Title: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Publication Date: 1966
Plot: It is a tale of revolution, of the rebellion of a former penal colony on the Moon against its masters on the Earth. It is a tale of a culture whose family structures are based on the presence of two men for every woman, leading to novel forms of marriage and family. It is the story of the disparate people, a computer technician, a vigorous young female agitator, and an elderly academic who become the movement’s leaders, and of Mike, the supercomputer whose sentience is known only to the revolt’s inner circle, who for reasons of his own is committed to the revolution’s ultimate success.
Miscellaneous: This won the Hugo award in 1967. The lunar colonies described in the novel are similar to those in Time Out of Joint by Philip K. Dick. The opposition between the Earth and Moon echo the historical conflict between the US and the British Empire.
The quote we discussed related to the nature of artificial intelligence. In the story, Mike (the AI computer) can tell the difference between someone that is ugly and someone that is pretty. So this sparked a question: what characteristics would a computer have to have to be considered alive? And how different is our “wetware” (brain) from a computer? If we could confirm that computers “feel,” does that change things? First we brought up reproduction, and how humans and other living things can reproduce. But what if a computer reproduces itself? In the novel, Mike sees humor as something that separates man from machine: it’s not “logical” and he constantly seeks feedback on how to improve his sense of humor. Computers make decisions, so that won’t make it stand out much. Then came this idea of self-preservation: animals, trees, germs–they all have this idea of self-preservation. Does Mike have that in the novel? Can computers preserve themselves? It’s an interesting philosophical rabbit hole to go down!
A few readers pointed out the way Man drops a lot of words from his sentences, that it takes a while to get used to the style and rhythm of the way Man speaks and narrates. It makes sense when we discover that the Moon is largely occupied by Russian and Chinese immigrants and their descendants, so their English is a mixture of these two peoples speaking English as a second language. This is “Loonie” talk, or the talk of people that live on the moon. The readers said it’s similar to some talk in prison. They live in their own isolated world and create shorthand for certain things.
One reader suggested that they have been sent to their own “moon.” “When we come to prison, we are unplugged and disconnected, just like some people in this novel.” He said people forget about us and we’re in this weird limbo state. And in this state, they are grateful for the rules and laws in place. They mentioned this because in the novel, the characters are primed for revolution. People aren’t following the law! There is disregard for order and rules. They say prison is a better place because of the rules. They would be nervous if people other than the warden were running things.
We then got into a heavily political discussion. Socialism, Capitalism, the role of government, liberation, etc. These all come up in the novel. One reader suggested it’s not natural for humans to be heavily governed, but it can be viewed as necessary in most cases. Human nature, while we like to hope for the best, often see the worst. He said it’s like “The Walking Dead”: most of the time the biggest threats are other humans, and not the zombies. We also talked about how it’s so difficult to have one type of government. If you are socialist, there will be elements of capitalism. If you are more capitalist, there will be elements of socialism. This caused one reader to step back and look at both sides in the novel, and by both sides, those living Earthside, and those living on the moon. The Earth views the moon as their penal colony! They’re away and don’t concern them much. But the moon has people as well, and although they haven’t adapted to living on earth, they still can offer the Earth some mutually beneficial deals.
One reader spoke passionately about how this novel is a great example of why he loves science fiction: it forces us to think outside of the box. It looks are people and culture and situations in such different ways and allows us to approach things differently. It tells us that things don’t have to be like the way they are.
Feel free to leave any comments about Heinlein, the book, or anything else below.
Next week we’ll be talking about The Diamond Age, or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer.
Until next time,
E.
If you’d like to purchase The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, you can do so here: