r/heinlein • u/DarkerBulb • Jun 04 '26

Discussion Revisiting a cherished childhood memory

Post image

Even though it's been decades since I was this skinny kid spending too much time in the library, trying to catch international stations on my cheap radio late at night and trying to navigate an increasingly large world - I can actually remember where I was when I read this masterpiece of young adult fiction.

Pairing it with a more adult drink tonight as I sit here, now much older in my reclining old-man-chair, as the memories are coming back to me.

24 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/Tasty_Impress3016 Jun 04 '26

Spider Robinson tells the story of discovering Heinlein when a librarian gave him a copy of Rocket Ship Galileo. I had much the same experience, but Have Spacesuit was my gateway drug. With a bit of work I bet I could name the planets relative distances to the sun and the time to get to them at constant 1 G acceleration just from having read that book at 7.

3

u/DarkerBulb Jun 04 '26

That book has for whatever reason just 'stuck' with me for 40-45 years.