Citizen of the Galaxy, by Robert A. Heinlein

I always consider it a great day when I come across a Heinlein book that I haven't read yet. I think I picked this one up years ago in a library and read a few pages, always meaning to get back to it. I remember the early part of the story where the young boy is being sold at a slave auction for a rediculously small price.

I really enjoyed this book, and found myself rooting for the protagonist. There are two characteristics that are often found in Heinlein's books that are found in great amounts in this one:

First, there are all sorts of observations about the nature of culture, and how arbitrary that our customs sometimes are, and yet how critical they are to proper functioning. Some people have no respect for customs, and act as if it doesn't matter whether they follow custom at all.

Second, there is a strong father figure in this story, not unlike Jubal Harshaw in "Number of the Beast", or "Stranger in a Strange Land". There is also an element of how such a father has to manipulate his son for the sake of the son.

There is also a progression - in a sense that the protagonist can not absorb all of the knowledge about himself all at once, but must accumulate it bit by bit.

I also was struck by the number of times Heinlein comments that people are able to ignore facts that are right in front of them, or even horrific facts if they are separated by enough time or distance.

This book was first published in 1957, and at 282 pages, I would say it is of middling length for a Heinlein story. There are several that are much longer. It is one of only a few books that I've been reading that my son Nick has picked up and read.

It is well recommended.