Farnham's Freehold

By: Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by: Tom Weiner

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Hugh Farnham is a practical, self-made man, and when he sees the clouds of nuclear war gathering, he builds a bomb shelter under his house, hoping for peace and preparing for war. But when the apocalypse comes, something happens that he did not expect. A thermonuclear blast tears apart the fabric of time and hurls his shelter into a world with no sign of other human beings.

Farnham and his family have barely settled down to the backbreaking business of low-tech survival when they find that they are not alone after all. The same nuclear war that catapaulted Farnham 2,000 years into the future has destroyed all civilization in the northern hemisphere, leaving Africans as the dominant surviving people.

In the new world order, Farnham and his family, being members of the race that nearly destroyed the world, are fit only to be slaves. After surviving a nuclear war, Farnham has no intention of being anyone’s slave, but the tyrannical power of the Chosen race reaches throughout the world. Even if he manages to escape, where can he run to?

©1964 Robert A. Heinlein, 1992 by Mrs. Virginia Heinlein (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Heinlein’s story is as engrossing now as it was in its original form decades ago.” ( Midwest Book Review)

An Incredible Foray Into Post Apocalyptic Slavery . . . 😱

5 stars Great.
4 Stars Good.
3 Stars OK.
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I grew up devouring Heinlein but I don't remember this book. It is a fairly serious look at the Cold War MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) bomb shelter era mixed in with a sobering look at the import of slavery in a Dystopian world. Sound confusing? It is. But it is generally pulled off in an entertaining mostly believable tale of the Farnham family's trials and tribulations.
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Recommended strongly for anyone who is a Heinlein follower and fan. ........................ 😱

I enjoyed it despite a pro-nuke eugenics slant

40 plus years ago as a teenager I spent many afternoons and evenings locked away in my bedroom reading Robert A Heinlein, and I still enjoy his stories and his social libertarianism (advocacy for unashamed nudism, polygamy, etc).

This is an enjoyable story and in spite of several ways this book is philosophically alien to me (described briefly below) Heinlein is too good a craftsman to let his polemics bog down the plot.

Some call this book racist because it posits a future where the northern hemisphere was wiped out by nuclear war and despotic Africans have become the master race and whites are slaves. There are definite racist elements from cultural context of 1950s America that makes a modern reader cringe (use of the n word on several occasions for example), but my sense is that by reversing races in the slave/master relationship Heinlein is being anti-racist more than racist.

This story appears to spring from Heinlein's own experience of building a bomb shelter during the cold war and imagining post-holocaust scenarios. As such the pro-nuclear polemics beat you over the head with notions that an all-out nuclear war is survivable, including the premise of this story that if you get a direct hit it sends you 2000 years into the future.

Heinlein admits he "has been worried about America for a long time" and this part of his story is a troubling subtext - that you can save the best part of America by killing off 95% of the people. Taking this a bit further, it also troubles me the way Heinlein embraces eugenics - "eliminating the bottom third would be good for the gene pool", and asking his daughter if her unborn child "comes from good stock." These notions are so reminiscent of Nazi philosophies that they are genuinely troubling elements.

heinlein....master of sci-fi.

story teller extraordinaire. never does this amazing mans work cease to engrossing me. not only does he weave fantastic tales chock full of characters you cant help but just love or hate, but he does so while giving lessons about who we are as people. forces you to put yourself under the microscope and look at who you truly are. am I really the person I think I am? and yet do so without being judgemental. his passing was a loss to the world.

What would it be like if things were different?

The premise of this Sci Fi was unknown to me when I started listening. I knew it was an apocalyptic story but hadn't thought further. Political, cultural, social and ethical considerations are explored here in a way that opened my eyes. I found the narrator slightly irritating though and struggled with his slow pace and sharp accent. Well worth a listen particularly if you like your ideas challenged.

DADDY, YOU CAN HAVE ME

IF YOU WANT ME
Within the first two hours and chapters, Hugh manages to get three women naked and commit adultery while his wife is drugged on the other side of the curtain. The daughter knows about the adultery and approves, making friends with the woman. She also admits that she would love to sleep with her dad. Three men and three women survive an atomic blast. They live by their selves for months. All the women are interested in the old man Hugh, they have no interest in the two younger men.

HE MADE FAST TIME TO THE SLUT'S QUARTERS
Sluts and Studs are a major part of the second half of this book. There is a science fiction story in this book and I was able to listen to the whole thing, as I wanted to know what was going to happen. Parts of the story bothered me, such as why these survivors never explored to see if anyone else survived. I also knew right away what happened to them, but they came up with two other ideas and never thought of the real one, that you has the reader will suspect right away. We are led to believe that Hugh is okay to commit adultery because his wife is fat and a drunk. We are led to believe it is okay for Hugh to threaten to shoot his own son, cause he is a stupid spoiled mamma's boy. Hugh is pictured as the perfect he-man. His wife and son are not his fault. When you read this you will realize that his wife and son are the way they are, because of Hugh. There was a very tense time, when Hugh's daughter has a baby. This chapter was well written.

My library is now empty of Heinlein books. I will continue to read Heinlein, but it will only be his earlier books and I will check out the reviews, to make sure they are not in the pro incest category. I hope reviewers will be truthful and call a spade a spade. I hope those who are truthful will not be banned to the back pages, by dreamy eyed Heinlein fans that think his #### don't stink.

awesome story by one of the best narrators.

narrator is awesome. story even better. even though this book was written in a different time, it has it's relevance 50+ years later. Heinlein rocks!!

unexpected ending

this is one of my first sci-fi reads and I in general enjoyed it. it had serval plot twist that really threw me off and made me question the outcome.

loved it

very good story i liked it a lot I will definitly read more books by Robert they never disappointed me always enjoy it

The "Place"

The concept of time travel to and from. The possibility of parallel worlds. I think the author does a smooth job of slipping you from one world to the next.

Classic, inteligently written SciFi

I grew up reading Heinlein in the 70’s, was surprised to find one of his books that I hadn't read and thoroughly enjoyed him in the 21st century. Ignore any comments about racial language, its just not relevant to a book written in the 60's.