The Great Gatsby:

You are an ambitious person who has a taste for the finer things in life. You love to party and have a great time with people that don't give a shit about you. You also really need to get over your ex.

Pride and Prejudice:

You are a smart, strong, and free-thinking person who has trouble with first impressions. You tell people that you just speak your mind and tell it like it is, but pretty much everyone just thinks you're an asshole. You abhor the idea of marriage but will probably get married anyways.

To Kill a Mockingbird:

Doing the right thing is most important to you, even when it's an unpopular position to take. Occasionally, you go on long preachy rants about morality and people tend to tune you out. You might be a racist.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:

You're driven by wanderlust and want to see as much of the world as possible. This probably stems from the fact that you come from a broken home full of neglect and abuse. You're definitely a racist.

The Harry Potter Series:

You're full of wonder and secretly hope that magic is alive in the world. You're often overenthusiastic at parties and some people think you talk too loud. You also probably read some really creepy fan fiction.

The Hunger Games Series:

You're like a Harry Potter Person, except shorter and less interesting. You've considered buying a bow from Dick's Sporting Goods. You aren't allowed to come within 100 feet of Jennifer Lawrence.

The Fountainhead:

You have a strong sense of who you are and are fiercely independent. People tend to be put off by your cool demeanor and consider you to be a creepy loner. Nobody would be surprised if it turned out that you were a rapist or a serial killer or something fucked up like that.

House of Leaves:

You consider yourself to be on the cutting edge of art and culture. The reality is that nobody has any idea what the hell you're talking about and are only nodding along to placate you. Half the time you yourself don't understand the nonsense spewing out of your mouth.

The Catcher in the Rye:

You haven't completely lost your childhood innocence. Specifically, you haven't lost that childish impulse to whine about how crappy everything is. You love to get drunk and complain about how you haven't lost your virginity. All of your friends secretly think that you're a massive phony.

A Song of Ice and Fire Series:

You tend to see the worst in people and are often accused of being a pessimist. You call yourself a realist, but you're actually a masochist. You are a sociopath with zero regard for the human decency.

There's nothing quite like re-reading a book. Sometimes, it's a disappointing experience as the story just wasn't as exciting as you remember. Sometimes, you pick up on nuances that you skimmed over last time. Sometimes, it's just as good as the first time.

I recently re-read Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. This is possibly the greatest science fiction novel that you've never heard of, which is strange because its 1961 release played a huge part in shaping the hippy-dippy free love spirit of the late 60's.

Its origins are rooted in urban legend. There is a story that Stranger in a Strange Land was the result of a bet between Robert Heinlein and L. Ron Hubbard to see who could create a more convincing religion. Beat. I think we all know who won.

Stranger in a Strange Land is the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who was raised by Martians, who has never been to Earth or seen another human. The first half of the book is Mike's journey to learn about his species. The second half is about his attempts to teach humanity about the ways of the Martian race.

Coming in at 220,000 words, this book is a behemoth. But there isn't anything excessive about it. That's simply the amount of space that Heinlein needs to properly explain the fascinating Martian philosophy that he's invented.

It all comes down to the word grok. What does grok mean? Well, lots of things, apparently. To know. To drink. To fuck. Mike explains at one point that to grok means to understand something so fundamentally that the observer and the observed become one thing.

Heinlein borrows from Eastern Religions as he fleshes out his Martian philosophy, as he introduces this concept that Mike communicates as "Thou Art God". Basically, all is one and one is all- we are all matter and we are all connected and we are all God.

One way to celebrate our oneness is to grok and grow-closer. Now, this is what I was getting at with the free love business: growing closer is having sex and there is a lot of sex in this book. But, it's not tasteless 50 Shades of Smut. Heinlein isn't trying to titillate the reader. He's trying to show that love, physical human love, isn't dirty or shameful. It's a physical grokking and a celebration of the oneness of the universe.

Of course, there is much, much more I could write about here. But why read my post about it when you can just go ahead and read the damn thing yourself? Definitely check this one out. I guarantee it will change the way you think about humankind.