Customer Reviews

Time Enough For Love

5 star:		(107)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

Way back at the beginning of Heinlein's writing career his editor at Astounding, John W. Campbell, published the 'Future History', a two page listing of Heinlein's projection of the significant individuals and scientific, economic, and political events of the next 700+ years, along with a list of story titles that brought each of these events to life. At that time, most of those stories hadn't been written, and from some of the notes and statements in interviews that Heinlein made in the fifties and sixties, it looked like some of those originally projected stories would never be written, most significantly the final entry, "Da Capo". Finally, in 1973, when everyone had given up hope, this book appeared, a book that put the finishing touches on the Future History, a book that closes with that final story.

But before reaching that final story, we are given a cornucopia of other stories, as Lazarus Long, now some 2300 years old, is induced to reminisce about his life as part of a complex deal to preserve the 'wisdom' of the oldest man alive. Each of the stories that Lazarus relates are fairly complete by themselves, and many authors would have chosen to publish each of them separately, but Heinlein chose to keep them all as one piece, as each story helps to illuminate his overriding theme, on just what is love in all of its myriad aspects and why it is so important to man's survival as a species.

The first of the tales, "The Man Who Was Too Lazy to Fail", may be the weakest of any of the stories, but for those who know something about Heinlein's life, this story is very clearly autobiographical in nature, with some changes in names and places to protect the innocent. "The Tale of the Twins Who Weren't" brings to light the ease with which Heinlein could switch between first and third person along with some detailed commentary on genetics and the reasons incest is normally consider taboo, all neatly folded into a story of individual growth from illiterate slave to successful entrepreneur.

But the next tale, "The Tale of the Adopted Daughter", is worth the price of this book all by itself. A very quiet, simple tale of pioneering that would not be out of place sitting on the Westerns shelf, though it has a unique science fictional aspect - but by the end of the story tears are definitely in order. The excellence of this story can be judged by the fact that its emotional impact is not lessened even on second, third, and fourth readings, even when you know exactly how it ends. This story does much to illustrate that love is far more than just sex, although there is certainly a lively interest in that oldest sport displayed by all participants here.

The outer story in which these stories are embedded like sparkling diamonds evolves from a pretty standard plot device for presenting back stories to an intriguing story of its own, as we follow the attempts of various and sundry to give Lazarus a reason for living again, to find some new experiences that are not just a rehash of things he has done a thousand times before.

But it is also this 'present' time story that leads to the objections that many people have with this book: its apparent near-obsession with sex between close relatives. In one case it is more than close, it is narcissistic, dealing with Lazarus' relations with twin female clones of himself. It seems that many see only the sex, and don't look beyond it to the larger picture that Heinlein is presenting of all forms of love, including some essentially platonic forms, and that all of them can provide a means for 'growing closer' with another and enriching the lives of all involved.

In-between these stories are the 'Notebooks', a collection of aphorisms and other 'pearls of wisdom' that Lazarus has supposedly collected during his long life. Many are humorous; just about all of them have a spike of truth curling through them. My favorite of this group is probably "A committee is a life form with six or more legs and no brain" or possibly "An elephant: a mouse built to government specifications" but everyone will probably find something here that is appealing.

The Notebooks are some succinct examples of something that Heinlein scatters throughout this book, his opinions on government, slavery, marriage, politics, revolutions, prisons, family organizations, the value of money, 'consciousness' both organic and computer based, betting, Darwinian selection, true 'intelligence', conscription, advertising, religion, the purpose of war, and just about every other subject you can imagine. While you may not agree with many of these opinions, Heinlein presents his views in such a way that you will be forced to at least examine why you believe your own opinions are correct.

And finally we come to the last section of the book, where Lazarus time-travels back to meet his parents in the Kansas City of 1916. Heinlein manages to create a beautiful image of that time and place, its moral codes, its hypocrisies, its charms, of an entire way of life that has just about totally vanished from the American scene. Few fictional histories approach this section for being able to put the reader into their chosen time frame.

This book is the capstone to the Future History, apparently planned at least in part when the History was first conceived, a remarkable achievement in scope, theme, and sheer story telling. It was nominated for the 1974 Hugo Award, and fully deserved that honor.

Time Enough For Love is science fiction of the old school -- sci fi as an exploration and extrapolation of ideas, rather than a western with space ships and ray guns.

Almost every review of this book gives it either 5 stars or 1, so be aware that you'll either love this book or you'll hate it. If you understand what Heinlein is doing, you'll give it 5 stars, and if you don't you'll get caught up in the incest, prostitution, group marriage, etc. and give it 1.

Heinlein takes a 4000 year old man who has done EVERYTHING that there is to do in this world -- the challenge is to find something that will make him want to keep living. In the end, the thing that keeps him alive is the same thing that has kept him going for 40 centuries: love. Heinlein's examination of love in all of its forms and the return of Lazarus Long's desire to live are the backbones of the story.

Many reviewers have exposed their own hangups by focusing on the sex in the book. Yes, there is sex, including prostitution and incest, but these reviewers aren't seeing the forest for the trees. Sex is examined as one component of love, but Heinlein makes very clear early in the book that sex and love aren't at all the same thing. He also makes it clear that he wants to discuss love, not sex.

Along the way Heinlein discusses maternal love, paternal love, love of self, love among groups (no, *not* group sex -- group love), intellectual/spiritual love (Minerva and Ira), platonic love...I could go on, but you get the idea. Heinlein even gives Lazarus a female clone so that love of self/narcissism/solipsism can get a real philosophical workout! These aren't excuses for sexual hijinks, as some libido-obsessed reviewers seem to believe; there's something going on here besides titillation folks, if you pay attention.

Some warnings: this is not sci-fi adventure in the laser gun/warp drive vein, nor is it alien contact a la Arthur C. Clarke. This is sci fi used to examine the most important of human emotions -- it could be mainstream literature except that some of Heinlein's ideas require super-longevity, time travel, etc. to be fully presented. If you're looking for a plot driven book where Event 1 leads to Event 2 leads to Event 3, all coming to a head when Hero 1 defeats Villian 1 at the end, look elsewhere.

Second warning: Heinlein is very didactic in this book. If you don't want to put on your thinking cap, or if you want a fast-moving, action-packed plot, may I suggest the Star Wars books?

Enjoy. It's one of the best books, science fiction or otherwise, ever written.

This book was on my nightstand in 1974 (when it was first published in paperback), and it's still there now. (Same copy, too; the old dollar-ninety-five Putnam edition has held up amazingly well. Different nightstand, though.)

I was born in 1963 and learned to read very early. Like Spider Robinson, I lost my literary virginity to Heinlein (in my case, to _Stranger in a Strange Land_ and _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_). To this day I think that _Mistress_ is one of his three absolutely magisterial novels (the other two being _Double Star_ and _The Door into Summer_).

Heinlein also wrote a number of novels that were _very close_ to magisterial, and some of them have been (in my case, at least) more profoundly influential than his Three Greatest. _Stranger_ is one of these, and so is _Time Enough for Love_.

Heinlein published this one after bouncing back from major surgery (having been somewhat incapacitated while writing _I Will Fear No Evil_, which his wife Virginia helped to edit). The old master had his off days, but he's at the top of his form here.

As you're probably aware, this lengthy work is a future history of Lazarus Long (born Woodrow Wilson Smith), the Senior of the Howard Families and the oldest human being alive (well over two thousand years old at the time of this tale). Lazarus is one of Heinlein's best realized characters; I'd recognize his red hair, bulbous nose, disarming grin, and wild grey-green eyes if I passed him on the street.

And I'd immediately put my hand over my wallet. Lazarus is an unsavory character -- a raconteur, swindler, adventurer, sybarite, pragmatist . . . and, above all, _survivor_. He exemplifies everything Heinlein thought it would take for humanity to spread to the stars (besides the Libby-Sheffield Para-Drive, of course), and his amoral self-interested practicality is what's kept him from _getting_ killed even if (as is suggested in this book) he got an initial boost from a mutation in his twelfth chromosome pair.

But boy, you're going to want to haul off and whack him, because he's an ornery, slippery old scoundrel.

He's a helluva lot more colorful than Valentine Michael Smith (Heinlein's other attempt to create an character who could comment on human culture from the outside and let Heinlein indulge in some fictional iconoclasm). And he's a helluva lot more fun.

Plus you'll get to meet the rest of the Long family (including two or three -- depending how you count -- sentient computers).

And Lazarus's reminiscences include several marvelous tales that could have stood as novels in their own right: the Tale of the Man Who Was Too Lazy to Fail, the Tale of the Adopted Daughter (a glorious story that also features the Montgomerys, the most chillingly realistic 'bad guys' anywhere in Heinlein's entire oeuvre), and the Tale of the Twins who Weren't. (And there are two sets of Excerpts from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long -- collections of aphoristic musings that Heinlein readers liked so well that they've actually _been_ published separately.)

The result is a long (no pun intended) meditation on what it takes to survive -- and why anyone would want to.

I read this book when I was ten, and I'm afraid it wasn't altogether a 'good influence' on me. (If you want to know, ask me privately sometime -- and I don't promise to answer truthfully.) If you're tired of 'good influences', try reading it. I've got my issues with Heinlein, but he's one of the great iconoclasts of the twentieth century.

For that very reason, some readers should _avoid_ this book; it's guaranteed (and indeed designed) to offend you by rubbing your nose in the fact that your mores are _not_ 'natural laws'. But if you're the sort of person who will enjoy Heinlein, you'll dive right into this one and never come out.

Lazarus had previously appeared in _Methusaleh's Children_ and reappears in three further late-period Heinlein novels (_The Number of the Beast_, _The Cat Who Walked Through Walls_, and _To Sail Beyond the Sunset_). But if you want to meet him, I'd recommend starting here: the later ones won't make sense without this one, and I don't think _Methusaleh's Children_ represents Heinlein's best writing.

This does. The whole thing is wonderfully staged; the narrative switches back and forth between voices, the dialogue just crackles, and the action (when there is any) will make you jump off your seat once in a while.

This is Heinlein in control of his craft. If that interests you, don't miss it.

This was a fine novel about the life of a grouchy, lecherous old man named Lazarus Long (at least, that's the name he is going by in the year 4272). Lazarus has lived for over two thousand years and has quite literally done everything possible for a human being to do. Because of this, he is tired of living. He sees nothing left to live for and wants to die. While he is dying, his descendants find him and rejuvenate him. Despite Lazarus's anger, he listens to the deal they offer him. They want Lazarus to tell the tale of his long life, to record into the memory banks of the sultry computer Minerva the wisdom and lessons he has learned over the centuries. After he is finished, if he wants to die, then they will not question him. In return, they offer to come up an adventure that he has never experienced. Impossible, he thinks, so he agrees. In the process, his ancestors have tricked him. In telling the story of his life, Lazarus realizes that he loves life and wishes to go on living, even if he has already done it all. And his ancestors make good on their word: they do find something for him to do that he has never done.

People have said this novel is a story about incest and sex and nothing more than Heinlein's secret desire to screw his mother. This is a story about love, both of life and of others. Yes, there are a lack of sexual taboos that we tend to embrace in this culture (including myself, I must admit, at least to a certain extent). Readers must remember what kind of sexual taboos we had a hundred years ago (God help a woman who's ankles were showing). Imagine what those same taboos will be 2,000 years from now. And no, Heinlein is not a sexist. People who say that have never tried to understand Heinlein. Every woman in this novel is a genius, and a far better human being than most men I know (myself included). Heck, in some ways I aspire to be like some of Heinlein's female protagonists (that's in some ways mind you :). I fail to see how writing women characters who enjoy sex and want to have babies is sexist. Who wouldn't want someone to love and have a good family? By the way, the latter requires sex and babies, I shouldn't have to tell you (though love and sex are a great combination too :).

I strongly urge you to read this novel. Not for the sex or the politics (which is in there, so I hope your not squeamish about ideas that differ from your own, perrish the thought!), and not because it written by one of the founders of science fiction (Heinlein is in the same generation as Asimov and Clarke). Read it because it is a story about life and love. A quote from the novel can some it up the best: "Although long life maybe a burden, mostly it is a blessing. It gives time enough to think, time enough to learn, time enough not to hurry, time enough for love."

I have read and enjoyed science fiction since I was 12 years old. While I enjoy many authors, it was Robert Heinlein who got me hooked. I am now middle-aged and Heinlein is still my favorite author in the genre. He tells a good yarn and his central characters are likeable. I've just finished reading Time Enough for Love (TEFL) for probably the fourth or fifth time in the thirty something years since it was published-my first reading was in 1973.

Heinlein seems to take on three major tasks in this book.

First, like any good hard science fiction writer, he identifies two basic technological developments-interstellar space travel and rejuvenation through cloning and related biotechnology-and then imagines what impact these technologies might have on life over the next two thousand years.. He does this by focusing not on major battles and dramatic action but by focusing on his characters as they eat, bathe, tell stories, cuddle, cross the plains, build houses, and travel interstellar space. This is played out in the context of the shell story and the short stories that are nested within the shell.

The "sexual liberation" that is often made much of by reviewers is simply a logical playing out of culture mores impacted by the basic technological changes given as a premise in the story. Compared to how sex is handled in the media today, Heinlein's presentation is relatively innocent.

Second, he explores the nature of love. What is it when two beings love each other? Heinlein provides a broad canvas with so long a book and explores many types of relationship. The common characteristic is that each relationship expresses a different variety of love-marital love, love of a parent for one's children, friendship among "peers", of a child for one's parent, of a sentient computer for a human, of humans for a sentient computer. While there is some preaching on the topic, the exploration is played out in the various stories of the book as we see the relationships unfold.

Heinlein seems to have written in the context of several parallel universes (as is made clear in his book "Number of the Beast"). His best developed universe is his "Future History" which underlies many of his earlier short stories and a few of his novels. Heinlein's third major task in this book appears to be a further fleshing out of his future history, which was developed in any detail only as far as the persecution of the Howard Family and their flight from Earth (Methuselah's Children). In TEFL he carries the tale forward 2000 years and fills in some of the gaps. The majority of his works from this book forward build on this foundation and continue to play with the concepts he highlights in TEFL.

Of course, there is an ample dose of Heinlein's political theories and his fetish with cleanliness, which make an appearance in almost all of his longer works. One commentator noted an oedipal theme running through many of Heinlein's works. Here Heinlein's oedipal complex bursts forth in full glory for no one to miss or mistake.

Heinlein's works can be grouped into four broad categories: early short stories, juvenile novels (Have Spaceship, Will Travel, etc.), adult adventure novels (Puppet Masters, Starship Troopers, etc.), and adult speculative novels (TEFL, etc.). The adult adventure novels are largely hormone driven space operas. They are fun to read and easily converted into movies. My favorite books however are his speculative novels. There is relatively little outright adventure common to the earlier works but they are highly imaginative and do a wonderful job of playing around with ideas. He makes the most fanciful ideas almost believable. He gives us the opportunity to stand apart from our cultural assumptions and see what they look like from the outside.

TEFL is among my all time favorite Heinlein books.

On the surface, 'Time Enough for Love' is the story of one man's life, including his loves, hardships, employment, family and friends. But this is no ordinary man, he is over two thousand years old and has helped to father most of the human race. He has faced death a hundred times and caused it almost as often. He is Woodrow Wilson Smith otherwise known as Lazarus Long or simply The Senior.

This is one of Heinlein's longest works and is reputed to have been published unedited. For me the novel has an autobiographic feel to it. Almost as if Heinlein had to dredge the depths of himself to fill it. There are so many anecdotes, tales, characters, wisdoms and ideas in this book that you are in danger of choking. Or maybe it's just the speed with which I usually read it that sets me to gasping.

The story starts on Lazarus' death bed. Or at least that is what it seems. One of his long distant descendants is deliberately forcing him to remain alive in order to record the Senior's life wisdom. And what a life it has been. Born in the early years of the twentieth century, our hero takes us on a fast paced ride on the leading edge of man's expansion into the universe. Sometimes a man of importance, sometimes a slave, he is always entertaining and usually educational. In the end we are taken so far into his tale that it leads us back into the past. Lazarus takes a ground breaking trip into his own origins and meets his Parents again for the first time in two millennia.

It would be impossible to do this book justice in any form of synopsis. However, you don't really need one because if you are at all human, then you will have time enough for love.

The more Heinlein I read, the more I like his work. I started off with Starship Troopers, then read Stranger In A Strange Land, then Time Enough for Love (Next Up: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress). I can definitely say this is the strangest book I've read, and I can definitely say it is now one of my favorite. I was particularly amazed at the character development. Heinlein was able to FULLY develop characters that entered the story 3/4 of the way into the book. All the characters were VERY unique, from a well respected prostitute to a computer that become a person to a man who was too lazy to fail. The books introduced some things that are very controversial in the current 'liberal' society, let alone the fact that it was published in the early '70s. I imagine Heinlein got some heat on many of the included issues. Once you get past these issues and realize that these issues and events take place in 4272, you will be able to enjoy this book to its full potential (think about the racism and prejudice that plagued the world just 20 years ago and see how far we've come since then. In 20 centuries, who knows what will be accepted and what won't. This is the author's interpretation of what might be, and I agree that it could be possible in just 100 years, let alone 2000! Give the author a chance, as it is a VERY good book. As with Stranger In A Strange Land, I feel myself missing all the characters and wishing that the book would go on...But you do get to spend plenty of time with the characters--It's a VERY long book. It's taken me over a month, reading maybe a half hour every night. By the way, take the book in small pieces. You'll find you'll enjoy it much more. Find a part that you don't agree with, set the book down and come back in a day or so, and you'll understand why it's there. I enjoyed the last three or four pages of this book so much that I found myself re-reading it more than 5 times. Poetry. But the introduction sheds some doubt on the conclusion of the book. Did it happen or not? Make sure you re-read the introduction once you're done, as you'll probably have forgotten much of what is said in it, and it is important that you do have that information. Anyway, I can't wait to get into TMIAHM, sounds really good (Is it just me, or does the TMIAHM book not have any indefinite articles, such as 'the' or 'she'? Oh well.) Good luck on the reading of this book, you'll love it!

I've read this book and lent it out to friends so many times that I am now on my third copy. Heinlein's "Time Enough For Love" is a personal favorite of mine for a number of reasons:

Firstly, his stories and writing style are my cup of tea, with interesting plotlines and unequalled depth of character. The whole Lazarus Long saga is so epic in its proportions, and is so well plotted, that it is difficult to believe RAH didn't plan it all out when he started writing back in 1939. The way in which he is able to bring together various and sundry characters from stories he wrote decades ago is truly a wonder to behold. "The Tale of the Adopted Daughter" is a 150-page testament to love. It never fails to bring me to tears.

I also happen to agree with most (but not all) of Heinlein's philosophies of personal responsibility, independence, competence, and self-reliance.

"The Notebooks of Lazarus Long" sections strewn throughout the novel are themselves worth the price of the book. There is so much good old-fashioned horse sense in those sections, you could drive a Conestoga wagon with it.

Read and enjoy.

it will haunt you and follow you for years to come. If you are unwilling to question the way you look at yourself and your society do not read this book.

This is the further adventures of Lazarus Long, AKA Woodrow Smith, Aaron Sheffield etc. who has figured in other Heinlein stories. He is a member of the Howard families, a group of people who have been selectively bred for longevity. The story picks up long after humanity had traveled to the stars (long after many of Heinlein's previous works). Lazarus has returned home to die, he is tired and convinced that in his 2000+ years of life has 'done it all'. His decendants are not ready to see him go and try to convince him to rejuvenate again. He relates stories of his past and comments on what he has learned along the way.

The novel switches among various stories from Lazarus' past and the 'present', punctuated with his observations on life in general.

If you are a Heinlein fan this may be the best book you have ever read. If you are unfamiliar with Heinlein you might enjoy this more if you start with some of his earlier works. This one can stand alone but would make more sense if you have read some of the Future History stories.

As with almost all of Heinlein's work this one shifts gears along the way, starting as one story and ending as another. Also Heinlein has a tendency to go off on tangents. If you are a fan this is delightful, if not you may find yourself wondering how this author managed to avoid an editor.

This book will force you to think. Think about yourself, your society, your morals and all those things that you know are true. It should be added to Lazarus Long's list of things that everyone should do before they die.

Since I came to the conclusion that this was the weirdest book I've ever read (and I've read quite a lot) before I was even half way through it, I decided to come on here and see what other people thought about it. It seems that the reviewers are split into two camps: those who give it a 1-star rating because of it's weirdness and controversial morals, and those who give it 5-star ratings out of blind worship of Heinlein while ignoring it's weaknesses. I waded through about 60 reviews, and there didn't appear to be very many subjective ones, so I'll attempt to provide one here.

First off, the strengths. As always with Heinlein, my favorite part about the book is the witty dialogue. Just reading the conversation between the characters, even when it does little to advance the plot, is immensely entertaining to me. I realize that there's probably not any "real" people who talk like this... but that doesn't make it any less entertaining. Other strengths include the many entertaining individual adventures, topped with the icing on the cake, Lazarus Long's delicious banter on all things Heinlein (Long's alter-ego) cared to comment on. These comments come to a headway on the two-part Notebooks of Lazarus Long. Some of these quotations, while not the revelatory statements some reviewers have claimed, are nonetheless both witty and worthwhile, and many hit home. Heinlein does tend to preach quite a bit, bordering on too much at times; such as the page-spanning sermons on how to raise children, this coming from a man who himself was childless. But please remember, this IS a work of FICTION. The book is broken up into many individual segments and stories, and because of this you will probably enjoy it more if you read the novel in bits and pieces, rather than large portions at once. My favorite part is the latter section of the book where Lazarus embarks on time travel, it could've easily been a book in itself; and a damn good one too.

Now to the weaknesses. Heinlein's controversial views on sex and moral values, while not as disturbing to me (having read many a Heinlein) as others, are nonetheless unsettling in places, and occasionally detract from the book. I don't have a problem with Lazarus Long knocking up just about every female character he comes into contact with, but I can't say I was indifferent to the book's excessive amounts of incest. Heinlein goes to pains (and I mean pains; chapter-length dialogue segments on the improbability of defects through screened and tested incestous relationships) to seemingly shed a positive light on what many consider the very blackest of sins. I don't know exactly how Heinlein came to take this controversial stance, some of his previous novels (Farnham's Freehold, for instance) hinted at it, but it never came out into the open like this. However he came upon it he stuck with it, as the issue clouds subsequent novels like The Number of the Beast and To Sail Beyond The Sunset. It crops up often in this book; not that unsettling, just a little immature. That's really the only thing in this book you could call a weakness, other than it's tendency to go on a little too long at points (kinda like this review, eh?), many of the individual stories are novella-length. The Tale of the Man Who Was Too Lazy To Fail should've been left out, it's completely useless to the story and boring. The lengthy Tale of the Twins Who Weren't is long, but entertaining in it's sheer strangeness. The 140+ page Tale of the Adopted Daughter is a very sentimental piece that has undoubtedly brought some to tears.

All in all, an excellent (and weird, in the best sense of the word) book that you should enjoy unless you are put off by the controversial sex/incest issues. But then, if that were the case, you probably wouldn't be looking at reviews of post-Stranger RAH would you? Read and enjoy.