Valentine Michael Smith is a biological human, conceived on a Mars mission, and brought up on Mars as a Martian. Decades later, a second mission brings Smith back to Earth so he can “grok” man. ‘Grok’, is the Martian word that defines a deep understanding, a full incorporation of an idea or person into one’s psyche, through compassion. Answering the philosophical questions Smith poses, (what is man, what is male, what is religion, what is money) is Jubal – the best character in the literary world, nay – UNIVERSE, and his three beautiful secretaries, plus the lovely nurse Jill. To give you an idea of the tone of the book, these ladies are the first into Smith’s religious or Martian harem – “the water nest”. Just imagine the 60’s and its ‘sex drugs and rock and roll’ mantra and replace it with ‘sex, telekinesis and religion’. It is most certainly wild, but no less poignant for it.
Smith, who takes words at face value, doesn’t understand ‘man’. Not until, he groks what a joke is. Recall the genre slapstick which makes light of our violent nature. Or black humour which slights our fear of death. Wit which corners someone into ridicule. And let us not forget irony, the funniest of all comedic genre’s, which plays with our hope-diseased heart and turns disappointment into a butt of a joke. It seems we laugh in compensation of our unhappy state.
Comedians are quick to point out that PC is killing comedy, and until now I never thought to question our uniquely human ability to laugh. For a case in point, parts of the book feel dated, and the modern reader may be squeamish about some jokes on feminism and homosexuality. So it is! Jokes are the sacrificial lambs to a higher state of mind; angels smile but never belly laugh. It is however, the Martian-man Smith, who has the last laugh, in this hilarious book.
“ ‘Remind me,’ Jubal told her, ‘to write an article on the compulsive reading of news. The theme will be that most neuroses can be traced to the unhealthy habit of wallowing in the troubles of five billion strangers. Title is ‘Gossip Unlimited’ – no, make that ‘Gossip Gone Wild.’”
“The Japanese have five ways to say ‘thank you’ – and every one translates as resentment, in various degrees. Would that English had the same built-in honesty! Instead, English can define sentiments that the human nervous system is incapable of experiencing, ‘Gratitude,’ for example.”
“Jubal…I think I grok that my people – ‘Martians’ – are man. Not shape. Shape is not man, Man is grokking. I speak rightly?”
“ ‘Love’ is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.’”
JohannaAirth 