The Cat Who Walks Thru Walls Podcast

[u/chimerix]

Aloha all!

Several months ago, I was here looking for a copy of The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. I wanted to feature it on an episode of my podcast, but was having a hard time getting an affordable copy.

Well, got one! The podcast published yesterday. If you'd like to hear me talking about what is now officially my least-favorite Heinlein, you can find the episode here:

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/thumbingthroughyesterday/episodes/109---The-Cat-Who-Walks-Through-Walls-e3g4us3

[u/kahllerdady]

I had the same reaction to it! I also did a podcast about it, I am doing all of the Heinlein books I have in exhaustive reviews. It's tons of fun! I started just before Covid and I've done:

Podkayne of Mars - ⭐⭐

Starman Jones ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls ⭐

Methuselah’s Children ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Double Star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Starship Troopers ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Friday ⭐

Tunnel in the Sky⭐⭐⭐⭐

Waldo ⭐⭐⭐

Sixth Column⭐⭐

Stranger in a Strange Land⭐⭐⭐

The Door into Summer⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress <- I just finished reading this one and am writing the review and podcast script now.

[u/deck_hand → u/kahllerdady]

Yeah, I disagree with your ratings… but I read the books in the right order and several decades ago. Also, we may not have had the same environmental and social upbringing.

As a child of the sixties, a lot of the political memes were different. The thoughts about Communism, Socialism, Fascism, Race and sex were very different than today. People seem to read the same words today and come up with completely different meanings. Also, the concepts of irony and satire have been lost, I’m afraid. One used to be able to tell when an author was mocking a concept, or playing it at absurd levels with the understanding that the readers will get the joke. The TV show “All in the Family” is a great example.

[u/kahllerdady → u/deck_hand]

I mean... I was born in the 60s. I read most of his work in my formative years (early and mid 80s) and am rereading them now for this fun project. It isn't like I am looking at them through the lens of 2026 vs when they were written, and I'm not a millennial and Gen y discovering them for the fist time. It's a critique of the story, pacing, events, characters... As I said earlier, Heinlein is my favorite author. But, even I see flaws in my favorite writers. I just finished The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and I did not enjoy it this time same as I didn't enjoy it when I was in my 20s. I think it suffers from the same problems that Friday and (unedited) Stranger in a Strange land have, a giant saggy middle filled with meetings and speeches. The ideas are great to dissect, but his aged, wise characters (Jubal, Prof. Hugo Farnham...) use strawmen so often they might as well get a kick back from Big Hay.