The Door into Summer

Once again Gollancz edition spoils big twist that happens in latter half of the book in the description on the back. I could've guessed based on weird stuff that was happening earlier but it's nevertheless upsetting.

4.5*, very enjoyable read albeit sometimes silly read. I love that Heinlein made his cat into a whole character like that. Love the story behind the title as well.

The more I know about Heinlein the more I like him but let's just say the romance subplot did not age well at all. Introduction by Baxter explains the deal (she was meant to be character of his wife) but it was creepy. Should've made her older in the 70's.

Quite entertaining and breezily told, but this kind of disappointed me. I've read Heinlein's “big” books, like Stranger, Time Enough and The Moon, and I was expecting something bigger thematically. The main character is one step short of a pedophile and the 1957 perspective on both 1970 and 2000 was wide of the mark in several areas.I didn't hate it, just didn't think it was a masterwork.

This is a beautiful celebration of the future and the hope and possibilities of what progress and technology could be. Not to mention a love story between a man and a cat.

I don't always love Heinlein books that much; he seems to be one of those authors you're required to respect if you're into science fiction. This book was a different story (so to speak.) Somewhere between a third and halfway through I thought, oh this is just a revenge story and he's showing his usual superficial handling of female characters. By the end, I realized I was dead wrong and this was a fun and uplifting book.

When years pass and I've forgotten the details of this story, one thing I'll always remember is the expressive meaning of the title and the picture in my mind of Pete who was always looking for the door into summer.

More interesting than captivating. Mostly interesting for the protagonist's expectations of the future (the year 2000) and how they clash with the “reality” he finds there. That sort of retro-futurism is always fun, especially when it's told slowly and methodically. It ends with a brief scene tying up a few loose ends but feels like more should have been explored.

Yes, on the face of it this is one of Heinlein's novels with multiple worlds, but in this case they're the same world, our world, re-experienced through a time loop. It's the grandfather to both Primer and Back to the Future.

The title is interesting. The “door into summer” metaphor is tacked onto the novel at the beginning and end. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely image, but here Heinlein's writing is distinctly different. It's nicer. He stops looking at the world through a magnifying glass for a little while to relax and describe something in much more confortable terms. I found it a bit of a lurch, and would have preferred him to stick to one or the other style throughout.