Land, Sixth Column, Revolt in 2100, and others. The theme of the competent man also takes center stage in this book, another famous and familiar Heinlein theme, although in this book it's a competent, genetically enhanced female. However, all these interpretations, although true, miss one very important point. In Heinlein's novels, the world is often a very unstable and even dangerous place--but there is always hope, and optimism that conditions will be better in the future. Often the main characters in Heinlein's books are intimately involved in the struggle to overthrow oppressive governments--and usually succeeding--and thereby creating a better life for themselves. So no matter how precarious and dark life in the present might be, Heinlein always had hope for the future and seemed confident that humans would throw off the yoke of oppression, establish a better society, and basically good would win out over evil. But in this novel, he appears to have at least partly, and perhaps substantially, abandoned that hope in favor of a much darker and more dismal future for humanity, at least on earth. Better prospects can be found off-planet on several newly colonized worlds. The evidence for this isn't hard to find, but is scattered throughout the book in various narratives, and in conversations between Friday and her boss, Dr. Baldwin. By the way, Kettle Belly Baldwin has not appeared, to my knowledge, in another Heinlein book since Gulf, published in 1949. However, all of the other characters are new. So one of the charms of the book is that one gets to meet a lot of new characters, making this book different from almost all of Heinlein's later output, and an old but memorable character is brought back to life in a new context. But getting back to my point, Heinlein makes it clear the earth is economically and politically deteriorating, with most of the world now completely Balkanized into hundreds of small, petty states, each with its own unpleasant idiosyncrasies. Heinlein says most of the

This is a great story. Sure it meanders along and never really ends itself...but it is more REAL than some of Heinlein's stories. How often in real life do you have adventures with beginnings, middles, and ends? Not often. We go through life walking in circles, with never a pre-determined end goal. So what if this book never reaches a proper conclusion, it makes it that much more real. Don't forget also, the "message" of this book is partially about bigotry, but also about the collapse of society in general. And when society falls down, all rules are changed. Look at how different the ending is to the beginning. In addition, if you think that Friday is only about sex...notice how little of it she ever actually gets? No wonder she's always [hot]. This book also contains some of the best quotes (Dr. Baldwin's quotes on religion). The primal message of this book is different from his others: when society goes down the crapper, dont fight it, or fight for the future, just run away and let it fall. This book should not be compared to other Heinlein books, not because it is inferior, but because it presents a different kind of story, in a different way, and is a great STORY as opposed to a lecture like some of his.

Heinlein is great, although sometimes a little bit paternalistic vis-a-vis women... This book is about a very strong female character's desperate struggle to be accepted in a slightly decadent society. Dialogs are witty and smart, and the book is a great introduction to Heinlein's libertarian philosophy (which goes further than politics, to include family structures, sexuality, etc.)

After reading the reviews by several of the readers of this book, I came upon one in particular that raised my ire, so to speak. I feel that I must point out that the Political Correctness of our modern era was not a factor in the period of RAH's life. To try and denounce the book based on modern cultural imperatives is to take away the factors which made the story what it was, decades-old science-fiction. In other words, feminism did not carry the weight then that it does now. If the feminism of today existed in the fifties, sixties and seventies, then (to attach anti-feminism to favorite TV shows) Star Trek would have had strong female characters during the original series, and Lost In Space would have been a much different show. Through "Friday" Heinlein exposed us to world where the walls of "good-taste" of today's society had been torn away, and a moralism of a more liberal sort had been put in it's place. In the time during which Heinlein wrote "Friday", this particular writing style was still highly progressive and confrontational. Heinlein is not asking the reader to, as a male, treat women with anything less than respect, nor is he asking women to allow themselves to be dominated by men. Heinlein is simply asking you to put away your reality, and while you're reading, accept the fantasy that he is presenting you with, for your entertainment. If one looks at Heinlein's novel with the desire to parse it out according to one's own views then you get what you deserve. But don't sit down and read Shakespeare, Lady MacBeth may have been a strong woman but would still have yeilded her will to MacBeth. Heinlein did not write any of his books yesterday, therefore we should not attempt to view them with today's ideas in mind. If you wish to understand Heinlein's point in his novels, then you must accept the fact that his views were affected by a different time than ours. For those of you who haven't read "Friday", I recommend it highly, and hope that you enjoy every page. If you are fifteen now, and read the book today, don't be surprised if your view of the book changes in five, ten, or even fifteen years. Just as sure as your views of the world will change, so will the world around you, but the words of a deceased writer are eternally etched in stone, and we have no choice but to enjoy them as they written. ---Dave Earney

Robert Heinlein spent the last twenty-five years of his life and career much as he spent the first twenty-five -- pushing the envelope of what Science Fiction was and could be. This ruffled a lot of feathers, as Heinlein didn't keep rewriting "Methusulah's Children" time and again, but instead experimented with the form. These experiments were most clearly seen in "Number of the Beast," "Job," and "Friday." And "Friday" leads the pack as a good read that works on deeper levels if you go to look for them.What is "Friday" about? Well, you could say it's about the adventures of the lead character, Friday "Marjorie Baldwin" Jones, a Courier and Spy in a balkanized future that should frighten people. You could also say it's about the implications of Cloning Technology, from years before sheep replication. You could also say it's about the meaning of family and the search for belonging. And you can draw a clear allegory from it as it addresses Prejudice in all its irrational ugliness. Friday is an Artificial Person. Gene-engineered to be at the peak of humanity (and beyond). But AP's are hated. Denied of souls by the churches. With ugly myths that spring up about them.And one of the truly great subtexts that forms in the course of "Friday" is Friday's deep seated belief in her own inferiority, even as she snorts at her oppressors. Friday's own acceptance of herself, mirrored by finding a place where she belongs and a life she likes to lead, fuels this book's spiritual core.And, if that sounds boring to you, there's also lots of sex, violence and death. And Scientologists, Hare Krishnas and fundamentalists get involved in a three way war with Canadian Mounties caught in the middle. This has something for *everyone.