Author Filibuster: Difference between revisions

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* The final third of Upton Sinclair's ''[[The Jungle]]'' is a rambling treatise on the virtues of socialism. Most readers only noticed his nauseating descriptions of contemporary meat-packing practices. As Sinclair himself noted, he'd aimed for the country's heart, but hit its stomach.

* Terry Goodkind's main characters in his ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' series frequently stop to give ranty, self-important speeches espousing a fantasy version of his Objectivist philosophy. The fact that he [[Sci Fi Ghetto|doesn't consider himself a fantasy writer]] adds a lot of weight to this one -- even if the Aesops are ''invariably'' [[Broken Aesop|broken into little teeny pieces]] or [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop|completely demented to begin with]].

* [[Robert A. Heinlein]] was fond of these. In ''[[Starship Troopers (novel)|Starship Troopers]]'' his characters deliver several lengthy monologues on subjects like the death penalty (good), conscription (bad), corporal punishment (good) and disarmament (bad), while in ''[[~~Farnhams Freehold|~~Farnham's Freehold]]'' he has characters offer similar diatribes on topics including cannibalism (good; er, what?!) and African colonialism in the post-WWIII remains of the USA (good). In fact, one could make the blanket generalization that this is Heinlein's [[Signature Style]].

* [[Robert A. Heinlein]] was fond of these. In ''[[Starship Troopers (novel)|Starship Troopers]]'' his characters deliver several lengthy monologues on subjects like the death penalty (good), conscription (bad), corporal punishment (good) and disarmament (bad), while in ''[[Farnham's Freehold]]'' he has characters offer similar diatribes on topics including cannibalism (good; er, what?!) and African colonialism in the post-WWIII remains of the USA (good). In fact, one could make the blanket generalization that this is Heinlein's [[Signature Style]].

** In ''[[For Us ~~the~~ Living A Comedy of Customs]]'', the entirety of the plot is a single lengthy aside sandwiched between the monologues on the death penalty ([[Flip-Flop of God|bad]]), corporal punishment (bad), and economics (complicated, but if you just do...) Note that ''For Us'' was his first book (even if it was only published after his death, as the manuscript had been lost for decades), and his tendency towards this lessened afterward -- at least until he gained [[Protection From Editors]].

** In ''[[For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs]]'', the entirety of the plot is a single lengthy aside sandwiched between the monologues on the death penalty ([[Flip-Flop of God|bad]]), corporal punishment (bad), and economics (complicated, but if you just do...) Note that ''For Us'' was his first book (even if it was only published after his death, as the manuscript had been lost for decades), and his tendency towards this lessened afterward -- at least until he gained [[Protection From Editors]].

*** He goes so far in the economics rant as to tell the reader to go gather a whole bunch of odds and ends to ''act out'' a model of his argument and see for themselves how right he is.

** ''[[The Cat Who Walks Through Walls]]'' contains yet another example, wherein the two main characters stop what they're doing to discuss the virtues of libertarianism and how wrong-headed the alternatives are.

** "Prof" in ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]''; Oscar at the beginning and end of ''[[Glory Road (novel)|Glory Road]]''; Lorenzo Smythe in ''[[Double Star]]''; "Doc" in ''[[~~Literature/~~Red Planet|Red Planet]]''.

** "Prof" in ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]''; Oscar at the beginning and end of ''[[Glory Road (novel)|Glory Road]]''; Lorenzo Smythe in ''[[Double Star]]''; "Doc" in ''[[Red Planet (novel)|Red Planet]]''.

** ''[[Stranger in A Strange Land]]'' has diatribes from Jubal about the evils of organized religion. It's not really clear whether or not Heinlein was truly advocating the type of government he depicts in ''[[Starship Troopers (novel)|Starship Troopers]]'', but Jubal really does seem to be a mouthpiece for the author.

** He takes a twenty page break from the story in ''[[Time Enough for Love]]'' in order to go on a lengthy discussion of genetics which only has a moment of fleeting relevance in the plot.