Steinbeck in Space

The last story in Robert A. Heinlein’s “The Green Hills of Earth” could have been written by John Steinbeck, if Steinbeck wrote science fiction.

Save for the setting on Venus, “Logic of Empire,” which follows two Earthmen unequally convinced that slavery exists in the “colonies” of Earth and decide to find out who is right by signing on as laborers on Venus for a six-year sting, sounds clearly like Steinbeck’s tales told from the orange groves and fields of California. They quickly discover that the tales of servitude they’ve heard are true and that the songs of Tennessee Ernie Ford could just as easily be sung about the plantations of Venus as they are about the coal mines of Appalachia.

Maybe Heinlein was inspired by Steinbeck as he took social strife to the stars. Or maybe this is Heinlein before he got a bit weirder as his career went on. In any case, it’s better than the typical utopian sci-fi where the Enlightened Earthmen and associated hangers-on go hurtling into the cosmos to solve others’ problems because everything back home? It’s peachy.

In any case, “The Green Hills of Earth” is an interesting read as we see the cares and woes and triumphs and tragedies of life on Earth spread to settlements on other worlds and moons in the solar system. It’s an interesting contrast to the typically utopian view of the settlement of space.

Heinlein introduces us to space hoboes. He introduces us to a spaceman who overcomes his fear of falling in a rather unique way.

Had I read these tales as a younger version of myself, I may not have been as excited to live on the Moon or further afield – as I fully expected the opportunity would exist. Who wants to be a slave on Venus, or an effete twerp who moves back to Earth from the Moon only to find out you miss Moon Culture too much?

In a way, some of the stories reminded me of this:



Which may go a long way in explaining why the more utopian view of space settlement is more popular.

However – I find I like writers before they get too strident in their finger-wagging. I don’t mind the subtle wag as they’re often fun to identify. But when all that’s going on leads to the author winking and blinking and wagging his finger, I get put off.

Also: Steeeeinbeck Iiiiin Spaaaaaaaace!