Farnham's Freehold
by Robert A. Heinlein · first published 1964
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Hugh Farnham was a practical, self-made man and when he saw the clouds of nuclear war gathering, he built a bomb shelter under his house. What he hadn't expected was that when the apocalypse came, a thermonuclear blast would tear apart the fabric of time and hurl his shelter into a world with no sign of other human beings.
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on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011” ↗…automatically coaxs readers to draw parallels..maybe dystopia is not something imagined. Maybe it's more familiar than we think. Lastly, Robert A. Heinlein needs to be mentioned at least once in this thread; Farnham's Freehold and a Stranger in a Strange Land.
on “Ask HN: What is your favorite dystopian novel and why?” ↗See also Farnham's Freehold by Heinlein.
on “Disqualified (1954)” ↗Farnham's Freehold was the book that made me lose a lot of respect for Heinlein. I started reading him as a 13-14 year old - books like "Have Space Suit, Will Travel", "Farmer in the Sky", and "Starman Jones" - and ate…
on “Why a Post-Nuclear World Would Look Nothing Like “Mad Max”” ↗I'm reading "Farnham's Freehold" by Robert Heinlein which is basically a thought experiment in how to build a pioneer-like society in a post-nuclear war world. It's not a great book, honestly, but it has a lot of material on building…
on “Why a Post-Nuclear World Would Look Nothing Like “Mad Max”” ↗So, I'd suggest a few different books on that topic--Farnham's Freehold not being one of them. Lucifer's Hammer by Niven and Pournelle goes into a bit of the politics and aftermath of a comet striking the Earth. It talks about survival, civil defense, and a few other things…
on “Why a Post-Nuclear World Would Look Nothing Like “Mad Max”” ↗…may be his finest single book — but if one is interested — Stranger, Glory Road, Starship Troopers, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, are all worthwhile — and different from each other. I’m not gonna defend Farnham’s Freehold, but each of the other later Heinlein works not listed above has some merit, though mostly for real fans only.
on “Robert Heinlein and the Harsh Politics of Science Fiction (2013)” ↗Good suggestions, will check them out. Yeah, I'm pretty disappointed with Farnham's Freehold. I picked it up at a used book store for a dollar - Heinlein! Post-apocalyptic society! - but I haven't enjoyed it very much, and yes, it does get weirdly racial as it goes on. The other books you mention…
on “Why a Post-Nuclear World Would Look Nothing Like “Mad Max”” ↗It's clearly one of Heinlein's worse books and perhaps his very worst. Many of Heinlein's novels had... quirks. But Farnham's Freehold was just bad.
on “Why a Post-Nuclear World Would Look Nothing Like “Mad Max”” ↗…This wasn't mentioned directly on the book, though it can be understood from cultural context that I, reading it 30 years after it was written, did not pick up. Similarly, how do I interpret Heinlein's "Farnham's Freehold"? Stross's commentary (see his blog, but also summarized at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farnham%27s_Freehold#Reception ) gave me some insight, or at least something to reflect upon. While I read plenty…
on “What to Make of Isaac Asimov, Sci-Fi Giant and Dirty Old Man?” ↗…all for Machiavelli's pragmatic approach in "The Prince" (oops, another one I forgot to include), but Heinlein is just downright scary in some of his more forceful works (I mean, the salt hoarding in Farnham's Freehold? COME ON! Even I felt like killing the guy on principle) I also disliked Atlas Shrugged.
on “Ask HN: What book had a big impact on you as a child or teenager?” ↗