Gone Where the Woodbine Twineth

Quantum theory has some strange implications, one of which is the existence of parallel universes.* If physical reality does bifurcate at every quantum event, creating an infinite number of alternative realities, what happens to consciousness? Does it split as well, implying that twin minds exist in parallel but isolated states? Or does consciousness continue on a single trajectory, thus maintaining the presumed uniqueness of the individual personality? Could consciousness migrate from one trajectory to another, inhabiting perhaps several alternative worlds, or bodies, in the course of its existence? And what are the moral responsibilities of a conscious mind which finds itself in radically different social environments? These questions are important, especially if you are Heinlein’s protagonist Alex, a priggish, religious fundamentalist and racist but who still possesses enough nineteenth century pluck and grit to confront cosmic uncertainty head on.

Or rather these would be important issues if Alex, the fundamentalist, had the leisure to ponder them. As it is, mostly he has enough trouble surviving from day to day. The experience of being thrust from one version of reality to another is a fact that a fundamentalist interpretation of scripture just doesn’t cover. Not unless the Christian God is as playfully sadistic as he is reportedly bloodthirsty. Perhaps the old Norse Loki, the pesky divine practical joker, is actually behind such apparent irrationality. This is the god of changing rules; just when you think you know the way the world works from a moral perspective, Loki pulls the rug out.

But wait, scripture does cover even this. The story of Job in the Old Testament does, after all, describe a Loki-like Yahweh who thinks it a fine thing to move the moral goal posts as well as physical laws of his creation on a whim... or a wager. “Yahweh rolls loaded dice with His universe... to deceive His creatures,” according to Heinlein’s most reliable celestial authority, Rahab the biblical whore of Canaan. Even the material uncertainty of bifurcating quantum universes is then multiplied by the moral uncertainty that a Loki/Jehova suspends or even directs quantum effects willy nilly depending on his mood and latest conversation - a bit like an omnipotent Donald Trump, for example. This theological explanation accounts for much more than the contradictory results of quantum science. Who could expect an omnipotent deity to be constrained to maintaining the consistency of physical or moral laws? If God did not demonstrate his arbitrariness from time to time how would we, or he, know he was God?

The ultimate divine lark is the long awaited Apocalypse, the Last Trump (the pun unintended by Heinlein of course), the End of Days. Turns out it’s a bureaucratic fiasco that should have been organised by Disney World rather than the archangels Gabriel and Michael. Archangels don’t know nothin’ ‘bout human needs like plumbing and sanitary facilities. As Alex realises, “A saved soul in Heaven occupies much the position of a blackamoor in Arkansas. And it's the angels who really rub your nose in it. I never met an angel I liked.” The last thing the resident angels want is a horde of wet back migrant human beings creating disorder in the heavenly precincts. So the Saved only get to ride in the back of the bus in the Divine Transportation System. Bit of a let down really, suggesting less than a strong ethic of biblical Truth In Advertising.

Quite apart from the smug hostility of the natives, Heaven is a bust: no industry, so nothing creative or interesting to do; no horticulture, so no natural beauty or development; and no public libraries at all, so no intellectual stimulation. And to top it off, the others who have been saved - like for instance former wives - are not people you like to spend dinner with much less eternity. The Christian idea of the Holy Trinity, it turns out, is absolutely true. But its real function is simply to provide an audience for the Divine Jokester, a sort of in-house mutual appreciation society or Magic Circle which lives to laugh, mostly at the consternation they can cause among human beings.

It’s all a scam of course, Heaven, that is. The Other Place is where you want to be: A rather nice planet with “No snakes. No cockroaches. No chiggers. No poison ivy. No tax collectors. No rats. No cancer. No preachers. Only two lawyers.” And the people you’d much rather be with. They even take American Express. The whole divine justice thing is the ultimate switcheroo, therefore. What japes! The basic motive force of the universe revealed: divine high spirits. No wonder we’re all confused, as Alex says, “On reflection. I realized that I was in exactly the same predicament as every other human being alive: We don't know who we are, or where we came from, or why we are here. My dilemma was merely fresher, not different.” And no wonder that many of us feel put upon because of, “The delusion that the whole world is a conspiracy. Only it's not a delusion.” As Alex concludes, “Paranoia is the only rational approach to a conspiracy world.”

So next time you get irritated with the obstinate stupidity of a believer, just remember that they’re suffering too. Theology may provide a more coherent theory than quantum mechanics. But belief in infinite and arbitrary divine power comes at a price: profound fear of its arbitrary exercise (“Thy will be done...”). As Alex finally realizes, “A man who is happy at home doesn't lie awake nights worrying about the hereafter.”

* See: https://www.space.com/32728-parallel-...

They made Heinlein chop up Stranger in a Strange Land but not this? This book needed about a hundred pages trimmed out to be a bit less meandering. Once it gets to the last third of the book, however, it picks up and gets much more interesting.

I've been a Heinlein fan since I was an elementary schoolkid, when I read some of Heinlein's earlier books (which could be considered Young Adult books now), such as "Citizen of the Galaxy." Somehow, in the past thirtysome years, I missed "Job..." (published in 1984, four years before the author's death). I finally picked up an old battered paperback copy of it and got into it. And it was better than I expected--a lot of fun and, even, as it said in a blurb, "thought-provoking."
It's the story of the Reverend Alex Hergensheimer from Kansas, who takes a trip to the Polynesian isles. Something odd happens to him after he does some firewalking--he finds himself in a completely different universe. He is now Alec Graham, a shady character having an affair with a cruise liner stewardess from Denmark named Margrethe. That's just the beginning of his adventures, as he travels through the universes, fortunately (for him) accompanied by the gorgeous "Margie." The big problem for Alex is that he is a fundamentalist Christian and Margie is a believer in the Nordic Old Religion, a follower of the god Odin. Alex has to hope that he can convert her to the worship of his three-in-one god before Judgement Day comes. Heaven would be no paradise for him without his Scandinavian blonde.
I give this one 3.5 stars, rounding it up to 4. While I enjoyed this one by Heinlein, I would recommend other books of his to someone who's never read any Heinleins--books such as "The Moon is A Harsh Mistress" or, a particular favorite of mine, "Tunnel in the Sky" or, of course, "Stranger in a Strange Land."

I've never heard about this particular book by Robert A. Heinlein before. I know about Robert A. Heinlein, of course, and I have some of his other books, although I can't remember actually reading any of them.

So why "Job"? That's a bit of a story, actually.

It so happens that I wrote a novel in the genre of contemporary fiction with elements of speculative fiction/magic realism where the main character is a middle-aged woman who accidentally finds herself in a chain of parallel worlds. I'm still toying with an idea to find a traditional publisher for it, even though this seems less and less likely for this particular novel. (A note to self: no more parallel worlds -- make it a mystery next time, then you might at least have a chance;) ).

Anyway, a dozen of my friends, aquaintances, fellow writers and goodreads friends read it so far, (as an ebook), and some were good enough to share with me their sincere opinion. I asked some of them if the book reminded them of other books they read (literary agents expect to see the so called comparative titles in query letters, and I myself could think only about two back then: Robert Sheckley's 'Dimensions of Miracles' and 'The Time Traveler's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger), and an American friend said, "Well, the obvious one that comes to mind is of course 'Job' by Heinlein."

As this exchange was in writing, I thought "job" was synonymous to "work". When I finally got to reading the book, I discovered it's actually Job aka the guy from The Book of Job.

At first I couldn't help noticing some uncanny similarities with my book, which made me quite uneasy: after all, I had never even heard about Heinlein's "Job" as I was writing my novel. But I calmed down after a while, to some extent -- after all, if both books are written in the first person narration and both characters are faced with the same predicament of losing their native world and turning up in an alternative one, they are sometimes bound to have similar shocked reactions to their surroundings, even though these characters have very different personalities and backgrounds and their surroundings have nothing in common.

By the way, if by any chance you are curious about my novel, I will be glad to share an ebook version with you in exchange for your sincere feedback about your reading experience, whether you hated it, loved it, or couldn't finish it because life is too short to be wasted on books you don't enjoy.

Back to "Job". Why only three stars? Three stars is "I liked it". I can't say I loved it. My problem is I couldn't relate to the main character, and as I didn't really care for him, I wasn't really excited about his adventures.

Alec, a protestant preacher and religious functionary, hails from the world where a wife might put a husband into stocks for public humiliation if he utters profanities -- you get the idea. Alec is a sincere believer into the Bible being the word of God to the letter, including the King James's translation because it was done with the divine inspiration. Very logical but not my kind of logic.;) And so it goes on and on... I understand why Heinlein is doing this, that this is a satire, that Alec changes, to some extent, when put into different circumstances in different worlds etc. But still, I couldn't care less neither for Alec nor for his bombshell girlfriend whom he met in a much more relaxed world than his own where women go to dinners with their glamorous outfits exposing their glamorous breasts.

Alec's main preoccupation is with the upcoming Last Judgement and his Danish girlfriend risking not being saved because after thorough consideration she decided to believe in Oden and company rather than in Christ. Eventually Alec turns out to be the modern version of Job, and his parallel world trials and tribulations are actually a new round of godly torments to test the unconditional faith of the true believer.

I became excited about the proceedings only at the end, when Satan appeared on the stage. He and his retinue were the only characters who seemed trully interesting to me, and with their arrival the story picked up, but only to end very soon afterwards.

Yet another of my perennial favourites. I regularly pick this one up and re-read it.
Each time I find something new to enjoy.
One of the things I'm enjoying this time is the character of Margarethe as I have got to know some people of her nationality and now the dialogue involving her has suddenly become more amusing.

This is a work that leads to a great deal of pondering on the part of the reader as Heinlein's main character Alex Hergensheimer is a philosopher extraordinaire and a Christian minister who finds himself head over heels in love with a person who worships the Norse gods and together they are plunged into what seem to be parallel universes with no warning time and time again.

Hardline Christians may take umbrage with this book - but people with open minds and a sense of humour will enjoy the twists and turns. For folk like me who have had an interesting path through a life that sometimes feels as though somebody up there is having a joke at our expense - this book can be a crumb of comfort if viewed from the right angle.

I really tried to like this book, but I just didn't get it. The characters were flat and the scenarios they found themselves in seemed so episodic and inconsequential that, by about halfway through the book, I grew bored and apathetic. It was recommended to me by someone whose taste I admire, but the book wasn't for me.

This was my last favorite Heinlein novel, for many rereads. I've pretty much stopped rereading RAH -- but I might give this one another reread sometime. Enough years have passed, and it's a clever & unusual setup. Heinlein's homage to James Branch Cabell, one of his influences and favorite writers. (My one try at a Cabell, JURGEN, his best-known book, ended in a DNF.)

If you've never read it, you should. The opening pages are a classic of sinking the hook early and keeping you reading. Heinlein was amazingly good at that.

If you're familiar with Heinlein, this book should be familiar territory. His writing style in later years is rather distinctive, especially his (or the character's) views of women, sex, and so on. Nonetheless, this is a good book which discusses religion and picks some of it apart. The ending of the book explains things quite nicely, and Hell is a rather lovely place. Satan is a pretty nice guy... not surprising given that this is a Heinlein book. Overall recommend if you're already experienced with Heinlein, new readers may enjoy this but I recommend for a first Heinlein book 'The Past through Tomorrow'.

Usually classified as sci-fi due to the frequent moves from one alternate world to another. But is a terribly sharp satire on the fundamentalist religionists. Main character Alec is a preacher/fundraiser for a fundamentalist church called the Churches United for Decency (C.U.D.). Along the way his moral standards are tried mightily by earths where scanty clothing is the norm, not to mention the fact that his alter ego is carrying on an affair with his lovely female steward. Any money he accumulates toward traveling home to Kansas is rendered unusable by the frequent changes to another reality. Oh, poor Job/Alec. Will he ever get home?
The answer is not before he is Raptured, yes Raptured to a Heaven where angels lord it over the common peons/humans. Sure, you're issued a robe and a halo (harp optional) but you are NOT on the same level as Angels, nosirree, back of the bus, buddy.
Oh well, I could go on, but I just want to say that I thought the best part came from the time he is Raptured thru his tour of heaven -- and you have to read about 3/4 of the book to get there. But hang in there. Four stars.

I tried, I really did. But I just can’t anymore. This story was not wholly without merit, but for the most part it is boring, boring, boring. At least the main female character has agency, but it still reads like a 14 year old boy’s fantasy of the ideal “independent” woman, with the antagonist being a shrill, angry, disrespectful harpy. I thought the story would pick up when he finally got to heaven and hell, but nope. DNF at 89%.

Audiobook, borrowed via Overdrive from my public library. Stilted reading by Paul Michael Garcia.

2020-09-03 I read this about 25-30 years ago and remember really liking it.
Just as the book of Job in the Bible can really make one think about what is just and is it worth it to believe in god, this book posed similar questions.

I don't remember too many details, but perhaps some time I will read it again, since I have such a favorable opinion about it after all these years.

Read some time ago, so put this blurb into its proper context. As I recall, Heinlein here puts a nice, irreverent, satirical spin on human encounters with the supernatural, with a central theme that is both humanistic and (surprisingly for the author) quite sweet.

Dropped a star for meandering a bit at the start before finding his proper footing, but perhaps that was necessary to establish the parallel universes premise? In any case, the ending had a punchline I felt quite satisfying, and still (mis)quote to this day. (Hidden here behind a spoiler alert.)

"Heaven is where Margrethe is."