Citizen of the Galaxy

Author - Robert A. Heinlein ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Paperback Book item from Pocket was reviewed on 12-Oct-2008.

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1) Paperback Book Citizen of the Galaxy by Pocket. This novel is one of Heinlein´s early works (one of the so-called juvenile novels) and presents a study of personal freedom. The main character, Thorby, begins the story as a slave on a distant world. As a boy, Thorby is sold to a crippled beggar, Baslim, who teaches him the ways of the street and also does his best to give Thorby a more formal education. Baslim is much more than he seems though as we slowly find out as the story develops. He (Baslim) has an unusual interest in the comings and goings of various spacecraft, and this interest ultimately gets him killed. He has setup an escape route for Thorby who uses it to get off planet, which is when his adventure really begins. Thorby travels through the galaxy ultimately returning to Earth to discover his true past.

The main theme of this book (besides being an entertaining adventure story on its own) is freedom. Thorby starts as a slave, but throughout the story he spends time in various situations in which his economic position is greatly improved, but in which he is does not really have more freedom. After escaping from Sargon, he becomes a crewmember of a ship that travels form planet to planet buying and selling merchandise. Thorby´s lot in life has certainly improved, but the laws and customs aboard the Sisu are very restrictive in his own right. It later turns out that Thorby is actually the heir to a vast fortune, but even this is not all that it is cracked up to be as now he must fight scheming relatives to retain control of it, and he is a practical slave again to the business to maintain it. Like most of Heinlein´s juveniles, this story can be read on several levels. At its simplest level, this story is a decent adventure/sci-fi story about a young boy becoming a man and finding his place in the world. On a deeper level, my personal view is that Heinlein was trying to express that there are many forms of servitude, and great wealth doesn´t necessarily make one free. Freedom to choose and taking responsibility for one´s decisions are themes that run throughout Heinlein´s work. Oftentimes we must choose to sacrifice our freedom for the greater good (i.e. in military service or providing for a family), but the individual has the right to choose when and how and under what conditions he will voluntarily sacrifice his/her freedom.

This is one of Heinlein´s better novels, but certainly not in the same category as `Starship Troopers´ or `Tunnel in the Sky´. Given that this is a juvenile, the discussions of the basic theme of freedom in this book has been watered down (certainly in comparison to some of his later works). The story/plot itself is only just OK, the story is initially very compelling, but becomes unimaginative and falls apart at the end (maybe RAH got tired of this and wanted to work on something else?). Definitely worth a look though.¤

2) Paperback Book Citizen of the Galaxy by Pocket. Mentor improvement.


A young boy is bought as a slave by a beggar, who is your eccentric old bloke type.

Here here is taught a few things as Heinlein decides to take a look at the hard work will get you anywhere story versus the not much I can do because of where I am stuck situation, as the boy grows up and gets out of the slave life to move to a trader society.


3.5 out of 5¤

3) Paperback Book Citizen of the Galaxy by Pocket. Robert A Heinlein was not called the "Dean of Science Fiction Writers" for nothing: like most (if not all) of his other books, in "Citizen of the Galaxy" he takes a concept - in this case slavery: deconstructs and analyzes it in many different ways, and presents his thoughts on each aspect of it to us in the context of a compelling and entertaining story.

The story centers on Thorby: a boy perhaps in his early teens, and of unknown parentage, who enters the story as a rebellious and angry young slave on the auction block. We follow his life through several major transitions as he is bought, then educated and finally freed by "Baslim the Cripple", a beggar with mysterious and very un-beggar-like qualities; through his escape from Baslim´s murderers to live with the galaxy-roving "Free Traders". Then, after a brief stint in the military, he returns to Earth where he learns of his own origins and heritage, and eventually how and perhaps why he was sold into slavery. He also learns who Baslim really was, and finally takes on what he learns was Baslim´s true mission as his own.

To me, like most of his books, one of the most interesting aspects of this story is how Heinlein illustrates and expands upon his central theme in so many different ways: At first we see Thorby in the role of a classic slave, with a master - Baslim, but with a twist, as Baslim is a man who bought Thorby purely because he detests slavery - and teaches Thorby that what makes a man free is his mind, not whether another claims to own and control his body in a physical sense.

Then, when Thorby finds his way to the Free Traders, we see a society that claims to be freer than any other in history - which is true in that they roam the entire galaxy at will - going where they want, when they want, without constraint. But, their life-long and crowded existence onboard their spaceships has created a society where tradition, familial, and social constraints limit them in ways more profound and limiting then Thorby had ever experienced before.

When he finally returns to Earth, Thorby finds that his place is at the pinnacle of power, wealth and fame - yet his wealth and power present new challenges: constraining his freedom in new and even more difficult to challenge ways.

In each of these situations, we see how Thorby uses the talents, skills and freedom he finds within himself, which Baslim had nurtured and trained, to overcome the challenges he is faced with: we also see how those around him are enslaved in ways both more subtle and more profound than Thorby had been when he had been "owned" by Baslim.

Heinlein presents slavery as a great evil that must be conquered and eliminated, and as a societal disease that can and will take root and flourish in many ways, in almost any society. He also shows us that slavery is less about the physical constraints and more about the enslavement of one´s mind and spirit.

Through the experiences of Thorby, Heinlein shows us that true freedom exists only when a person is able to free their mind and rise above the shackles and constraints their day to day existence places upon them. That slavery is not just about the physical enslavement and exploitation of one person by another, but about enslavement of the mind and spirit.

As a teen, I did not find this particular book as appealing as I did most of the other works of young adult fiction written by Heinlein in the 1950´s, such as "Between Planets", "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", and "The Rolling Stones". Yet, now that I have re-read "Citizen of the Galaxy" as an adult, I find it to be a more mature, richer, thoughtful, subtle and thought-provoking work than many of his earlier work: I highly recommend it.
¤

4) Paperback Book Citizen of the Galaxy by Pocket. "Citizen of the Galaxy" is another fine addition to Robert A. Heinlein´s series of `juveniles´ he wrote for Charles Scribners Sons primarily in the 1950s.

We never find out what motivated the beggar, Baslim the Cripple, to buy the slave boy Thorby. In this distant future, mankind has spread out among the stars. The Nine Worlds do not even acknowledge any relationship to Earth and are not members of the Terran Hegemony.

Anyway on this frontier world, there exists the institution of slavery.

One thing becomes immediately apparent, Baslim is a lot more than a beggar. As their father/son develops, it is obvious Baslim is highly educated with a wide range of skills. It is also obvious, he is some sort of spy. Thorby doesn´t care. Pops business was Pops business. Baslim raises and home schools his son.

Things come to a head years later when Baslim is found to be a spy. Thorby must flee for his life. However Baslim has foreseen this day and has prepared Thorby. Thorby is smuggled offworld and begins his quest for his true identity and completion of Baslim´s mission.

The central theme of this book is the variation in human culture and the adaptability of man. Each group Thorby finds himself has it´s own rituals and customs. Our hero is constantly required change, adapt and in the process grow as a man.
¤

5) Paperback Book Citizen of the Galaxy by Pocket. Heinlein was a master of the noncondescending juvenile SF novel, and this is, in my informed opinion, the very best of the dozen or so he wrote during the 1950s. In fact, it´s one of his two or three best novels, period. Thorby starts out a slave, purchased on a distant world by an old beggar (who, of course, is more than he seems) and becomes intimate with the underworld -- then finds himself aboard a Free Trader vessel with an extremely complex social structure, where he´s adopted in and makes a new life for himself -- then finds himself a very junior enlisted man on a "space patrol" ship, where he makes another new life -- then finds himself the long-lost heir to an enormous fortune back on Earth, where the various plotlines come together and (yes) he has to try to make a new life for himself. Thorby is nothing if not adaptable. The narrative is straightforward, moving along at a nice pace, and there´s very little of the overwritten preachifying RAH was prone to in his later work. The characters are based on `50s archetypes, so today´s kids will undoubtedly be amused by the state of gender relations, and they´ve probably never seen a slide rule, but, hey -- read and enjoy.¤

6) Paperback Book Citizen of the Galaxy by Pocket.

In a distant galaxy, the atrocity of slavery was alive and well, and young Thorby was just another orphaned boy sold at auction. But his new owner, Baslim, is not the disabled beggar he appears to be: adopting Thorby as his son, he fights relentlessly as an abolitionist spy. When the authorities close in on Baslim, Thorby must ride with the Free Traders -- a league of merchant princes -- throughout the many worlds of a hostile galaxy, finding the courage to live by his wits and fight his way from society´s lowest rung. But Thorby´s destiny will be forever changed when he discovers the truth about his own identity....

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Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 9-Nov-2008, 14165055209781416505525, 510-290-370-330-041-121-201-8

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