The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

Well, the Wicked discussion kind of tanked, so let's move on to one of my favorite Sci-Fi novels, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Tom Clancy has said of Robert A. Heinlein, "We proceed down the path marked by his ideas. He shows us where the future is." Nowhere is this more true than in Heinlein's gripping tale of revolution on the moon in 2076, where "Loonies" are kept poor and oppressed by an Earth-based Authority that turns huge profits at their expense. A small band of dissidents, including a one-armed computer jock, a radical young woman, a past-his-prime academic and a nearly omnipotent computer named Mike, ignite the fires of revolution despite the near certainty of failure and death.

My favorite character in the novel is Professor Bernardo de la Paz, or Prof. If Mike is the brains of the revilution, Prof is the conscience. And this fact is what is so troubling and fascinating about him. Our introduction to him is very telling. We know before we meet him that he is a vegetarian, but at dinner, he calls the ham salmon, and thereby eats it without violating his ethical code.

This happens throughout the rest of the novel. Prof is a pacifist, but he leads the war against Earth. He is an anarchist, but he leads the newly formed senate.

So the first discussion question is this:
What do you make of the discrepancy between Profs beliefs and his actions? Is there ever a time when personal ethics should be ignored for the sake of the greater good?

These won't be graded.

By the pricking of my thumb...

I talked earlier about discussing Robert A. Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress as our first book discussion, but after deliberating and discussing with friends who want to be involved, I decided we'd talk about Gregory Maguire's Wicked.

The way this will work is I will give a discussion topic, and the comments will relate to that. After about a week or so (sooner or later depending on how discussion goes), I will post a new question, and discussion will proceed the same way.

Question #1

What does Maguire say about the nature of evil? How do his ideas develop throughout the novel? What does Maguire's final statement say about the other theories offered throughout the story?

These will be graded.