To return to the original Clute quote: the key phrase is "the
flavor of actually living here." Not accurate predictions of
specific gadgets (although Heinlein did better that many in this
department--_Stranger in a Strange Land_ may have forecast the
water bed, but it also forecast CNN)but rather a sense of what the
future will feel like, how the tidal currents of society will flow.
In that sense, Clute is right regarding Heinlein, although I
wouldn't dismiss the rest of SF. We are not living in John W.
Campbell and Robert A. Heinlein's future; we are living in Michael
Moorcock and J.G. Ballard's future.
And I completely agree with Rob Hansen's comments on "The Road Must
Roll." I re-read it several years ago and was disheartened by what
a poor story it is on almost every level. Why this wound up in the
SF Hall of Fame rather than "'All You Zombies'" or "Requiem" or
even "The Menace from Earth" is beyond me.
But, as I've said elsewhere, I think Heinlein's most important work
is the novellas from the early 40's. "Universe," "Waldo," "By His
Bootstraps," "Magic, Inc.," "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan
Hoag," and "Solution Unsatisfactory" offer a touchstone for much SF
and fantasy that came after.
Comment statistics for F. Brett Cox on the Electrolite blog
The most recent 20 comments posted to Electrolite by F. Brett Cox:
Show all comments by F. Brett Cox.