Methuselah's Children

It's the future. And some people have twice the normal lifespan. This carefully guarded secret becomes known to the general public who demand access to life-extending medical treatments. Unfortunately there aren't any. The longevity enjoyed by members of the "Howard Families" results from naturally-occurring genes and selective breeding. The public is disbelieving, envious, and angry. Efforts are commenced to extract the secrets of extended life through force.

Most members of the Howard Families go into hiding. In the middle of this crisis Lazarus Long, the oldest living Howard, reappears. Long presumed dead*, Lazarus has mastered the skills of secrecy and survival. He leads the Families in a bold attempt to leave Earth and colonize planets around other stars. The story follows Lazarus and his co-conspirators in their quest for a new home.

This is the prototypical Robert Heinlein science fiction novel. It ties together earlier works in his Future History series and links it to the following series (beginning with

Story begins with the attack on the ‘Howard families’, people who can live for hundreds of years, simply from careful marriages. This creates the viscous reaction . . .

“I believed that the great majority of our fellow citizens, reared under modern educational methods, could evaluate any data without excessive emotional disturbance. I anticipated that a few abnormal people would dislike us, even hate us; I even predicted that most people would envy us—everybody who enjoys life would like to live a long time. But I did not anticipate any serious trouble. Modern attitudes have done away with inter-racial friction; any who still harbor race prejudice are ashamed to voice it. I believed that our society was so tolerant that we could live peacefully and openly with the short-lived.’’

“I was wrong.’’

(Heinlein writing in 1941. Stalin’s planned starvation, eradication of millions of kulacks (small farmers) revealed. News of Hitler’s persecuting the Jews and others surfacing.)

“Their envy now turns to hate, with an emotional conviction that we are depriving them of their rights . . . deliberately, maliciously.’’ “That rising hate has now swelled into a flood which threatens the welfare and even the lines of all our revealed brethren . . . and which is potentially as dangerous to the rest of us. The danger is very great and very pressing.”

This shocking willingness to violate all moral rules for selfish benefits compromises part one.

High government official declares . . .

“You don’t understand the situation at all, Mary; this isn’t any minor social offense. This is treason—treason against the whole human race. We’ll use means! Ways that the Prophets used . . . if they don’t cooperate willingly.” “Do you mean that? Why, that’s against the Covenant!” “Covenant be damned! This is a matter of life and death—do you think we’d let a scrap of paper stand in our way? You can’t bother with petty legalities in the fundamental things men live by—not something they will fight to the death for. And that is precisely what this is. These . . . these dog-in-the-manger scoundrels are trying to keep life itself from us. Do you think we’ll bow to ‘custom’ in an emergency like this?”

(Hitler’s renouncing Versailles treaty, attacking Belgium, invading Poland, etc., etc..)

Well. . . Heinlein presented this in 1941. What would he write now? How has the rule of law, the moral foundation of society, endured?

Another theme in part two . . .

“Mary Sperling put down the book she had been reading when Lazarus entered her stateroom. He picked it up. “What are you reading, Sis? ‘Ecclesiastes.’ Hmm . . . I didn’t know you were religious.” He read aloud: “ ‘Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?’ “Pretty grim stuff, Mary. Can’t you find something more cheerful? Even in The Preacher?” His eyes skipped on down. “How about this one? ‘For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope—’ Or . . . mmmm, not too many cheerful spots. Try this: ‘Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.’ That’s more my style; I wouldn’t be young again for overtime wages.”

“I would.’’

(Ecclesiastes is the precise part of the Bible addressing questions about life, death and purpose. Heinlein knows his Bible.)

She now distraught by thoughts of death.

“Lazarus, I don’t want to die. But what is the purpose of our long lives? We don’t seem to grow wiser as we grow older.’’

‘What is the purpose of life?’ Seems key question. New planet inhabited by people with a ‘group mind’. Lazarus rejects idea any human could submerge his mind into the group. . .

“Lazarus was wrong. There was no faint possibility of interbreeding between Earthmen and natives but there was no barrier, if sympathy existed, to a human merging into one of their rapport groups, drowning his personality in the ego of the many.’’

‘Drowning himself in the many’!

“Mary Sperling, moved by conviction of her own impending death, saw in the deathless group egos a way out. Faced with the eternal problem of life and death, she had escaped the problem by choosing neither . . . selflessness. She had found a group willing to receive her, she had crossed over.’’

(Well. . .at this time many were submerging into the ‘group mind’ - living/dying for it. Marxism, Nazism, Nationalism, Shinto, Statism, Facism, etc.. Heinlein does his usual marvelous job of presenting profound philosophical questions, simply and vividly!)

Lazarus and the families return to earth. Want their houses and property back . . .

“What has that to do with us? That is a problem for the government to settle with the persons it has allowed illegally to occupy our homes. As for myself, I shall land as soon as possible, obtain an eviction order from the nearest court, and repossess my home.”

“It’s not that easy. You can make omelet from eggs, but not eggs from omelet. You have been legally dead for many years; the present occupant of your house holds a good title.”

Justin Foote stood up and glared at the Federation’s envoy, looking, as Lazarus thought, “like a cornered mouse.”

“Legally dead! By whose act, sir, by whose act? Mine? I was a respected solicitor, quietly and honorably pursuing my profession, harming no one, when I was arrested without cause and forced to flee for my life. Now I am blandly told that my property is confiscated and my very legal existence as a person and as a citizen has been taken from me because of that sequence of events. What manner of justice is this? Does the Covenant still stand?”

“You misunderstand me. I—”

“I misunderstood nothing. If justice is measured out only when it is convenient, then the Covenant is not worth the parchment it is written on.’’

(Think Japanese concentration camps in California.)

This work presents colorful people, dramatic story, vivid conflict.

Even more, Heinlein now developing into deeper political, philosophical, social, psychological analysis.

I suspect - that if reader enjoys pondering such things, will respond positively. Otherwise . . . .

This short but infinitely complex story, opened my eyes to the possibilities of the capabilities of the human mind. Not especially what it could do but what it could imagine. Robert took me on endless journeys as a boy. He continued to join others in shaping my mind and world view to be able to accept Things that I could not have done alone. My greatest of thanks for that gift.

Not a bad story. This tells the tale of the Howard Families and is the lead in to Heinlein's "Time Enough For Love" and additional tales related to Lazarus Long, Heinlein's main character from here on. One positive note: Heinlein has yet to devolve into having Lazarus Long be the undisputed love answer to any female character Long encounters. A definite plus.

Clean and family friendly, I highly recommend this story to any sci-fi fan.

Rereading Methuselah’s Children. I still remember reading it as an 11-year old boy and being fascinated by the technical descriptions of how the pilots calculated courses and trajectories.

“He was already setting up the problem in his ballistic calculator. Aside from checking the orbit elements of the New Frontiers in the Terra Pilot Lazarus could have done it in his sleep; satellite-matching maneuvers were old hat for any pilot and a doubly-tangent trajectory for a twenty-four hour orbit was one any student pilot knew by heart.”

I couldn’t wait for us to have personal space travel and being able to boast that I could calculate satellite-matching maneuvers!

The funny thing is that back in 1977 I was POSITIVE I would one day pilot a spacecraft. What seemed science fiction was a self-driving automobile:

“Mary claimed her car from the robopark, guided it up the ramp and set the controls for North Shore. The car waited for a break in the traffic, then dived into the high-speed stream and hurried north. Mary settled back for a nap.”

Or doing a three way video call!

“The Administrator answered his call at once, although it was late at night in the longitude of Novak Tower. From the puffy circles under Ford’s eyes Lazarus judged that he had been living at his desk. “Hi,” said Lazarus, “better get Zack Barstow on a three-way. I’ve got things to report.” …. By split screen, Barstow joined them. He seemed surprised to see Lazarus and not altogether relieved.”

Heinlein predicted Teslas and Zoom in 1941!! But I still don’t have a space pilot’s license. Bah.

Wonderful book! I enjoy it more with each re-read!

Let's just get this out of the way. Heinlein doesn't understand women. He does a bad job of writing women and makes them do things ordinary women just don't do. Often they are just simpering arm candy. Rarely are they strong characters in their own right. Almost never are they memorable, which is a sad state of affairs.

Now with that out of the way, let me say that Lazarus Long (the protagonist) is a wonderful character. Curiously long-lived, he somehow manages to bounce around in time and from bed to bed with few ill effects. He seems to be Robert Heinlein's fictional alter ego, the character who best expresses the kind of man Heinlein wished he could be. And since Lazarus Long goes back in time and has sex with his Mom, I'd say Heinlein had issues.

One interesting segment in the book is when Heinlein and a group of intrepid adventurers settle a remote valley on a distant planet, where a variety of interesting sexual expressions are manifest. What makes this somewhat unrealistic is that the author has seemingly never spent any time in a rural community. If he had, he would know that rural people are not known for being broad-minded and accepting of alternate expressions of marriage and sexuality. I'm not saying that rural people are prudes, but they tend to share a simple moral code. Perhaps Heinlein knows this and is subverting our expectations. He often uses his books to explore ideas, to test them out, and see how they might work in practice. And so Heinlein's distant valley has a wide variety of marital forms and differing sexual norms, all based around the premise that the primary purpose of marriage is the raising of children. As long as the children are taken care of, anything goes. Does it work? As a book, I'd say yes. As a way of life? Probably not.