- Double Star
-
For other uses, see double star (disambiguation).
Double Star 
First Edition cover of Double StarAuthor(s) Robert A. Heinlein Country United States Language English Genre(s) Science fiction novel Publisher Doubleday Publication date 1956 Media type Print (Hardcover & Paperback) ISBN NA Double Star is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first serialized in Astounding Science Fiction (February, March, April 1956) and published in hardcover the same year. At the 1957 Worldcon it received the Hugo Award for Best Novel of the previous year.[1]
Contents
Plot summary
The story, which is told in the first person, centers on down-and-out actor Lawrence Smith (stage name Lorenzo Smythe, a.k.a. "The Great Lorenzo"). A brilliant actor and mimic, he is down to his last coin when a spaceman hires him to double for a public figure. It is only when he is on his way to Mars that he finds out how deeply he has been deceived: he will have to impersonate one of the most prominent politicians in the solar system (and one with whose views Smythe deeply disagrees): John Joseph Bonforte. Bonforte is the leader of the Expansionist coalition, currently out of office but with a good chance of changing that at the next general election. Bonforte has been kidnapped by his political opponents, and his aides want Smith to impersonate Bonforte while they try to find him.
Bonforte is rescued, but he is in poor health due to the treatment inflicted on him during his imprisonment. This forces Smith to extend his performance, even to becoming temporary Supreme Minister and running in an election. (This is made plausible through Bonforte's extensive Farley Files.) The central political issue in the election is the granting of the vote to Martians in the human-dominated Solar System. Lorenzo shares the anti-Martian prejudice prevalent among large parts of Earth's population, but he is called upon to assume the persona of the most prominent advocate for Martian enfranchisement. Smith takes on not only Bonforte's appearance, but some aspects of his personality.
Cover of Astounding Science Fiction that carried the first segment of the serialized novel in February, 1956
At the moment of electoral victory, Bonforte dies of the aftereffects of his kidnapping, and Smythe realizes he has little choice but to assume the role for life. In a retrospective conclusion set twenty-five years later, Lorenzo has 'become' Bonforte, suppressing his own identity permanently. He has been generally successful and has carried forward Bonforte's ideals to the best of his ability. Penny (Bonforte's adoring secretary; now Smith/Bonforte's wife) says, "I never loved anyone else." At the end, Lorenzo looks back on his former life, including the prejudices he used to hold, commenting that they seem to him like they happened to someone else.
Critical reception
The noted science-fiction writer and critic James Blish was no fan of Heinlein's treatment of his first-person protagonists in a number of his novels. Writing in 1957, however, Blish says that "The only first-person narrator Heinlein has created who is a living, completely independent human being is The Great Lorenzo of Double Star. Lorenzo is complete all the way back to his childhood — the influence of his father upon what he thinks is one of the strongest motives in the story — and his growth under pressure is consistent with his character and no-one else's." [2]
Galaxy reviewer Floyd C. Gale praised the novel, finding it "an excellent example of Heinlein's ability to take one of the oldest plots in any literature . . . and present it as an enjoyable reading experience."[3] Admitting "a certain reservation, even disappointment," Anthony Boucher nevertheless concluded that Heinlein was "simply creating an agreeably entertaining light novel, and in that task he succeeds admirably."[4]
Political system
The political system depicted in the book is a constitutional monarchy, with the House of Orange elevated to the role of providing an Emperor of the Solar System. The Emperor reigns (but does not rule) from a palace on the Moon, with the real power in the hands of a Supreme Minister, who must command the support of the Grand Assembly. Elections for the Assembly are held as in the Parliamentary system — there is an upper time limit (five years) between elections, but they can be called more frequently if the Prime Minister so decides, or if he is forced to it by the loss of a vote of confidence. The United States is mentioned as initially having an unspecified associate status, and later obtaining full membership. In the system, the U.S. maintains full internal autonomy and is obviously a powerful voice in Empire affairs; Bonforte himself is an American.
The legislative power rests with a Grand Assembly, which also meets on the Moon (where the Imperial bureaucracy is also located), most members representing an area of Earth or another planet, with other members representing constituencies not tied to any geographic place; one represents space pilots, for instance, and another districtless university women. As in the British system, representatives need not live in their district or be an actual member of the non-geographical constituency. Candidates for "safe districts" are determined by the central party office. At the time depicted in the novel, extraterrestrials are not permitted to be members of the Assembly — although they may vote in elections for representatives — and Bonforte has pledged himself to remove this exclusion. An afterword makes clear that he eventually does so, though his party loses power. He later regains office.
Double Star cover controversy
The cover illustration for a 1970s UK edition of Double Star (artist: Anthony Roberts) was the subject of an unlikely controversy when it was used as the basis of an entry for the 2000 Turner Prize for modern art. The artist in question, Glenn Brown, was accused by some people of plagiarism.[5]
See also
Sources
- More Issues at Hand, by James Blish, writing as William Atheling, Jr., Advent:Publishers, Inc. Chicago, 1970
References
- ^ "1956 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1956. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ James Blish, The Issues at Hand, pp. 53-54.
- ^ "Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf", Galaxy Science Fiction, September 1955, p. 110
- ^ "Recommended Reading," F&SF, June 1956, p.101.
- ^ "Copycat row hits Turner Prize". BBC. 2000-11-28. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1044375.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
External links
- Double Star publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Double Star at Worlds Without End
Hugo Award for Best Novel (1946–1960) Retro Hugos The Mule by Isaac Asimov (1946) · Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein (1951) · Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1954)
1953–1960 The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester (1953) · They'd Rather Be Right (aka: The Forever Machine) by Mark Clifton and Frank Riley (1955) · Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein (1956) · The Big Time by Fritz Leiber (1958) · A Case of Conscience by James Blish (1959) · Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (1960)
Complete list · 1946–1960 · 1961–1980 · 1981–2000 · 2001–present
Categories:- 1956 novels
- Hugo Award Winners for Best Novel
- Novels by Robert A. Heinlein
- Novels first published in serial form
- American science fiction novels
- Works originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact
- Novels about actors
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
