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Originally Posted by BeccaPrice
I've always felt that Heinlein's Double Star was an under-rated book. It has a lot to say about the nature of personal identity. (wasn't there a Kurasawa film with the same theme?)
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Neglected, for sure.
A bit odd given that it won a Hugo and has figured in the news a few times:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/book...leaseturnerpic
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In 1968, when Charles Hall tried to apply for a patent on the waterbed he thought he had invented, he found he was unable to do so because Heinlein had already described one in sufficient detail in Double Star (and other places). This impressive bit of technological pre-empting sits neatly alongside the fact that the book is generally cited as the first to use the abbreviation "ET" (or at least, eetee). Elsewhere, there are dozens of other inventive ideas, which may not have been realised, but do sound cool. There's real appeal to a sealed off "Hush Corner" noise reduction areas for intimate conversations in crowded bars, for example, while "Bounce Tube" pneumatic transport systems for people might do a lot to improve commuting.
In common with much of the best SF, it's not just the scientific ideas that make this book worthy of investigation. History does too. The political concerns and philosophy that Heinlein chooses to project onto his imagined future also provide an intriguing barometer of his times.
The book's impassioned pleas for understanding and tolerance with regard to Martian culture, for instance, might not make for a subtle allegory, but it is moving given the book's context in 1950s America. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that a few of those impressionable teenage white males who comprised the books original target audience went on to stand with Martin Luther King on the Washington Mall a few years later.
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Considering how often Heinlein gets crucified by those a of a certain political persuasion, as a "fascist" and even a racist, DOUBLE STAR should indeed be brought up more often.