Friday - Robert A. Heinlein

When's the last time a science-fiction novel constantly reminded you to pay your Mastercard bill?

Basically a character study of the title character as opposed to a ripping SF yarn starring that character, "Friday" combines old Heinlein (a tough, semi-fascist story setting, some military set pieces) with new Heinlein (a sympathetic view of the benefits of free love in all its forms). The novel presents a series of episodes where we see the saucy yet sensitive, skilled but modest Artifical Person known mainly as "Friday" confront a variety of personal and professional challenges.

A small warning: despite the pretty woman in the cute jumpsuit on the cover and the occasional talk about free love, the book is not all pleasant reading. For example, Poor Friday is subjected to a brutal multiple rape during the course of a mission in the opening chapters. Helping the reader get through that particular scene, however, is the fact that the title character is able to shrug it off so easily, even during the act. Not so easy to shrug off (for this reader, at least) is a later development, where Friday befriends and becomes very close to one of the rapists. The whole thing can be looked at two ways: Heinlein could be saying that rape is no big deal, so what's all the shouting about? But I like to think that his view might instead be this: rape is horrible, but women shouldn't be depicted as being fragile flowers who can never recover from such an assault- they're stronger than that. I like to think that the latter point is closer to the author's opinion on the subject.

Another curious aspect of this episodic, idea-rich novel is its emphasis on the role and importance of credit in the future. This book is positively fixated on Visa, Mastercard, American Express, investments, contracts, and bank transactions. Hardly a page goes by without an observation or discussion about what particular credit card should be used in what particular situation, the importance of good credit in general, the value of having different accounts under different names, etc., etc. In the novel's future vision, banks and corporations are the true governing bodies, so the book's emphasis on credit certainly fits, I concede. It's just sort of odd to be constantly reminded of your own credit status ("Is my Mastercard bill due next week?") as you're reading a science fiction novel. Scary, too, if Heinlein is positing that a your-finances-are-everything scenario is where the real world is heading.

In the end, "Friday" is solid and adequately entertaining, though sometimes a little dull with all its finance talk (again, the book's not all about free love). However, if you're the kind of person who in fact enjoys detailed speculation about where world finance and economics might be heading, you might get a little more out of it than I did.

The Original Terminator...

This is possibly Heinlein's BEST work. Think of the character Summer Glau portrays on Terminator, and add some Human qualities. I have always wondered why it is not made into a movie...
This book ROCKS...!

Heinlein was not very well at the time and it shows

I rated "Friday" a three star story. I think I have read all of Heinlein's fiction and this is the story that I was most disappointed in reading. I wish that it was less dark. At the time, Heinlein was in a pessimistic and depressed state of mind. This shows more strongly in his nonfictional writings during this time. I am not certain but I believe Heinlein was not very well at the time and it shows.

I wish Heinlein had held off sending this story to his publisher. When he was doing better, he had the capacity to write much better and more optimistically about many of the areas that "Friday" explores. Nevertheless, there is fascinating material here. Some equivalent of the `Beanstalk' could appear within the next 50 years. `Artificial' genetically enhanced humans are less than ten years away from now (2008). And, an America split into several countries is a subject of several serious political writers.

I guess that I am hooked on happy endings. While the ending of this story is not unhappy, it also is not happy. Heinlein tended to be tougher on his heroines than on his heros. This novel is, partly, a sequel to a short story that also has a sad ending. Unfortunately for us, both stories are based on a `universe' that has more darkness for humans than most of Heinlein's `universes'.

Overall, this is a very `adult' book, even by current standards. I do not recommend this book for readers new to Heinlein. They should start with one of his earlier books.

Despite the negativity, pessimism, and generally dark tones, the story is fairly good. And, it is a fiction written by Heinlein. Genuine Heinlein fans will appreciate Heinlein writing on various philosophical thoughts.

No TGIF Here

Unlike most SF readers, I have never been a Heinlein fan. I hadn't read him since being scared off by "Time Enough for Love" 20 years ago. But hey, I thought, I'm older now, I should give RAH a second chance. I'm sad to report, though, that Friday did nothing to sway my opinion.

The main problem with Friday (the novel) is that it lacks a coherent story line. Friday (the character) is an artificial person, a kick-*ss courier for a shadowy organization run by "The Boss." When the book starts, she is being chased by enemies after delivering a package. So, you think, this will be a SF espionage novel; Friday will battle the enemy organization, solve some mysteries, save the day. But no, we never discover what her mission was about, or who the men chasing her were, or why. She retreats to the headquarters of her organization, and you think, ah ha, this will be an Alias type story; we'll find out who the Boss is, what his group does, go on dangerous missions. But no, the Boss dies and the organization disbands. Before dying, he tells her she is a latent genius, and initiates an intensive education. Friday responds, and begins to unravel sinister connections in current events. So, she'll figure out who is behind the recent world-wide wave of violence and take him down, right? No, she has to quit when the Boss dies, and that storyline comes to nothing.

And so it continues throughout the book. Instead of being a head-banging agent, Friday is more like a pinball, bopping around Earth and beyond without direction or purpose. She goes here, goes there, perhaps has a minor fight or scrape, meets people, has consequence free sex with them, then moves on. I'm not offended by the never-ending sex, just annoyed by it. It serves no purpose to the story. In fact, there's no point to the book that I can see, other than promoting some of Heinlein's pet ideas: free love is great, governments are stupid, corporations actually run the world. And I'm sorry, the dialog is kitschy at best. He must have used the word "silly" a hundred times.

Friday did nothing to win me over to Heinlein. If you're looking for an entertaining read, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Revisiting Friday

I first gave Friday an admittedly cursory reading nearly twenty years ago and set it aside unfinished. In retrospect, that has turned out to have been a bit of good luck.

Returning to it recently gave me the opportunity to once again experience Heinlein's voice in previously unread material. Although this isn't as clear and focused as Heinlein's best work, it is good solid read.