Heinlein Robert the best works to read. Robert Heinlein: bibliography, best works. Awards and success

July 7, 1907. There he spent his childhood. The greatest influence on the formation of the child's personality was made by his grandfather, who, firstly, instilled in him a love of reading, and, secondly, developed positive character traits in him, such as purposefulness and responsibility. The passion of both was the game of chess, accustomed to logical thinking.

Education and hobbies

Christian traditions were strong in Robert's family, so he was brought up in a strict puritanical spirit. It was the teaching of the Methodists, popular in that region of the USA. It included prohibitions on drinking alcohol in any quantity, gambling, dancing, and much more. Over time, Heinlein moved away from these strict rules, which also affected the heroes of his books.

At school, the child was most interested in the exact sciences: mathematics, astronomy, and biology. His worldview changed a lot when he learned about the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin. In the city of Kansas City, where he lived, his favorite place was the public library, from where he drew all possible literature on the above topics.

Education

Robert Heinlein had three brothers and three sisters. He followed the example of the elder - Rex - and went to serve in the army. His target was the city of Annapolis, where the US Naval Academy was located. The American system for enrolling applicants in such universities is quite complicated. Unlike civilian universities, where it is enough to send all the necessary documents by mail, here it was also necessary to obtain positive recommendations from congressmen who could issue admission quotas. The situation was complicated by the fact that, according to the rules, only one person per generation could get into the academy from one family. This was already the older brother Rex, but Robert did not give up and began to fill up with letters of responsible persons with requests.

It took him a year to do this. During this time, Robert Heinlein took one course at the University of Missouri. When the academy began to select applicants, it turned out that there were about 50 applications from 50 people and another 50 applications from one applicant. This was Robert. He successfully enrolled and moved to Bancroft Hall. This was the name of the midshipmen's hostel where the cadets lived.

Fleet

The service will later find its reflection in the writer's work. In 1948, he wrote the novel "Space Cadet" (Space Cadet - also translated as "Space Patrol" in Russia). In the book, the author indulges in nostalgic memories of the time spent in the Navy through the prism of his own fantasy. The protagonist of the work enters the school of the Patrol Service, after which he goes on an expedition to Venus.

Robert Heinlein himself marked his naval career with many brilliant achievements. In addition to the fact that he succeeded in the traditional disciplines in the training program, he also practiced shooting, fencing and wrestling. In all these endeavors, he became the champion of his own academy. After graduation, his name was on the list of the best cadets.

After graduating from the academy in 1929, Heinlein received the rank of ensign. It was a junior officer rank. While still a student, he practiced on various ships - "Utah", "Oklahoma" and "Arkansas". His first real assignment was to the aircraft carrier Lexington, which was in the ranks of the US Navy. His duty was to monitor the quality of communication between the ship and the aircraft. However, the career was ruined due to a state of health - a young officer was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Even after Robert recovered, he was not allowed to return to the service and was assigned a pension.

Beginning of writing

Failures in normal activities and debts on loans gave Heinlein an incentive to start writing and publishing his own fiction. In 1939, he sold his first story, The Line of Life, to a publisher. After that, he earned mainly by writing, putting aside all other hobbies.

"Lifeline" is written in a genre that has become the leitmotif of all creativity, which Robert Heinlein followed. Reviews for the story were positive, and the writer decided to continue the "Line of Life" with a cycle of similar works.

The result was the "History of the Future." This cycle included several short stories, novellas and novels. The plot summarized the history of mankind in the period from the 20th to the 23rd century. Most of the books were written at the beginning of the author's career, as well as from 1945 to 1950. The editor called the series "The History of the Future" and promoted it in many publications.

For easy navigation through the fantasy universe, a special table was created, including the chronology and the main characters, authored by Robert Heinlein himself. The best of this cycle became a classic of the genre, and The History itself was nominated for the Hugo Award in 1966, but lost it to Isaac Asimov's Foundation.

Children's literature

Awards and success

The novel "Double Star" was the first to win the prestigious Hugo Award. In the future, the works “Starship Troopers”, “Stranger in a Foreign Country”, “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” sought the same award. As one of the founders of the genre, the author was later awarded other prizes, including posthumously.

The first novel to break out of this "children's" concept was Starship Troopers, written in 1959 in the wake of outrage against the US nuclear program. From that moment on, the motives of social conflicts and other serious topics were of great importance to the author.

Stranger in a foreign land

In 1961, his most successful and famous novel, Stranger in a Strange Land, was published. The American public at the time was shocked by the sharp questions raised by Robert Heinlein. The quotes included debates about free love, libertarianism, individualism, and other philosophical concepts.

This book was created over a decade, which is a record for the author. One of the reasons for this was the then censorship, which forbade raising sexual issues. In one of the first editions, the work was called "The Heretic", which reveals the meaning of the plot. The protagonist of the bangs, brought up by the Martians, returns to Earth, where he becomes the messiah among the local population. Censorship stopped about a quarter of the text due to sexual and religious motives. The complete author's edition was published only in 1991.

The work had many allusions, including the story about Mowgli, used by Kipling. The very title of the novel is a reference to the Bible.

Stranger in a Strange Land raises a debate about the dangers of merging religion and power. Brought up in a Christian family, the author rethought his own views on canonical teachings.

Meaning

In addition, this theme was continued somewhat later in the novel "Job". It was a satirical book that became the symbol of the last stage of the bibliography, authored by Robert Heinlein. The works received many hidden allusions and comparisons that an unprepared reader could hardly understand.

The writer is considered one of the three Great Masters of fiction along with and His name is closely associated with the golden age of this genre, when it was especially popular among the general readership. The promotion of scientific ideas in these works has become an important symbol and forerunner of the Space Race and numerous studies in this direction.

Personal life

In the year of graduation from the academy (1929), Heinlein married a girl whom he had known since his school years. However, due to her husband's business trips, the marriage did not work out, and soon the wife filed for divorce. In 1932, Robert decided to connect his life with political activist Leslyn MacDonald. Their marriage lasted longer and ended only in 1947. Then the writer married Virginia Gerstenfeld, whom he met during the war, when he worked in Philadelphia.

The wife had a great influence on her husband's work, she was his manager and secretary. She proofread all of his works before they went to publishers. This played an important role in the activities that Robert Heinlein led. The author's best works include scenes inspired by his wife.

6624

07.07.14 13:09

One of the most prestigious awards given to science fiction writers is the Hugo. Robert Heinlein has been awarded this award 5 times - the only one in the world! In the "big three" masters of modern science fiction (Heinlein-Asimov-Clark), it is Heinlein who is considered the greatest.

Long way to yourself

The large family of Heinleins, who settled in Missouri, adhered to strict moral principles (close to puritanism), the future prose writer clarified these views firmly. And his grandfather (he worked as a doctor) Quince Lyle addicted to reading. Works on astronomy made a special impression on the boy, he was attracted by paradoxical mathematical problems, Robert was also fond of Darwin's theory. All this was very useful to the science fiction writer in the future and found application in creativity.

Robert acquired a great experience while studying at the Naval Academy - he made considerable efforts to enter. Unfortunately, his service in the Navy ended very quickly for him: 4 years after graduation, the guy fell ill with tuberculosis.

He tried himself both as a graduate student studying physics and mathematics, and as a politician, but all these attempts were unsuccessful.

Writing at first became for him another source of income (besides a small military pension): he and his wife had to pay a mortgage. The first story was published in one of the magazines - it was in 1939. He quickly developed a taste for this kind of activity, and two years later he was already participating in the World Science Fiction Convention.

His writing career spanned almost half a century. Its result is 16 collections, 59 stories, 33 novels.

First successes

An unusual journey (the hero-inventor is put into a state of suspended animation, and then he wakes up 30 years later to make a throw back, "rolling" in a time machine) takes place in the novel "The Door to Summer". This is one of the most famous works of the author.

Also in 1956, Double Star was written, the first book to win the Hugo Award. Judging by the title, you might think that this is a space fantasy. But the story in the novel is about how an actor hired to portray a disappeared politician gets more and more into the role and, in the end, takes the place of his high-ranking double.

"Children of Methuselah" was born as a series of short stories, later combined into a novel. The struggle for the existence of a race of centenarians is the main storyline of the work. It, like "Time Enough for Love" (a kind of sequel to "Children of Methuselah"), has found its place of honor in the Prometheus Hall of Fame.

space adventure

The next "Hugo" was awarded to the author for "Starship Troopers". Earthlings resist ugly space monsters - beetles. Paul Verhoeven made a film based on this book, in which the then very young Casper Van Dien and the beautiful Denise Richards played the main roles.

In the masterpiece "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", the Earth's satellite is a mixture of a colony and a place for delinquent exile. In the society of "loonies" a revolution is brewing, which is about to blow up all sections of society. Another "Hugo" Heinlein was provided!

pinnacle of creativity

The characters of the philosophical novel "I Fear No Evil" had to go through an unprecedented transformation - a brain transplant, which led to the most unexpected results.

The pinnacle of the science fiction writer's work is considered by many to be the magnificent thing "Stranger in a Strange Land". Social, religious, political motives intertwined in the plot, Heinlein boldly writes about sex. The protagonist of the book, Smith, was brought up by the Martians and returned to his home planet - a kind of Mowgli from the era of space exploration.

In 2006 - 18 years after the writer's death - his unfinished work was published. Prepared for printing sketches made by Heinlein back in 1955, his admirer Spider Robinson. "Variable Star" was published with double authorship.

And Arthur Clarke. Repeatedly received the prestigious Hugo and Nebula awards. An asteroid and a Martian crater bear his name. This is Robert Heinlein, an American writer who has greatly influenced the way science fiction looks today.

Childhood and youth

Robert Anson Heinlein was born in Butler, Missouri on July 7, 1907. His parents had seven children, Robert the third. The family lived in Bem's parental home until the boy was three years old. Just then, his father found a job in Kansas City, and the family moved there.

For four more years, Robert stayed with his grandfather in the summer until he died. Grandfather Alva Lyle had a great influence on the future science fiction writer, instilled a love of reading and the exact sciences. Robert, in honor of his grandfather, often used the pseudonym Lyle Monroe when he first began his writing career.

In 1920, having entered the Central High School, Robert became interested in astronomy. The theory of evolution impressed him and was reflected in his subsequent work. A lover of solving non-standard problems in mathematics, the young man used this hobby later, for example, in the story "... And he built himself a crooked house."

After school, Heinlein decided to connect his future life with the fleet. To do this, it was necessary to enter the Naval Academy, which turned out to be a difficult task. First, in order to be able to pass the entrance examinations, the patronage of one of the members of the Senate or Congress was required.

Secondly, one of the family was taken to the academy, and Robert's older brother was already studying there. The young man had to work hard - collecting letters of recommendation, he immediately forwarded them to Senator James A. Reid in the hope of support. During the year, the senator received 100 letters from prospective applicants for the Annapolis Academy, 50 of them from Heinlein.

So in 1925, Robert achieved his goal and began to study with zeal. After 4 years, graduating from an educational institution, the guy was a champion in fencing, wrestling and shooting, and also became the twentieth in the ranking of graduates out of more than two hundred people. And he could have become fifth, but he lost his position due to problems with discipline. Until 1934, Robert served in the Navy, then was forced to leave his military career due to tuberculosis.

Literature

Russian literary critics divide Heinlein's creative life into periods. However, their foreign colleagues prefer to avoid separation, as there are always works that are tight in any framework.

Robert Heinlein's first novel, To Us Who Live, was a failure. Fantast began to write stories, from which the cycle "The History of the Future" later arose. The 20th century turned out to be unlike the writer's predictions, but in the 1980s he created the cycle "The World as a Myth", which explains and corrects the inconsistencies between reality and fiction.

The first novel to be published was Rocket Ship Galileo in 1947. Initially, they did not want to print the novel, since the topic of flying to the moon seemed irrelevant. But the science fiction writer nevertheless found a publisher and began to publish a book every year, which then entered the so-called youthful cycle.

These books are interesting to the reader of any age, they are quite simple and conservative in form, but not in content. This did not always please the censors. For example, in The Red Planet, the editor did not like the way the inhabitants of Mars reproduce and the fact that teenagers confidently wield weapons.

Popular among fantasy fans are Door to Summer (1956) and Citizen of the Galaxy (1957). The first was repeatedly recognized as the best science fiction novel.

In the late 1950s, Robert Heinlein stepped down from his role as a teen writer. This happened thanks to the novel "Starship Troopers" - a kind of response to the call for the United States to unilaterally stop nuclear testing. After this novel, the writer was accused of militarism.

Beginning in 1961, Robert wrote for an adult audience and significantly changed the SF genre itself. He became so popular and recognized as a science fiction writer that he even commentated live on the landing of astronauts on the moon in 1969.

In the 1960s, the science fiction writer returned to the fantasy genre, using the canons of which he wrote a number of stories in the 1940s. Valor Road (1963) is the author's only "pure" fantasy. Satire, dystopia, author's philosophy were added to later works. The writer worked for 48 years, and now his bibliography consists of 32 novels and many small works, including 59 short stories.

There are 4 films based on Heinlein: Starship Troopers, Destination Moon (based on the novel Rocketship Galileo), Time Patrol (based on the short story "You Are All Zombies") and Puppeteers. Of these, only the last can be called a film adaptation, because in the rest, the scriptwriters and directors interpreted the author's intention too freely.

Personal life

Heinlein first married in 1929 with Eleanor Curry, whom he had known since school. The marriage broke up already in 1930. Eleanor did not want to leave her native city, and Robert's military service did not imply a settled life. Two years later, the future science fiction writer married again - to a political activist and just an extraordinary woman, Leslyn McDonald.

Having ended his military career due to illness, Robert, at the suggestion of his wife, took up political activities that had a socialist orientation. Then, in 1938, he made an attempt to get into the Legislative Assembly, which turned out to be unsuccessful.

During the war, Robert met Virginia Gerstenfeld. At first, although he fell in love, he did not want to destroy the marriage with Leslin, but nevertheless divorced in 1947, when she began to have difficulties associated with alcohol. A year later he married Virginia.

This marriage turned out to be the most successful - the couple lived together for 40 years. The wife helped the science fiction writer and supported him, offered ideas, was at the same time the first reader, manager, and secretary.

The 1970s brought problems for the writer - for more than two years he was treated for peritonitis. In 1978, after a severe attack of cardiac ischemia, Heinlein required a coronary bypass. After undergoing several heart surgeries, the science fiction writer wrote five more novels. And even in 1983 he went to Antarctica, and before that he had visited all the other continents.

Death

By 1987, Heinlein's health had deteriorated and he needed constant medical attention. Robert and Virginia had to leave their home in Bonnie Dun and move to the city of Carmel. On May 8, 1988, Robert Heinlein died in his sleep. Emphysema interrupted the biography of the famous science fiction writer. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered over the Pacific waves.

After the death of the writer, in 1989, his wife published the collection "Grumbling from the Grave", which included his correspondence with the publishers. The 1992 collection "Requiem: A Tribute to the Master's Memory" included early stories that were not published during the author's lifetime.

In 2003, the first novel "To Us, the Living" was published, written in 1939 and considered lost. And with the advent of the Internet, photos of Robert Heinlein, his creations and many quotes from the books of the great master of science fiction became available to everyone.

Bibliography

• 1941 - "Children of Methuselah"
• 1942 - "There, beyond"
• 1947 - Rocket ship "Galileo"
• 1948 - "Space Cadet"
• 1949 - "Red Planet"
• 1950 - Farmer in the Sky
• 1951 - Puppeteers
• 1951 - Between the Planets
• 1952 - Stone Space Family
• 1953 - "Astronaut Jones"
• 1954 - "Star Beast"
• 1955 - "Tunnel in the sky"
• 1956 - "Double Star"
• 1956 - Time for the Stars
• 1956 - Door to Summer
• 1957 - Citizen of the Galaxy
• 1958 - "There will be a spacesuit - there will be travel"
• 1959 - Starship Troopers
• 1961 - Stranger in a Strange Land
• 1963 - Stepchildren of the Universe
• 1963 - Valor Road
• 1963 - Martian Podkane
• 1964 - "Farnham Freehold"
• 1966 - "The moon is a harsh mistress"
• 1970 - “I will not fear evil” (“Passing the valley of the shadow of death”)
• 1973 - Time Enough for Love
• 1979 - "The Number of the Beast"
• 1982 - "Friday"
• 1984 - "Job, or the Mockery of Justice"
• 1985 - "Cat passing through the walls"
• 1987 - "Sail into the sunset"
• 2003 - "To us who live"

Anson MacDonald

If it doesn't work, try disabling AdBlock

To bookmarks

Read

Favorite

Custom

Until I quit

Put away

In progress

You must be registered to use bookmarks

Birthday: 07.07.1907

Date of death: 05/08/1988 (80 years old)

Zodiac sign: Goat, Cancer ♋

Robert Anson Heinlein was born July 7, 1907 in Butler, Bates County, Missouri. The third son of Rex Ivar Heinlein and Bam Lyle Heinlein, he had two older brothers, Rex Ivar Heinlein and Lawrence Lyle Heinlein, and a younger sister, Louise Heinlein. When he was a young man, his family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Robert grew up there but spent summers with relatives in Butler.

He graduated from Kansas City High School in 1924 and attended a year of college. His brother Rex went to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, and Heinlein chose the same future for himself. He collected many recommendations and sent them to Senator James Reid. Reid was said to have received one hundred letters asking for Robert Heinlein to be appointed to Annapolis... Fifty, one for each candidate, and fifty from Robert Heinlein. Robert entered the academy in 1925.

Heinlein graduated from the academy in 1929 and served on various ships, including the Lexington (the first American aircraft carrier), the USS Utah and the Roper. Because of the constant pitching, Heinlein suffered a lot from seasickness, and in 1934 he fell ill with tuberculosis. He was cured and retired as unfit for service and received a small pension.

In early 1930, shortly after his retirement, he married Leslyn MacDonald. Heinlein never talked about Leslyn or the later divorce. Between 1934 and 1939 Heinlein did various jobs in Los Angeles and Colorado Springs. He was a co-owner of a silver mine, but things went down the drain when another co-owner shot himself. He studied mathematics, architecture and engineering at UCLA (having a bachelor's degree from the Naval Academy). He also works as a broker, and possibly as a painter, photographer and sculptor, although the details of these activities are not fully known.

By 1938, Heinlein was working as editor and staff writer for Upton Sinclair's EPIC News, an organ of the EPIC trading firm. In November 1938, he ran for the Republican California Assembly, but was defeated, broke, married, and continued to live on his small naval pension. In late 1938, Thrilling Wonder Stories launched a short story contest, offering full bids (half a cent a word, up to $50) to any previously unpublished writer whose story was selected for publication.
Heinlein wrote in April 1939 in four days the story "The Line of Life" and submitted it not to the TWS, which he thought would be inundated with manuscripts, but to John Campbell in Astounding Science Fiction. Campbell quickly bought the story for one cent a word, for $70. With the exception of his service during the Second World War, Heinlein never again earned anything other than books.

Heinlein died peacefully on the morning of May 8, 1988, from pulmonary edema (emphysema) and a heart condition that plagued him for the last few years of his life.

Robert Anson Heinlein is an American writer. Together with Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov, he is one of the "Big Three" founders of the science fiction genre.

In his works, he covered the themes:

• Personal freedom of a person;
• Responsibility to society;
• The role of religion and family in the life of the individual.

Heinlein was born in Butler on July 7, 1907. Robert from childhood loved to read and re-read everything that came to hand. . After graduating from school, he, following the example of one of his brothers, entered the Naval Academy at the age of 18.

Four years later he received the rank of officer. Served under Capt. I.J. King, who later became Commander of the US Navy. After resigning at the age of 27 due to poor health, Heinlein had to look for a part-time job in addition to his military pension.

He worked wherever : traded real estate, tried his hand at politics, mined silver, until one day he came across an ad for a competition to recruit writers for a science fiction magazine. Robert wrote his first story there.

Subsequent manuscripts he sold with difficulty. At first he wrote in order to pay off debts, but he became interested in writing and, in addition, his books began to be a success.. Heinlein left the typewriter only during the outbreak of World War II, after which he continued his writing career.

The second time he married a fighting girlfriend - Virginia, who became an assistant and collaborator in his activities. At first, it had a mostly teenage audience, but over the years, Heinlein became interested in stories for an adult audience. It turned out that his readers matured on his writings and continued to read into adulthood.

Robert Heinlein traveled a lot with his wife. There is practically no continent where they have not been. The writer has received numerous prestigious awards for his achievements in the development of the science fiction genre. . Robert Heinlein died at the age of 80 on May 8, 1988.

Writer Quotes

1. “A strong person is not the one who can afford a lot, but the one who can give up a lot”;
2. “Anyone should be able to change diapers, plan invasions, butcher pigs, construct buildings, navigate ships, write sonnets, keep accounts, build walls, set bones, ease death, follow orders, give orders, cooperate, act independently, solve equations, analyze new problems, fertilize, program computers, cook delicious food, fight well, die with dignity. Specialization is the lot of insects”;
3. “Cats don’t take jokes, they are terribly selfish and very touchy. If someone asks me why I love cats, I most likely will not be able to intelligibly answer. It's like explaining to a person who doesn't like spicy cheeses why they should like a limbburger. And yet I can understand a Chinese mandarin who cut off the sleeve of a robe covered with priceless embroidery just because a kitten was sleeping on it.