Customer Reviews

Rite of Passage

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As someone who has always been, and always will be, a child at heart, I find that reading this book is like going home and then coming back again. I re-read it at least once every two years, and no, you can't have my falling-apart copy. You can't even borrow it. I'd sooner loan you one of my arms or legs.

In the beginning, the story may remind you of Heinlein's novella, Universe. But where in that work the punchline is the science, in this one it's the humanity. A young girl works up to, and then works through, her rite of passage to adulthood, and in the process gains much and loses even more, as always happens when we grow up. Be warned: it's not a "kids' book" though. This is for adults who remember, or who want to remember, what it was like to make the transition-- all the joys and all the sorrows. It's also great for young teens who are going through the process right now.

Reviewers who think the politics and the moral issues are oversimplified have missed the point. When you're that age, politics and morals ARE that simple. Would they could always be.

One of my 'top six best science fiction works of all time' picks.

I read a lot of science fiction as a teenager and young adult...the best way to describe this book is 'charming'. It is definitely science fiction, but the focus on the lead female adolescent character and how she changes as she explores her environment, makes the book very accessible for younger readers.

While the book provides typical thought-provoking content in the plot and situations, the real beauty is watching the lead character change mentally and emotionally from a teenager to a young adult.

This is my favorite coming-of-age story...I can't believe it is out of print. Get a paper copy if you can (I've seen it in some used book stores)

At the end of the 22nd century, Earth has been destroyed and humanity has been divided into two distinct factions: those that live on Ships and those that live on a Colony. Residents of the Ships live in an advanced technological society that meets all a person's basic needs. Residents of a Colony live under conditions that are more akin to the 19th century instead of the 22nd.

Within this milieu, Mia Havero is growing up. As she comes of age aboard a Ship, Mia's notions of the world around her are reshaped and reformed from those of a child into those of an adult. When a member of a Ship reaches the age of 14, each member of the Ship undergoes Trial. A period of 30 days where they are dropped on a Colony world to fend for themselves. If they survive, they return to the Ship as a full adult and member of the Ship's community.

Rite of Passage is a wonderful coming of age tale. Mia's growth from a child who is upset at being uprooted from her traditional home -- being moved from one section of the Ship to another when she is 12 -- all the way to a young woman whose decision making processes mature into a very capable and thoughtful young adult are written exceptionally well. At every stage of Mia's growth, the decisions she was making and the explorations she was undertaking made sense given her age.

For Mia, her Trial coalesces all that she has learned aboard Ship. She no longer has to rely on what other people think and believe -- whether that be her father, her tutor, or even her friends -- but can now make up her own mind in a logical, reasoned process. In essence as well as in fact, she has become an adult.

Panshin's Rite of Passage is highly recommended to anyone who can relate to -- or remember -- the world at first slowly unfolding and then, as time passed, dramatically unraveling into the multi-faceted, multi-hued tapestry that any adult can recognize in the blink of an eye.

Alexei Panshin's "Rite of Passage" narrates the growth of a young girl from childhood to maturity. The story's heroine, Mia Havero, lives in a future where overpopulation has destroyed civilization on Earth, and where this holocaust's survivors live either in technological superiority traveling between the stars or marooned in medieval ignorance on colony worlds. The novel traces the evolution of Mia's attitude toward her Ship society's treatment of the culturally backwards "Mudeaters" as she prepares for and finally undergoes her "rite of passage," a one month stranding in the wilds of a colony planet. The great strength of "Rite of Passage" is Panshin's descriptive genius. Panshin painstakingly constructs both Mia's ship and the primitive planets, describing both locales in a great wealth of detail and populating each with lifelike characters who mesh convincingly with their societies. His portrayal of Mia's psyche is handled with extraordinary insight, comparing favorably with the brilliant SF character studies of Robert Silverberg's "Dying Inside" and Philip K. Dick's "Valis" and "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer." He presents Mia's opinions and philosophies with a commendable lack of Ayn Rand style monologues, managing to bring them out naturally through the action of the novel.

Marring these successes of "Rite of Passage" are two blemishes. First, the final metamorphosis of Mia'a attitude toward the colonies contains a slight inconsistency; without providing much plot detail, parts of the approach toward the colonies advocated by councilmember Persson with which Mia agrees conflict with her strong do-it-yourself streak that continues unabated throughout the novel. Finally, and more importantly, Mia's characterization lacks the passion and intensity that infuse the best character portraits. In an interview, Philip K. Dick said that after finishing "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer," he was driven to the hospital by hemorrhaging, brought about by the pain of losing his novel's protoganist Angel Archer, by having to write "The End" and surrender her to the reader like a father forced to offer his beloved daughter to her betrothed. This passion is transmitted to the reader of "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer," and to the reader of "Valis," and to the reader of "Dying Inside." It is not tranmitted to the reader of "Rite of Passage." The failure to strike this spark relegates "Rite of Passage" to a lesser position within the pantheon of SF classics.

4.5 stars

I missed this book growing up, though it was written just after my birth, so I come to it without the fond remembrances of youth. All I can say is "Wow".

The only problem, in my opinion, with the book is the slow start. We have a very long setup in a rather short book before hitting the pay off. The payoff being the planetary adventure, then followed with the sucker-punch epilog which elevates the book above a typical young adult book. The horrible act approved, and implemented will cause you to think. You will see both sides of the argument, and you may in fact agree with the decision that was made.

The epilog cleverly brings what seemed to be a throwaway detail of Mia's ethics assignments into focus, providing an example of the various theories Mia had discussed writing about.

Of course the shortness of the work does prevent any more than a cursory view of minor characters but within the short space of the novel Panshin does make sure to portray both the good and bad of the ship folk and planet folk, provide a really nail-biting adventure on the planet and a hard-hitting ethical epilog. Something today's authors just can't seem to do in oversized books and series.

This one is a classic for all ages and all times. A true successor to the Heinlein juveniles. I'll even say the spiritual successor even though Panshin may disagree with Heinlein's philosphies.

Currently it has been reprinted by the Science Fiction Book Club, so is available at least there for now.

Clearly I disagree with the majority of reviewers that have posted their views on this book. There are a number of good things about it, and a number of bad.

First the good things. It is easy to read and entertaining. There are some interesting ideas (some interesting ethical questions that are bandied about by the characters). The adventure part of the story is fun. And the main character is well written and you sympathise with her.

Now the bad points. While the adventure is fun, it's too cartoony. This book would make a good movie, but doesn't work if you think about it. More importantly, Panshin seems to shy away from the real ethical questions, trying to portray everything in black and white terms. Without giving away the last half of the book, it's difficult to clarify. Simply put, the debates are too short and the people too polarised into one camp or another. It rings hollow. And the points they debate are not the most important ones, in my opinion.

At any rate, it's a little disappointing because of the well-written main character and the interesting setup. If the book had been twice as long, it might have been able to work out its ethical dilemmas. As it is, everything is rammed through without deep thought. A pity.

I first read this book more than 20 years ago. I remembered some of the basics of the plot but not too much more. It's the story of Mia Havero, aged 12 when the story begins and 14 when it ends. She's one of a number of priviledged survivors of a catastrophe, caused by unlimited population growth, which destroyed Planet Earth. She lives on a spaceship created in an asteroid, with access to education and technology, while less fortunate descendants of Earth's survivors live on colonies on planets scattered throughout the galaxy. In order to control population growth, the citizens of the Ships are sent down to planets for 30 days after they turn 14, to survive as best they can with some pretty extensive training and a limited amount of supplies and tools. This is the Rite of Passage.
The story is told in 1st person and at times I felt it went into a bit too much detail, but Mia's voice is very convincing and I was impressed that the author -- who I think was in his 20s at the time he wrote this -- could write from the point of view of an adolescent girl so well. The future society he's created is very interesting and the book is a fast, easy read. But it's not simple. It raises a lot of moral questions which, when I read the book for the first time in my teens, mostly passed me by. After rereading it recently, I was left feeling actually quite shocked by the ending. The book is very thought-provoking, and like the best science fiction, it raises more questions than it answers. Highly recommended -- I gave it 4 stars only because I think it could have been a bit more tightly written and/or edited.

This is a deep story with much more to it than appears at first. It is not just a startling twist on the idea of a spaceship-based society, but also on the coming-of-age story, but with a real twist: as the rebellious young heroine learns more about what her own culture really does, the reader realizes that there are real moral issues here, not just conflicts of style. Real evil often is done by "nice" people, and it's good to see an example of this worked out in fiction (where it's safer to let ourselves consider the presence of real moral choices). It's a rather timely topic for the present decade, which may be why this Nebula-winning book is now out of print! Do find this one if you're at all tempted.

This gold-plated classic of mature juvenile sci-fi comes from an author who roundly criticizes R.A.Heinlein -- then masterly performs every R.A.H. trick and stylistic turn! The treatment of philosophies of coming-of-age are handled with pure excellence. The social dimensions of the culture(s) include strengths and flaws and never slip out of consistancy. Note to sex-nervous parents: As the young couple enter into adulthood, they do so as adults. Panshin does not titillate, but he does not pretend that sex does not happen (the bane of R.A.H's juveniles).

Out of print? Sheese! I read this book when I was in high school, and even then I realized it was discussing more than a very intriguing passage to adulthood of a group of kids on a space ship. Through a very engaging story, filled with realistic human beings, you begin to see that countries and societies must also mature and grow, and a failure to do so can be deadly. This book also points out that isolation at the comfortable "top of the heap" creates jealousy and fear. My first reading left me thinking for weeks and looking at the adult society around me in a whole new way. The news about the Cold War even gained my notice. Science fiction became for me what it really is: a fascinating mirror of our own world which, projected safely into the future, could be starkly honest. As a reader this book was a rite of passage. I've neices and nephews who need to read this book. BRING IT BACK.