Clint Hall's Reviews > Stranger in a Strange Land

Once I had taken this book off my shelf, I had to blow off a layer of dust. Now, maybe that dust accumulated because I had heard that this book was a "hippy bible" of sorts, and was skeptical of its contents, or maybe I just had too many other books to read before this one (ones that weren't given the hippy moniker). Whatever the case--loved it.

As long as you can just accept Valentine Michael Smith can do all the things he does, you will enjoy it, too. Suspend the disbelief and just go for it. If you don't, you will miss out on Jubal Harshaw, who is just a fantastic character. The book itself is also supremely readable; written by a true master of imagination.

So now you want to ask me: "Is this really a hippy bible, like I've heard?"

The answer, in short, is: "No."

Once I neared the end of the novel, I realized this wasn't a hippy bible after all. It was a bible for the agnostic. (No, not atheist, AGNOSTIC. There is a big difference, and if you don't know what that is, you should research it.) I know, "agnostic bible" is a misnomer unto itself, but suspend your disbelief and just go with it.