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For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs Audiobook
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(3.00) - 1,688 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
From Grand Master Robert A. Heinlein comes a long-lost first novel, written in 1939, introducing ideas and themes that would shape his career and define the genre that is synonymous with his name.
July 12, 1939: Perry Nelson is driving along the palisades when another vehicle swerves into his lane, a tire blows out, and his car careens off the road and over a bluff. The last thing he sees before his head connects with the boulders below is a girl in a green bathing suit, prancing along the shore.
When he wakes, the girl in green is a woman dressed in furs, and the sun-drenched shore has been replaced by snowcapped mountains. The woman, Diana, rescues Perry from the bitter cold and takes him to her home to rest and recuperate. Later they debate the cause of the accident, for Diana is unfamiliar with the concept of a tire blowout and Perry cannot comprehend snowfall in mid-July. Then Diana shares with him a vital piece of information: the date is now January 7, the year 2086.
When his shock subsides, Perry begins an exhaustive study of global evolution over the past 150 years. He learns, among other things, that a United Europe was formed; the military draft was completely reconceived; banks became publicly owned and operated; and in the year 2003, two helicopters destroyed Manhattan in a galvanizing act of war.
But education brings with it inescapable truths—the economic and legal systems, the government, and even the dynamic between men and women remain alien to Perry, the customs of the new day continually testing his mental and emotional resolve. Yet it is precisely his knowledge of a bygone era that will serve Perry best, as the man from 1939 seems destined to lead his newfound peers even further into the future than they could have imagined.
A classic example of the future history that Robert Heinlein popularized during his career, For Us, the Living marks both the beginning and the end of an extraordinary arc comprising the political, social, and literary crusading that is his legacy.
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"I love Heinlein's books. Not for the stories themselves, but for the digressions and unique thinking. In this book the economic and social digressions were really interesting. You don't have to agree with something to learn from it. "
— Patrick (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“A major contribution to the history of the genre.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“There’s something eerie about this novel…Never mind science fiction; this is prescience fiction.”
— Kansas City Star -
“A neat discovery for Heinlein and utopia fans.”
— Booklist -
“Heinlein fans can rejoice—the SF master’s lost first novel, composed between 1938 and 1939, has been found!”
— Publishers Weekly -
“The wonderful thing about For Us, the Living is that in it we can see the seeds of many of Robert Heinlein’s great later works, starting with the first notion for The Roads Must Roll and going on to cover much of his lifelong thinking on politics and society.”
— Frederik Pohl, Hugo, Nebula, and National Book Award-winning author -
“Narrator Malcolm Hillgartner keeps this slow-paced novel moving…Heinlein's first novel, which was unfinished, is high on concept and slack on plot. Hillgartner delivers dialogue well and carefully paces the exposition on the complex economic principles of the utopian society. At times weirdly prophetic and at other times quite dated, Heinlein’s story provides fans with ideas to chew on and demonstrates the origins of his later works.”
— AudioFile
For Us, the Living Listener Reviews
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" This is interesting only as a curiosity because it was published posthumously and was Heinlein's first novel. It shows his early thinking but this is by no means one of Heinlein's best. "
— Joe, 2/16/2014 -
" It was his first novel... that he never got published. This from a guy who thought that not publishing something he wrote was taboo. It is really a series of essays gussied up with a weak plot and minimalist characters. Everything in this book (including some characters) reappears in later books, so it may be interesting to the heinlein completist to see this in its rawest form. But no one else should find this book very interesting. "
— Eoin, 1/6/2014 -
" This was interesting in an anthropological way. Seeing the common threads and all that. I found it a bit too didactic when I read it, and in fact I'd forgotten I'd read it, until I saw Kathleen's review. "
— Valerie, 12/23/2013 -
" We can definitely we why it was never published! "
— Noa, 12/18/2013 -
" I've tried to read this once & listen to it on audio book since I'm a real fan of Heinlein's earlier works. Unfortunately, this reads like one of his later books - preachy & boring. If you had a problem with most of his books after 1970, then this isn't for you. "
— Jim, 12/14/2013 -
" never finished reading this book (yeah, it was not very good). "
— Sahil, 11/15/2013 -
" Written in 1939 it has interesting ideas on the economy that it assumes we will have solved in the future. We're not there yet. "
— Gjyc1019, 7/15/2013 -
" I'm beginning to understand why I am poly and many of my political views. Damn being influenced by authors at a young age. "
— Robert, 7/26/2012 -
" Really only worth reading if you're a RAH-ophile. It's not very good on any level, but it's interesting to see some of themes that penetrate Heinlein's work in an embryonic form "
— Erik, 7/15/2012 -
" This is a turrible book, but in a way that's fun to read. "
— Marianne, 1/1/2012 -
" Horrible book. Only buy it if you're a true Heinlein fan. This was his first book. It was never published. I can see why. Terribly painful read. "
— Steve, 8/3/2011 -
" Interesting...more of a way to write his theories than a novel. "
— Gina, 2/20/2011 -
" I've tried to read this once & listen to it on audio book since I'm a real fan of Heinlein's earlier works. Unfortunately, this reads like one of his later books - preachy & boring. If you had a problem with most of his books after 1970, then this isn't for you. "
— Jim, 2/17/2011 -
" Romanzo utopistico che pur essendo pregevole sente il peso degli anni. Interessante ma a tratti difficoltoso "
— Zeruhur, 2/9/2011 -
" Really only worth reading if you're a RAH-ophile. It's not very good on any level, but it's interesting to see some of themes that penetrate Heinlein's work in an embryonic form "
— Erik, 12/7/2010 -
" Very interesting, I like Heinlein's socratic style on presenting different views of government, economics, and a potential future. "
— Ray, 7/28/2010 -
" This is a turrible book, but in a way that's fun to read. "
— Marianne, 7/19/2010 -
" great futurist book to make you think about our current screwed up system<br/> "
— Julie, 5/7/2010 -
" Not so much a novel as a brilliant libertarian political tract. A response and antithesis to Edward bellamy's Looking Backeard. "
— William, 3/28/2010
About Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) is widely recognized as one of the greatest science fiction authors of all time, a status confirmed in 1974 when the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America gave him their first Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement. A four-time Hugo Award winner, he is best known for such works as Starship Troopers, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, and the sensational bestseller Stranger in a Strange Land. Several of his books were New York Times bestsellers, and his worldwide bestsellers have been translated into twenty-two languages.
About Malcolm Hillgartner
Malcolm Hillgartner is an accomplished actor, writer, and musician. Named an AudioFile Best Voice of 2013 and the recipient of several Earphones Awards, he has narrated over 250 audiobooks.