betty reviewed The Day After Tomorrow by Robert A. Heinlein
Review of 'The Day After Tomorrow' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
Heinlein has his faults, I'll admit. Who can forget the ending of Podkayne of Mars where the heroine decides that captaincy of a space ship sounds like too much work, and instead she'll set her sights on marrying a captain?
But until [b:The Day After Tomorrow|124914|The Day After Tomorrow|Allan Folsom|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1439133925s/124914.jpg|2560917] I have never actually been disgusted by a book of his. An amazon review charitably says it "reflects the fears and concerns of the time period he wrote the book in." Granted, in 1941, paranoia about Japan was probably sane, but he wrote this before Pearl Harbour.
His premise is that America has been invaded and conquered by "panasia," a vast and sprawling empire bent on conquest. Only six men, scientists, who have just made an amazing scientific discovery, stand in its way. They use their amazing, not to say magical, scientific discovery to organize a resistance under the guise …
Heinlein has his faults, I'll admit. Who can forget the ending of Podkayne of Mars where the heroine decides that captaincy of a space ship sounds like too much work, and instead she'll set her sights on marrying a captain?
But until [b:The Day After Tomorrow|124914|The Day After Tomorrow|Allan Folsom|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1439133925s/124914.jpg|2560917] I have never actually been disgusted by a book of his. An amazon review charitably says it "reflects the fears and concerns of the time period he wrote the book in." Granted, in 1941, paranoia about Japan was probably sane, but he wrote this before Pearl Harbour.
His premise is that America has been invaded and conquered by "panasia," a vast and sprawling empire bent on conquest. Only six men, scientists, who have just made an amazing scientific discovery, stand in its way. They use their amazing, not to say magical, scientific discovery to organize a resistance under the guise of a religion. This plan mostly works.
Specific problems:
* Frank Mitsui in the book is a man whose grandmother was "half-Chinese and half wahini," and his mother is "part Chinese but mostly Caucasian." Somehow he acquired the name Mitsui from this ancestry, and finds himself adrift in a country that reviles him, as do the invaders. He appears early on, is consulted as an expert in "Asian thinking" (it's genetic?) and has few speaking parts.
* American=white is otherwise unchallenged.
* There are no (perhaps one? I don't want to reread to check it out.) speaking parts for women in this book. Only two women are named, and one is dead before the book begins.
* He appears to be an advocate of the "flying monkeys and magic" school of military thought. Sufficiently advanced science will assure that we win! And obviously, our science is more advanced.
* The American spirit and culture raises America above other nations. Granted, in 1941 this must have seemed like an attractive message, but the book often focuses on the ways in which the "Asiatic" culture is deficient.
* The, "OMG my plan is brilliant, really brilliant, would you like to hear about it? Too bad! But it's really brilliant. Okay, I'll tell this guy over here and he'll react in awe and amazement! See how brilliant my plan is?" gambit has never endeared me to anyone.
* The magical weapon has whatever abilities the plot requires. Kill a man? Check. Stun a man? Check. Forcefield? Check. Cure the common cold? Check. Cure Cancer? Check. None of these examples are made up.
