Fakir and Shinobi

In The Rolling Stones, Hazel Stone survives running out of oxygen by quickly going into a coma-like state, as Heinlein wrote, like the Indian fakirs (the italicization is important!). When I read it at age 12, the context made it basically clear what a fakir is, but it inspired me to hit the dictionary and encyclopedia and I ended up learing a whole lot about India and its traditional holy men and various wonder workers.

A few days ago, my eight-year-old son and I were reading together (to each his own book, though) before his bed time; he Naruto (the Japanese manga) and me, Tunnel in the Sky. This is the first Heinlein I ever read, age 11, and the idea of a high schooler trained to kill with his bare hands fascinated me, back then.

I came to the reference to a shinobi move. Bing! "Hey Kid, look at this--shinobi move in Robert Heinlein's book. See, he knew what a shinobi was long before the guy who wrote Naruto was born!"



The Kid admitted he was impressed. Now I'm getting him a copy of Red Planet, the uncut version. Probably the best one to get him started. The "boys with handguns" will keep him interested, and the bigger ideas will sneak their way in...