I’ve recently become reacquainted with an old friend. I say that in a metaphorical way because I’m speaking of a book, The Green Hills of Earth, and its author. As most who follow this blog know, I’m a book fanatic. I told the story of where that love came from in an earlier post. And at a young age, one of my major interests was science fiction which I first discovered in a Ray Bradbury book. But another author I discovered at about the same time was Robert A. Heinlein.

Just like Bradbury, Heinlein used science fiction stories to explore important themes. Ironically, though, many of the themes Heinlein addressed were way ahead of the curve of the era in which he lived and wrote, especially in The Green Hills of Earth. This book is a compilation of short stories written from between 1941 to 1949, then published in major magazines of the time.

In this particular book, the themes he touched upon are things that didn’t arise until a later time, which is what science fiction is all about, predicting the future. In this instance, however, along with the science in these stories, Heinlein also spoke of  a Future History, complete with a time line of significant political, cultural, and technological changes. A chart of this Future History is printed in the front piece of Green Hills of Earth, tying in particular stories with a specific time.

One thing spoken of in these stories is a rise of religious fanaticism. But things I could not quite comprehend at my young age were brought up way before the time they became issues in our culture, such as one being stuck in a job causing problems in one’s relationships and happiness as in Space Jockey and It’s Great to Be Back!. Then there’s the condition of post-traumatic stress disorder, something we hear of all the time now, which is touched upon in the story Ordeal in Space. Slavery is addressed in an O. Henry like way in Logic of Empire. And the idea of women’s liberation is brought to the forefront decades before it was in the news of our world in Delilah and the Space Rigger. The highlight of this book to me is the idea of longing for home and ones life beginnings which is spoken of in an especially touching way in The Green Hills of Earth, the title story of the book.

I had actually forgotten about this book over the years but it was by happenstance that I discovered it again. While at Amazon searching for other books, a familiar photo of the front piece of this book was displayed. I’d once had a copy of this paperback. What happened to it, I don’t know, but when I saw it, I had to have it again at the amazing price of .99 cents! At that, the original price of the book I bought was posted on the cover, .75 cents! But then, the book I bought was published in 1951, and it was in almost mint condition. And in rereading it at my age now, it struck me at the sociological things he spoke of before their time.

It was, however, the title story that really touched me. It was about a space-faring man who was caught in a nuclear accident on his way home to Earth after not visiting home in years, and he knew that his exposure to radioactivity would lead to his end. Over the years, he’d been a wandering minstrel and songwriter, and after the accident, he revised and recorded the final verse of a song he’d written years before, a song which later on became legend. The final verse went like this:

“We pray for one last landing

       On the globe that gave us birth;

           Let us rest our eyes on fleecy skies

           And the cool, green hills of Earth.”

What better legacy to leave than the beauty of verse. I just hope that I can one day leave behind something special to those who abide in the “green hills of earth.”