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I agree. There are clear links to the war in Starship Troopers (with
a nod to Haldeman's Forever War as well, of course). But there's
also the "nothing is as it seems" note that crept into late Heinlein
(as in The Cat Who Walks Through Walls). Though without quite the
same level of nihilism.<br>
<br>
I think there may also be a sort of slantwise commentary on us, who
investigate Wolfe's work with a view to finding out all the hidden
secrets. After all, the narrator of Home Fires keeps trying to
figure things out, and in so doing he keeps getting himself and
those around him in trouble. You can almost see the book as a
commentary on the vice of curiosity.<br>
<br>
But, being Wolfe, the book also has something to say about love,
marriage, and the connection (if any) between the two. I
particularly like the way he lets the narrator convince us (as he
has convinced himself) that his fling with that girl 20 years ago
was the great romance of his life. The girl, for whom it has been
much less time, has constructed no such a myth for herself.<br>
<br>
Fernando<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 8/12/2013 11:13 AM, Dan'l
Danehy-Oakes wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAJ8=rtg8t_DATCipSVUg1p4PUWUURsx=vo++xCk3yXhTFJSOXQ@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">I didn't feel that at the time, but looking back at
it, yeah, I think so.</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Aug 11, 2013 at 6:18 PM, Brian
Doherty <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:brianmdoherty@gmail.com" target="_blank">brianmdoherty@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Don't know
if this is either an overdone or an absurd observation, but
did anyone else feel that the character/scenario/tone of
Home Fires (I'm only about 130 pages in) feels like a
Wolfean take on Heinleinian themes/characters/situations?<span
class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
<div>
<br>
</div>
<div>Brian Doherty</div>
</font></span><br>
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</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<br clear="all">
<div><br>
</div>
-- <br>
Dan'l Danehy-Oakes
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<br>
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</blockquote>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
=============================================================
Fernando Q. Gouvea <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.colby.edu/~fqgouvea">http://www.colby.edu/~fqgouvea</a>
Carter Professor and Chair
Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics
Colby College Editor, Carus Mathematical Monographs
5836 Mayflower Hill Editor, MAA Reviews
Waterville, ME 04901 <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.maa.org/publications/maa-reviews">http://www.maa.org/publications/maa-reviews</a>
The poor object to being governed badly, while the rich object to being governed at all.
-- G. K. Chesterton
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