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醿欋儛醿犪儤 醿栣儛醿め儺醿a儦醿ㄡ儤

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醿撫償醿溼儤醿斸儦 醿戓儯醿� 醿撫償醿樶儠醿樶儭醿� 醿溼儤醿儤醿斸儬醿� 醿掅儛醿涐儩醿涐儝醿濁儨醿斸儜醿斸儦醿�, 醿♂儛醿欋儧醿愥儩醿� 醿儛醿犪儧醿愥儮醿斸儜醿a儦醿� 醿愥儞醿愥儧醿樶儛醿溼儤 醿撫儛 醿戓償醿撫儨醿樶償醿犪儤 醿欋儛醿儤醿�. 醿愥儱醿曖儭 醿♂儛醿п儠醿愥儬醿斸儦醿� 醿♂儛醿メ儧醿�, 醿搬儳醿愥儠醿� 醿♂儛醿a儥醿斸儣醿斸儭醿� 醿涐償醿掅儩醿戓儛醿犪儤 醿撫儛 醿氠儛醿涐儛醿栣儤 醿ㄡ償醿п儠醿愥儬醿斸儜醿a儦醿�. 醿斸儬醿� 醿撫儲醿斸儭醿愥儶 醿欋儤 醿п儠醿斸儦醿愥儰醿斸儬醿� 醿撫儛醿欋儛醿犪儝醿愥儠醿�. 醿涐儛醿� 醿愥儲醿愥儬醿愥儠醿樶儨 醿撫儛醿犪儵醿斸儜醿�, 醿欋儛醿⑨儤醿� - 醿炨償醿⑨儬醿濁儨醿樶儯醿♂儤醿� 醿掅儛醿犪儞醿�... 醿♂儸醿濁儬醿斸儞 醿涐儛醿椺儤 醿儺醿濁儠醿犪償醿戓儤醿� 醿溼儛醿溼儝醿犪償醿曖償醿戓儢醿� 醿樶儸醿п償醿戓儛 醿п儠醿斸儦醿愥儢醿� 醿♂儛醿樶儨醿⑨償醿犪償醿♂儩 醿椺儛醿曖儝醿愥儞醿愥儭醿愥儠醿愥儦醿�: 醿п儠醿斸儦醿愥儰醿犪儤醿� 醿撫儛醿曖儤醿儳醿斸儜醿� 醿撫儛 醿戓償醿撫儨醿樶償醿犪償醿戓儤醿� 醿償醿戓儨醿�, 醿♂儛醿樶儞醿a儧醿氠儩醿� 醿掅儛醿涐儩醿愥儴醿欋儛醿犪儛醿曖償醿戓儛, 醿撫儬醿濁儤醿� 醿涐儛醿溼儱醿愥儨醿樶儣 醿撫儬醿濁儴醿� 醿涐儩醿掅儢醿愥儯醿犪儩醿戓儛, 醿め儛醿溼儮醿愥儭醿⑨儤醿欋儯醿犪儤 醿掅儛醿涐儩醿掅儩醿溼償醿戓償醿戓儤 醿撫儛 醿ㄡ償醿ㄡ儦醿樶儦醿� 醿涐償醿儨醿樶償醿犪償醿戓儤...

258 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

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11.8k people want to read

About the author

Robert A. Heinlein

1,048books10.2kfollowers
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction, and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction. His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of critical thinking. His plots often posed provocative situations which challenged conventional social mores. His work continues to have an influence on the science-fiction genre, and on modern culture more generally.
Heinlein became one of the first American science-fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science-fiction novelists for many decades, and he, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered the "Big Three" of English-language science fiction authors. Notable Heinlein works include Stranger in a Strange Land, Starship Troopers (which helped mold the space marine and mecha archetypes) and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. His work sometimes had controversial aspects, such as plural marriage in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, militarism in Starship Troopers and technologically competent women characters who were formidable, yet often stereotypically feminine鈥攕uch as Friday.
Heinlein used his science fiction as a way to explore provocative social and political ideas and to speculate how progress in science and engineering might shape the future of politics, race, religion, and sex. Within the framework of his science-fiction stories, Heinlein repeatedly addressed certain social themes: the importance of individual liberty and self-reliance, the nature of sexual relationships, the obligation individuals owe to their societies, the influence of organized religion on culture and government, and the tendency of society to repress nonconformist thought. He also speculated on the influence of space travel on human cultural practices.
Heinlein was named the first Science Fiction Writers Grand Master in 1974. Four of his novels won Hugo Awards. In addition, fifty years after publication, seven of his works were awarded "Retro Hugos"鈥攁wards given retrospectively for works that were published before the Hugo Awards came into existence. In his fiction, Heinlein coined terms that have become part of the English language, including grok, waldo and speculative fiction, as well as popularizing existing terms like "TANSTAAFL", "pay it forward", and "space marine". He also anticipated mechanical computer-aided design with "Drafting Dan" and described a modern version of a waterbed in his novel Beyond This Horizon.
Also wrote under Pen names: Anson McDonald, Lyle Monroe, Caleb Saunders, John Riverside and Simon York.

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5 stars
9,903 (35%)
4 stars
10,575 (37%)
3 stars
5,935 (21%)
2 stars
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1 star
324 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,568 reviews
Profile Image for Lyn.
1,973 reviews17.3k followers
May 16, 2021
An enjoyable SF story from a Grandmaster.

The novel's protagonist, Daniel B. Davis, was a precursor to Hugh Farnham and even Lazarus Long somewhat, though Long was introduced earlier in 1941's Methusaleh's Children. Actually, Davis (and others) are thinly disguised Heinlein: fiercely individualist, libertarian, technically savvy, hard working yet innovative, resourceful, wise cracking, and with a horn dog libido that would make a porn star blush.

I wonder if Door Into Summer used some of the same notes and ideas that would later surface in ? Door into Summer may be classified as a transitional book between the earlier juvenile works and his middle works (his apex, his high water mark) and then to the weird, time traveling and lusty later books. I think a better reviewer than me could even make the point that Heinlein had begun his ascendancy here.

**** 2021 reread -

I've thought about this wonderful book over the years and knew that it was time for a reread. Not sure why I stopped short with a 3 star rating last time but I've upgraded to a 4 star now.

The premise for the title is that he and his cat had lived in an old farm house that had eleven doors. In the winter time he followed his cat to each, with the cat hoping to find one would open not to the cold winter landscape but rather a portal that would open to summer. This idea is repeated several times to show that one is looking for a good result, one better than even rationally hoped for.

The premise of the book is fun as well. Engineer Dan gets swindled by his fiance and business partner and so he goes on "the long sleep". In the 1970 of this world, a person can be frozen to reawaken at a later time, while investments continue to grow with compound interest. When the sleeper awakes, it will be a later, more technologically advanced time and with a bundle of cash from a well managed portfolio.

That's the idea but Bob has plenty of fun cooked up for us, including some more traditional time travel. Heinlein fans may compare this his short story "All You Zombies" and fans of Poul Anderson's time travel canon will also like this.

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Profile Image for TAP.
535 reviews386 followers
July 30, 2020
Well, that was lame...and weird. I would have given this a 3, but that ending was hella strange.

Honestly, I couldn鈥檛 get into this book and was mostly bored the whole time.

Davis takes the 鈥渓ong sleep鈥� in 1970, wakes up 30 years later, and nothing exciting comes of it other than needing to get a job and figure out what happened to his inventions and stocks. There is barely any discussion of the changes that occurred over the 30 year period. There is mention of a large amount of new jargon, but we get one new term: 鈥渕ovies鈥� are now 鈥済rabbies.鈥� ?? And there are some robots.

The plot is straight up silly. Davis sleeps 30 years, gets his inventions ripped off by his crazy con ex, realizes that he himself was the inventor and wasn鈥檛 actually ripped off, travels back in time to invent the things, then goes back to sleep for another 30 years to marry a little girl.

Now let鈥檚 discuss the little girl. Ricky. Wtf was that? Davis knows Ricky as a child, he never meets her as an adult until she wakes from the long sleep, which he led her to do. Before he ever meets her as an adult, he wants to marry her. When she is 11 and finds out he will be asleep the next 30 years, she gets sad, decides/is persuaded to take the long sleep also, and asks him to marry her when she wakes up. He agrees and tells her that that鈥檚 the exact reason he is doing everything that he has done. ??? And he talks about how her breasts have not filled out yet and how she鈥檚 adorable. I tried to be objective about the situation but that was so weird to me. He only knows her as a child. I鈥檓 not offended by taboo topics, but wtf kind of goal is that for a main character? His literal goal is to marry her and that is the end of the book.

This is a weird ass book that was too all over the place for me. I don鈥檛 know what to think about Heinlein. And this has an average score of 4 stars on 欧宝娱乐...why??
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Mike (the Paladin).
3,148 reviews2,079 followers
August 10, 2016
I'm a little surprised I don't seem to have posted a review of this one before. I read this book "way back when". I probably read it first when I was in high school or just after. That would probably be the 1960s. I went through a period when I discovered Heinlein and ran through everything I could get my hands on by him. Some I didn't care for, some I liked and some I loved.

Many people place this in his so called "teen reads" but there is some question about that due to some of the subject matter. Heinlein was very much a libertarian and had very open ideas about most things. This includes sex. Among some there's a bit of, consternation concerning the "final love interest" in the book.

Just try it yourself and decide for yourself.

Daniel Boone Davis (many of Heinlein's protagonists have names hearkening back to American history) is a master engineer and inventor...and that's what he wants to do. In the story which is placed in the "near future" (1970)...among other things in this "near future" people are able to take cold sleep. They can be frozen and awakened months or years later.

Now, if I go any further in this synopsis it will involve spoilers so I'll simply suggest you try the book if for some reason you have managed to miss it. There's something here for hard science fiction fans, science fantasy fans, animal lovers (particularly cat lovers), and fans of just plain good books. I can and do recommend this one. Enjoy.
Profile Image for Adrian.
655 reviews262 followers
May 1, 2025
Ad hoc Read May 2025

Necessitated by increasing stress levels with the continuing House move

Ad hoc Read February 2017

Well after many thousands of ratings this book is averaging 4 stars so my rating will make no difference at all.
I first read this back in the late 70s, and like most of Heinlein's early and middle work I really enjoyed it then and again now.
The storyline and characterisations are good and there is none of the (in my opinion) vague sexism and verbal meanderings of his later books (look how many pages his later novels have, yawn).

Ok I've just re-read my review and whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the book, Heinlein must've been a cat lover as he had Petronius exactly right, maybe I was a tad harsh on some of his later books. I just found them very introspective and self indulgent, and much as I enjoy Heinlein books I think I gave up after fighting my way through "Time Enough For Love". I don't think I've read anything written after that.
Yes, that sounds fairer :)
Profile Image for S.C. Jensen.
Author听29 books93 followers
April 20, 2012
I didn't read this book with the intention of writing a review, so you'll excuse me if I don't go into great detail. Let me just summarize "the feel" of the book...

It is not very often that I read a book that makes me smile the entire time I'm reading it; this is one of them. From the hilarious anachronisms of the 1950's Futurist to the brilliant side-kick cat, Pete. (Cat lovers will appreciate this book on a completely different level than other readers). I was laughing out loud at least once every 20 pages or so.

It is only because I read some of the other reviews for this book that I felt the need to write a review myself. After seeing that a number of reviews that charge The Door into Summer (and sometimes Heinlein himself) as being both misogynistic and perverse, I felt the need to defend it (and him).

First of all, on the complaints that Heinlein's vision of the future (from 1956, remember) is sexist, misogynistic, anti-woman, etc.:

There are not many women in this story, true enough, which may be a mark against it in and of itself. Because of this, the heinous Belle stands out as being a particularly unlikable femme-fatale. Though I would argue that, had Belle not been foiled by Dan's foray into time travel, her plot would have succeeded and she would have made a respectable villain. She was well-equipped for it: calculating, edgy, violent, and un-emotional. But because the other women in the book (Jenny Sutton, the Girl-Scout Matron, and later Ricki) are fairly minor they do little to offset the influence of Belle and rather support the 1950's housewife stereotype. And Dan Davis' engineering vision of rescuing women from the drudgery of housework is a little dated, to be sure.

However, I consider these to be the faults of a novel written in the 1950's. I always find it best to approach a book with the understanding that it is a product of the time in which it was written. If a novel breaks through the conventions of its time, great! But it would be unreasonable to expect it every time one picks up a new book. Our modern sensibilities might be offended by some archaic ideas, but out-dated notions don't necessarily devalue an otherwise good yarn. (not to mention historically important works)

It's true that science fiction often pushes boundaries: of politics, religion, war, gender, sexuality, human nature, etc. But it is not necessary. And it is certainly not necessary to push all of them at once. The Door into Summer is not a book about gender roles. It reflects opinions common to the time in which it was written, but it does not address them specifically. It cannot be said to be particularly forward thinking on the subject, but at the same time it is a passive position. Heinlein is not actively or purposefully oppressing women in this novel, but he is describing a world very similar to the one in which he lived. Which, for me, is enough that I didn't hate the novel for its faults.

Heinlein has shown in this and other novels that he is not rigid in his notions on the future of gender roles. In Starship Troopers women make the best fighter pilots because of their superior reflexes and mental dexterity. In this novel, there are suggestions that--outside of the narrative--women are fulfilling more diverse roles than we see them in. Dan Davis, when discussing the merits of his engineering robot 'Drafting Dan', admits that most women don't care much for it unless they are engineers themselves! The offhand nature of this remark is indicative that it is not an alien idea to Dan. Perhaps his housekeeping robot is more liberal-minded than we initially supposed, if it has freed women from the role of housewives to pursue their dreams outside the home. Something to consider, anyways.

With that out of the way, I wanted to talk about the so-called perversion of Dan's unconventional (temporally speaking) romance with Ricki. Many people have commented on the "disturbing" nature of the love story sub-plot. And maybe it's because I've recently read Lolita, but I really didn't feel too put out about it. I actually found Dan and Ricki's relationship kind of cute, mostly because Dan falls in love with Ricki because she understands and appreciates his cat--which Dan feels is indicative of the kind of person she is (although she is only a child). It is important to note that there are no overtly pedophilic suggestions in this book, unless the reader supplies them (I'm sure there are those who will disagree)

When it comes down to it, Dan's romantic feelings towards Ricki are not directed at her juvenile self but at the woman he imagines she will become. It is not unusual, I think, to idealize and idolize romantically (particularly after one has had ones heart broken). Ricki is the only female that Dan has ever felt any connection with, and he values her friendship. It is only after Belle betrays him that he begins to think "if only Ricki were older". Not because he fantasizes about being with a child (obviously, he wouldn't then wish she were older) but because he fantasizes about being with someone he loves and trusts.

He cannot even be said to be taking advantage of her childish crush on him. He tells Ricki to wait until she's 20 to decide if she wants to be with him (he is, and will remain, 30). Ricki has 8 sobering years to decide if she still has feelings for Dan once she is an adult, during which he can supply no pressure. Thanks to the invention of suspended animation their love is possible without being creepy!

Ok, so that's a longer rant than I intended. But there it is. Thanks for bearing with me if you got this far!

Profile Image for M陋 Carmen.
799 reviews
November 2, 2024
He disfrutado mucho releyendo este libro. No es ni el mejor ni el m谩s representativo de su obra, pero s铆 un referente del t贸pico de viajes en el tiempo. No es comparable a Estrella doble o Tropas del espacio, pero entretiene y hasta te saca unas risas.

Me ha gustado la forma en que Heinlein explica los diversos procesos, sin entrar en demasiados tecnicismos, acorde con el tipo de novela que es. Fascinante el tipo de futuro que imagin贸 para el a帽o 2000. Me gustar铆a que hubiese acertado.

Los personajes est谩n bien trazados. Mi preferido, como no puede ser de otra manera, Pet, el gato, aunque Dan tampoco est谩 mal.

El final bueno, sencillo y bonito.

Recomendable
Profile Image for Steve.
321 reviews16 followers
October 9, 2022
Ultimately creepy, and not in a good way. It's a time travel tale, and I'll forgive a lot for an entertaining time travel story. But "entertaining" and "time travel" are all it's got going for it. I haven't read a lot of Heinlein, but this didn't show me at all why he's got got so many fans.

The writing style is fine, but he goes wrong in a few key ways with the story. [SPOILERS] For one, he wrote the book in 1956, with most characters' natural time being 1970 and the rest of the action (reached cryogenically and returned from via time travel) being in 2000 and 2001. Both are full of technological, cultural, and historical differences Heinlein invented. These probably seemed cool in 1957 or 1960, but his 2000 here wouldn't have held up in 1985, let alone 2008.

Spoiling with age as badly as his inaccurate visions of change is his vision of something wholly unchanged over 50 years: a degree of sexism astonishing these days. Hell, I suspect his degree of sexism would have been startling even in the real 1970. It's not constant and overpowering; it's just striking.

Each of those would be flaws I wouldn't mind having to overlook for the sake of the time travel story, which is largely entertaining, but Heinlein completely undermines any satisfaction that could come from it by having the protagonist and narrator, Dan Davis, eagerly find a way (via the rampant cryogenics of imaginary 1970) to marry in 2000 the step-daughter of his business partner, a girl who, as a child called him "Uncle Danny."

He'd known her since she was a toddler or something (in 1970, she's nine and he's [always] thirty), and there's talk early in the book about how she had a crush on him and wanted to marry him when she grew up, but it's just some misplaced childhood crush and, of course, nothing he actually reciprocates. Supposedly. Ultimately, though, after all the time travel stuff (which you could totally separate pretty easily from this weirdness), during which he makes various occasional references to how great this kid is and how important she is to him, after he returns from 2000 (during which time he never met her as an adult) to 1970 and takes care of fun paradox stuff, he tells her that he's going to go into thirty-year cryostasis. (Again, though no one but he knows it's his 2nd time.) 30 years seems like forever to a young kid, and she's upset she won't see him again, and he tells her that in 1982, when she's 21, she could do "The Long Sleep" too and come out of it also in 2000. She asks, "If I do...will you marry me?" He replies, damn disturbingly, "Yes....That's what I want. That's why I'm doing this."

After they awake in 2000, they get married pretty much immediately. And then the book ends within a few pages.

So Heinlein's a freak and a perv. I don't care that much that this girl is physically 21 when they hook up. The "hero" never knew her as an adult, just as a young kid who called him "Uncle Danny," and it was based on that relationship that he decided he wanted to marry her. Also, the 21-year-old who opted for the cryogenics in 1982 apparently still has the precise same feelings as her nine-year-old self, which is similarly disturbing. Goddamn. Fricking. Creepy.

Throughout the book, the protagonist (and narrator) doesn't seem like a really great guy but sympathetic enough. If Heinlein's trying to blow the reader's mind by having him turn out to be not at all sympathetic after all that, I could see the point in that. But there's no indication that's what the author's up to or, indeed, that he sees anything wrong here. It seems instead that he's glad for Dan to have a happy ending. Parents of 1957, keep your children away from Robert Heinlein, please.

My default tendency is to react favorably to time travel fiction, so it's pretty striking to make that U-turn from amusement to revulsion there at the end and move this from the "OK" column into "Not OK. Not."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Algernon (Darth Anyan).
1,738 reviews1,098 followers
September 26, 2015
I liked it, but it was suggested to me I shouldn't give four stars to every single book I enjoy, so here it goes for Heinlein. I really had no issues with "The Door Into Summer", and Heinlein is still one of my favorite SF masters after this.

I enjoy books that feature engineers as protagonists, and here we have one proto-geek singlehandedly inventing robotics in the 50's and failing rather spectacularly in the human relations department. Later on, there's some time travel thrown in and some cryogenics, giving us a glimpse of what the year 2000 would look like to a 1950 citizen. It's interesting to note how we surpassed some of Heinlein expectations in the field of artificial intelligence and miniaturization, and still didn't invent regenerating teeth, disposable shirts or beard removal cream. There's something very similar to velcro replacing zippers, but with a rather fancy field energy source.

Heinlein prose is clean and fast, without his sometime annoying preaching and with some quality humor, courtesy of Petronius the Arbiter. Some of his sexual liberation stuff is included, like a nudist camp or an engagement with an 11 year old, but it doesn't take a central role to the story.


[edit for spelling 2015]
Profile Image for Ksi膮偶kowe Bajdurzenie.
244 reviews1,588 followers
October 12, 2023
Ale to by艂a dobra ksi膮偶ka. I zabawna. I przyjemna. I w og贸le super.

Oho, konstrukcja zda艅 prawie jak w "Czwartym Skrzydle".

Staczam si臋.
Profile Image for Steven Medina.
250 reviews1,258 followers
April 25, 2025
No es lo que esperaba. Este libro no era para m铆.

En realidad 2,4

Este es el libro sobre viajes en el tiempo m谩s aburrido que he le铆do en mi vida. Puerta al verano es una obra sin acci贸n ni intriga y est谩 escrita en un lenguaje similar al que encontramos en un manual t茅cnico de un dispositivo electr贸nico. 隆Qu茅 pereza de historia!

La sinopsis es clara y directa. Puerta al verano cuenta la historia de un ingeniero llamado Dan Davis quien realiza un invento innovador que ayudar铆a a eliminar el problema de las tareas dom茅sticas para siempre. Sin embargo, su novia, Belle, y su mejor amigo, Miles, deciden traicionarlo para robarle su trabajo, y adem谩s, lo congelan en el tiempo, para que despierte 30 a帽os en el futuro sin dinero ni propiedades. Dan, al despertar se enfrentar谩 ante la ruina absoluta. 驴Cu谩l ser谩 la 煤nica soluci贸n plausible para Dan? Intentar viajar en el tiempo para cambiarlo todo.

Hasta aqu铆 la trama parece prometedora, lo reconozco. De hecho, por la sinopsis fue que me interes茅 en esta obra porque no conoc铆a al autor y nadie me lo recomend贸. El problema es que el contenido que ofrece el autor es muy diferente al anhelado por el lector. Simplemente, es desilusionante. Imaginemos que decidimos ir el pr贸ximo fin de semana a un parque de diversiones. Mientras llega la anhelada fecha es posible que busquemos por internet las atracciones a las que montaremos, organicemos el plan perfecto para procurar disfrutar lo mejor posible el tiempo, nos ilusionemos, etc. Sin embargo, al llegar descubrimos que las mejores atracciones del parque est谩n cerradas y que solo nos ofrecen montar en las peores del lugar. Ese sentimiento de desilusi贸n que vivir铆amos puede compararse a lo que sent铆 con la lectura de Puerta al verano. No era lo que esperaba.

El autor no le da prioridad a la acci贸n para que la novela sea entretenida, sino su objetivo es demostrar c贸mo podr铆a una persona ante esta situaci贸n recuperar lo que es suyo de forma legal. Tambi茅n escribe sobre patentes, documentos y los aspectos t茅cnicos que necesita el personaje para reversar su cr铆tica situaci贸n. Y como si fuera poco, ofrece detalles t茅cnicos sobre el funcionamiento de los aparatos descritos en su historia. Como la obra est谩 categorizada en el g茅nero de 芦ciencia ficci贸n dura禄, entonces son apropiados los detalles y explicaciones l贸gicas de su creaci贸n; sin embargo, su estilo aburre mucho porque no hay acci贸n. Claro, es comprensible y correcto que la trama se desarrolle as铆 porque el protagonista es un ingeniero, no un h茅roe osado y violento que provoca el caos a su paso, pero considero que lo pol铆ticamente correcto no siempre es tan agradable de conocer, leer o vivir. Siento que le hizo falta espontaneidad, un giro inesperado de verdad, un toque fresco a la trama, un personaje que ofreciera otro tipo de mentalidad, humor, etc. El libro fue correcto como un manual t茅cnico, pero aburrido como la rutina. Por eso me he llevado una decepci贸n.

Lo interesante para destacar es el mensaje de la obra. No se dice literalmente, pero yo lo interpreto as铆. El mundo est谩 atiborrado de maldad, traiciones y sufrimiento, no importa la fecha, no importa el lugar. Cuando crecemos y perdemos nuestra inocencia tenemos dos opciones. La primera, integrarnos en este mundo enfermo adicto a la codicia, la envidia y el poder. La segunda, vivir una vida decente, honesta e integra en la que usemos nuestra pasi贸n para ayudar a mejorar la sociedad de alg煤n modo, sea prestando un servicio, creando un invento, generando arte o ayudando a los dem谩s a evolucionar. Muchos eligen consciente e inconscientemente ser parte del primer grupo e intentar谩n destruir la devoci贸n y buenos principios de los integrantes del segundo grupo. Lo har谩n por medio de insultos, traiciones, venganzas, ataques, etc. Ante tantos ataques recibidos, los del segundo grupo pensar谩n con tristeza que no hay un lugar en este mundo para ellos, que todo est谩 perdido, que no podr谩n superar sus dificultades y obst谩culos. Sin embargo, hay mecanismos y opciones que pueden emplearse para navegar en medio del caos y conseguir nuestros objetivos sin necesidad de tener que destruir a los dem谩s. El libro puede interpretarse como un mensaje de esperanza y optimismo a los "buenos" para que no se rindan ante las adversidades, sigan luchando y busquen con 铆mpetu y valor alcanzar sus nobles fines. Yo lo concibo as铆.

No puedo finalizar esta rese帽a sin escribir sobre el controversial final de esta historia. A algunos les parecer谩 normal, pero a m铆 me parece un poco enfermo.



En resumen, un libro que t茅cnicamente es correcto por el g茅nero en el que est谩 incluido, pero el cual no presenta un verdadero entretenimiento o valor agregado para el lector. Sinceramente, me ha parecido una lectura r谩pida, pero tediosa, y en t茅rminos generales no me ha gustado mucho el libro. Mi calificaci贸n es de 2,4 porque pudo ser mejor, pero tambi茅n pudo ser peor.

Solo s茅 que leer otro libro del autor no est谩 entre mis planes en mucho, pero mucho tiempo...
Profile Image for Manny.
Author听41 books15.7k followers
March 17, 2009
Somewhat unusually for Heinlein, this is a cute, fun book which doesn't try to ladle a bunch of right-wing ideology down your throat, or O.D. you on dubious sex. There's some time travel, a sympathetic main character, a Bad Girl, and a cat who steals the show every time he appears on stage. He even gets the title: the reference is to his endearing habit, during winter months, of making the hero open each door in the house in turn, just in case one of them happens to lead into summer...
Profile Image for Craig.
5,897 reviews153 followers
March 31, 2023
The Door Into Summer was serialized in F & SF magazine in three installments in 1956 with very nice illustrations by Kelly Freas and then Doubleday brought it out in hardback the following year. It was well-received, with a few notable exceptions including negative comments made by John W. Campbell and James Blish. I read and enjoyed it in 1970 and had not looked at it again until now. The story opens in 1970, after the U.S. has survived a nuclear war that's destroyed Washington and New York but doesn't seem to have made much difference in other areas. Daniel Boone Davis is an engineer who has success designing labor-saving robots for domestic use, and he sets up a partnership with his friend Miles Gentry, who handles the legal side of the business. They're joined by the beautiful and seductive Belle Darkin, to whom Davis becomes engaged. Gentry is a widower but has an eleven-year-old stepdaughter named Frederica, known as Ricky, a brilliant redheaded child. (Ummm...spoilers now...warning, warning...) Belle betrays Davis, seduces Gentry, and they wrest control of the company from him and dump him into a cryogenic sleep chamber for the nest thirty years. When he revives in the far-future world of the year 2000, he works to right the wrongs that have been done to him, meets a man who just happens to have a handy time machine, and he and the-now similarly aged Ricky get married and presumably live happily ever after. It didn't occur to me that there was something really off about Davis being so fixated on wanting to get married to an eleven-year-old when I first read the book, but this time around the creep factor was inexcusable. Molestation and abuse were not common topics of discussion in the real 1970. Heinlein was using his second wife as a model for Belle and his third one as a model for Ricky, but it's still just really disturbing. Other than that, the advances in Heinlein's future world seem remarkably conservative; the robot brains run with vacuum tubes and tapes, babies all still require diaper pins, the dishes are all washed by hand, etc. All the work seems divided by gender, and the woman's work is to make the man happy and to keep the home clean and to bear and raise fine children. He lectures a little too much about economic theory and personal responsibility and political matters, but it's really a well-told story aside from the grooming aspect. There's a cool cat named Pete, and some quite clever twists and turns. I'm rating it at three stars, averaged as four from the original read and two for the current.
Profile Image for Oleh Bilinkevych.
482 reviews115 followers
March 28, 2024
袧邪褩胁薪邪 薪邪褍泻芯胁邪 褎邪薪褌邪褋褌懈泻邪 蟹 锌芯写芯褉芯卸邪屑懈 胁 褔邪褋褨 褟泻邪 褏芯褔械 胁褨写褉芯写懈褌懈 斜邪卸邪薪薪褟 谢褞写懈薪懈 胁褨褉懈褌懈 褍 褋锌褉邪胁械写谢懈胁褨褋褌褜. 笑械 芯写薪芯蟹薪邪褔薪芯 锌褉懈褦屑薪械 褔懈褌邪薪薪褟, 褟泻械 胁邪褋 薪械 胁褌芯屑懈褌褜 薪褨 蟹邪斜懈褌懈屑 褌械泻褋褌芯屑 薪褨 薪邪写屑褨褉芯屑 械屑芯褑褨泄薪芯褋褌褨. 袦芯卸谢懈胁芯, 2001-泄 褉褨泻 胁 褍褟胁褨 邪胁褌芯褉邪 薪邪写褌芯 褨写械邪谢褨蟹芯胁邪薪懈泄 褨 泻褍写懈 泻褉邪褖懈泄 蟹邪 褌械锌械褉褨褕薪褨泄 2024-泄, 邪谢械, 褑械 斜褍胁 褔邪褋, 泻芯谢懈 褎邪薪褌邪褋褌懈 胁写邪胁邪谢懈褋褜 胁 泻褉邪泄薪芯褖褨, 胁 褑褜芯屑褍 胁懈锌邪写泻褍, 袚邪泄谢邪泄薪, 胁懈褉褨褕懈胁 褋胁褌芯褉懈褌懈 褨褋褌芯褉褨褞 锌褉芯 褟泻褨褋薪械 屑邪泄斜褍褌薪褦, 邪 薪械 胁褌芯锌懈褌懈 谢褞写褋褌胁芯 胁 泻褉芯胁褨 褌邪 褉邪写褨芯邪泻褌懈胁薪芯屑褍 锌芯锌械谢褨.

袦芯卸薪邪 褋泻褨谢褜泻懈 蟹邪胁谐芯写薪芯 褋胁邪褉懈褌懈 邪胁褌芯褉邪 蟹邪 薪邪褩胁薪褨褋褌褜 褌邪 褌懈锌芯胁褨 泻谢褨褕械 写谢褟 卸邪薪褉褍, 邪谢械 褑械 褌邪 泻薪懈谐邪, 褟泻邪 锌芯写邪褉褍褦 锌褉懈褦屑薪褨 械屑芯褑褨褩. 袩芯谐芯写褜褌械褋褜, 褋械褉械写 薪褎, 褌邪泻懈褏 褌械泻褋褌褨胁 褨 薪械 褌邪泻 斜邪谐邪褌芯.
Profile Image for 袣褍褉懈谢芯 袆胁谐械薪 .
87 reviews25 followers
February 2, 2024
袘械褉褍褔懈 褑褞 泻薪懈谐褍 写芯 褉褍泻 褟 褋锌芯写褨胁邪胁褋褟 锌褉芯褔懈褌邪褌懈 褖芯褋褜 薪械泄屑芯胁褨褉薪芯 泻褉褍褌械 褌邪 褑褨泻邪胁械. 袘芯 写芯 褑褜芯谐芯 褋褌褨谢褜泻懈 锌芯蟹懈褌懈胁薪懈褏 胁褨写谐褍泻褨胁 锌褉芯 薪械褩 锌褉芯褔懈褌邪胁. 袧芯 薪械 褋泻谢邪谢芯褋褟. 携泻褖芯 泻芯褉芯褌泻芯, 褌芯 泻薪懈谐邪 屑械薪褨 薪械 褋锌芯写芯斜邪谢邪褋褜. 孝邪泻邪 褎邪薪褌邪褋褌懈泻邪 褌芯 薪械 屑芯褦.
Profile Image for Ivana Books Are Magic.
523 reviews275 followers
August 10, 2016
Are you a cat person? If yes, you鈥檙e definitely in for a treat. Pete is an amazingly written cat character if there ever was one. Yes, cat lovers will surely appreciate this one. Cat owners will understand that cats like Pete are as rare as true love and only come once in a life time, if we鈥檙e lucky, hence they will understand what makes Pete so special to Dan, his owner. However, even if you happen to hate cats, I鈥檓 sure you鈥檒l appreciate the ingenious way Pete is described. That鈥檚 just plain good writing.

I鈥檓 making it sound like this is a novel about cat. Well, it鈥檚 not but it sorts of is. The cat I鈥檓 talking about is an important character, not in any futuristic genetically altered pet sense of the world, he just happens to be a side kick of our protagonist. Who might that be? Our protagonist is Dan Davis, an engineer, a well written characters, one could say a typical Heinlein hero. You know, a very intelligent badass guy who is on to take on the world and won鈥檛 let anything stops him. He is charming yet bold, brave but thoughtful, no fool but willing to take calculated risks.

Nevertheless, this isn鈥檛 exactly how he starts out! When the novel opens, he is not up to much. The novel opens with our guy drinking himself to death on account of his best friend and his ex-finance tricking him out of his invention (and hard earned future glory as well as financial security). So, he is a bit depressed. The only person he cares for in this world is Ricky, who happens to be a ten-year-old daughter of his late friend. He respects her and we suppose he imagines she might be a good companion someday because he decided to freeze himself so that they can be together in ten years鈥� time.

Some people find this part to be quite disturbing, but it isn鈥檛 like he wants to be with her when she鈥檚 a kid, he is romantically interested in the women she will be once she grows up. There is no knowing who that will be, you might say and yes that would be a valid point but it doesn鈥檛 seem to bother our protagonist. If Pete likes her, the girl must be ok and will stay that way (maybe Dan believes in cat鈥檚 intuition). I would say there is nothing fishy in the relationship between Dan and Ricky, but I can see why some might consider it to be a bit weird. Why the need to freeze himself up in the first place? He could have waited for her to grow up, but that sounds creepy doesn鈥檛 it? To watch someone growing up and then to marry them? Way creepier than just freezing yourself up and meeting them in the future? Actually yes.

It is interesting that he wants this relationship to happen when they鈥檙e about the same age. Does that indicate that he actually thinks there is something wrong in relationships in which there exists a significant age difference? Or more likely he needs the freezing up part to make the story more interesting? I mean this is a SF novel and we鈥檙e all waiting for the story to become well more SF. Furthermore, you know Dan is not motivated just by the desire to be with the future grown up Ricky. There isn鈥檛 much talk about Ricky if you think about it, this isn鈥檛 Lolita. There is not much talk about his feelings at that point and that鈥檚 not going to change drastically. Don鈥檛 expect him to get all emotional, it is not going to happen. This avoidance of emotional talk (or perhaps even thoughts) may be due to the fact that Dan makes that freezing himself up decision after a long period of drinking. It may be that his true feelings for Ricky only develop later on. At any rate, she isn鈥檛 the sole motivation.

Dan wants revenge. He wants to rub it into the face of his ex. He wants to be young when she is old. Perhaps most importantly, he wants to live in the future. He is an engineer you know. He is wondering what the world will look like in a number of years. Speaking of which, it is fascinating to observe how correct or how wrong Heinlein鈥檚 predictions were. There is certainly a lot of talk about the future in this one. Moreover, there is the actual 鈥榝uture鈥� experienced by a man from another time epoch and you can trust in one of the greats of SF to make that part good.
It does get more interesting because things don鈥檛 go as planned, I mean the freezing up and all. When he wakes up in the future, he starts seeing things he is sure he had himself invented. As he said, every engineer has his own signature and it is this signature he is seeing everywhere that is driving him crazy.

Enters time travel. You know a book about just being frozen wasn鈥檛 going to cut it. He needs to travel back in time. There needs to be more action. Not surprisingly, that is what we get. More action and adventure. No complains here. You know I鈥檓 not even sure if women play an important part in this novel. Perhaps not really. We have one typical femme-fatale and one angelic girl, but the relationships with them are never explored into great detail. As far as relationships are concerned, this is more about the love between a man and his cat then about love between a man and a woman. Just for a record, I don鈥檛 have a problem with that. Not everything has to be all romantic and stuff.

There is certainly a way to read the story between Dan and Ricky that makes it all sweet and romantic, but I think Ricky is there mostly for the plot. This is a one-man show or more precisely one man and his cat show! Romance isn鈥檛 a fundamental part of it, but it doesn鈥檛 feel out of place either. As I said, the relationship between Dan and Ricky can be read in a very sweet light (or in a slightly creepy one) 鈥r it can be just ignored, if that isn鈥檛 your thing.

The Door into Summer is a very good SF novel that is mostly about adventure, time travel, engineering, future predictions, action, being badass and all those things we love about Heinlein. It is interesting enough to keep us intellectually stimulated and there is a touch of emotion that is just enough. I really enjoyed reading it. I have a copy at home, so I鈥檒l probably reread it again eventually (emphasis on again because I already reread it). I recommend this to engineers, Heinlein鈥檚 fans, cat鈥檚 lovers, readers of SF as well as those interested in time travel stories. This is a fabulously written SF novel, pretty short but filled with such lovely things! The protagonist is and awfully charming and smart guy and it is great fun reading about his adventures. If you want to read a novel with a guy that makes it against all odds, this is the novel for you.

Final words? The Door Into Summer is a highly enjoyable read. It is not Heinlein鈥檚 best, but it is a very good novel. It found it to be incredibly uplifting and fun. In addition, this novel managed to accomplish what many great works of literature have tried but failed and that is describe perfectly an infinitely complex creature called....the cat.
Profile Image for Lance Greenfield.
Author听9 books251 followers
January 13, 2015
I really enjoyed this book from beginning to [almost] end. The reason for the "almost" will become apparent.

The story of time travel by various means was excellent. When reading this story, you should remember that it was written in the 1950s. Some of Heinlein's predictions are amazing, and some are way off the mark. It's amazing to follow his line of thinking though.

You can see an outline of the plot in the description. It is fairly predictable, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story at all. It was fun, and it was refreshing to read such innocent prose.

Although some people might be offended, there was some narrative that would be considered non-PC these days, but was just part of life in the 'fifties. I actually found that quite refreshing too. I get so irritated by the over-sensitivity to political correctness these days. You can't even tell a good Irish joke, or drop your pants in a US bar to proudly show off your British tattoo, these days, without drawing comments from the puritans.

The story was great right up until the final chapter. This was a bit of a damp squib, Heinlein felt that his hero had to justify and explain his actions and how several instances of himself could coexist. I would have been far more satisfied with the explosive ending which could so easily have been there.

Having said that, I would strongly recommend this book to all lovers of time travel and sci-fi books.
Profile Image for Amy.
776 reviews159 followers
November 16, 2012
Time travel type: Travel to the past via machine and travel to the future via cryogenics.
Likes: Pete, the cat ... and robots.
Dislikes: All the characters except the cat ... and robots.
Points of Particular Boredom: Business talk and the hero's pompous over-confidence in himself.
Plot summary: Why bother?
Profile Image for NatalieWithAnE.
76 reviews
July 16, 2023
醿儛醿氠儤醿愥儨 醿樶儞醿斸儛醿氠儯醿犪儤 醿儤醿掅儨醿�, 醿♂儛醿戓儛醿栣償醿� 醿欋儤 醿♂儛醿♂儤醿愥儧醿濁儠醿溼儩醿� 醿儛醿曖儤醿欋儤醿椺儺醿�; + 醿欋儛醿⑨儤醿� 醿п儩醿氠儛醿� 醿涐儩醿掅儛醿溼儞醿濁儧醿斸儜醿� 醿愥儞醿愥儧醿樶儛醿溼儭馃崶

醿愥儰醿抚偿醿樶儣
醿欋儛醿⑨儤醿� 醿п儩醿氠儛醿� 醿撫儛 醿樶儨醿熱儤醿溼償醿犪儩醿戓儛醿� 醿涐儩醿掅儛醿溼儞醿濁儧醿斸儜醿�

醿儛醿愥儛醿氠儤醿愥儨 醿儛醿愥儛醿愥儦醿樶儛醿溼儨醿溼儨醿� 醿儛醿氠儤醿愥儨 醿涐儤醿п儠醿愥儬醿♂儭, + 醿め儬醿樶儯醿溼儤醿撫儛醿� 醿♂儛醿儦醿愥儧醿撫償 醿п儠醿斸儦醿愥儢醿� 醿♂儛醿♂儤醿愥儧醿濁儠醿溼儩 醿涐儝醿栣儛醿曖儬醿濁儜醿斸儜醿樶儭醿椺儠醿樶儭 醿п儠醿斸儦醿� 醿曖儛醿犪儭醿欋儠醿氠儛醿曖儤
Profile Image for Jamie.
1,388 reviews194 followers
July 17, 2020
An amusing, lighthearted time travel romp, with a particular appeal for cat lovers. I don't know there was much here of real interest, apart from some of Heinlein's musings in the last few pages on the nature of free will, determinism and the existence, or not, of multiple universes. Also intriguing was his notion that the laws of the universe are capable of enforcing themselves, without any help needed from us humans, giving us a kind of free pass from worrying about paradoxes and the like resulting from time travel.
Profile Image for Malice.
438 reviews53 followers
February 16, 2021
Lo mejor de todo el libro fue Pet, evidentemente porque los gatitos son geniales, jajaja. Y lo que m谩s me llam贸 la atenci贸n es que el futuro es en el a帽o 2000 y ese futuro sonaba m谩s prometedor que este 2021.
Profile Image for Choco Con Churros.
836 reviews96 followers
January 22, 2023
Maravillosa narraci贸n de mi adorada tem谩tica de paradojas temporales.
Maravilloso t铆tulo y el gato que lo inspir贸 maullando ante cada puerta, esperando siempre que alguna llevara al verano.
C贸mo lo disfrut茅!.
Profile Image for Book.
237 reviews5 followers
February 15, 2024
芦袛胁械褉褨 褍 谢褨褌芯禄 袪芯斜械褉褌 袚邪泄薪谢邪泄薪

些芯 褟 胁邪屑 屑芯卸褍 褋泻邪蟹邪褌懈, 写褍卸械 锌芯褌褍卸薪懈泄 褌胁褨褉. 效懈褌邪褦褌褜褋褟 薪邪 芯写薪芯屑锟斤拷 写懈褏邪薪薪褨, 蟹胁褨褋薪芯 锌械褉褕褨 褋褌芯褉褨薪芯泻 60 泄写褍褌褜 薪褍写薪芯, 邪谢械 锌芯褌褨屑 褟泻 锌褨褕谢芯. 袟谢芯胁懈胁 褋械斜械 薪邪 写褍屑褑褨, 褖芯 锌褨褋谢褟 褨褋褌芯褉懈褔薪芯褩 褌械屑邪褌懈泻懈 泻薪懈谐, 薪邪褍泻芯胁邪 褎邪薪褌邪褋褌懈泻邪 蟹邪泄屑邪褦 写褉褍谐械 屑褨褋褑械 胁 褋锌懈褋泻褍 薪邪泄褍谢褞斜谢械薪褨褕懈褏 卸邪薪褉褨胁.

袛芯 褉械褔褨, 褏褌芯 斜邪卸邪褦 锌芯蟹薪邪泄芯屑懈褌懈褋褜 蟹 薪邪褍泻芯胁芯褞 褎邪薪褌邪褋褌懈泻芯褞, 褌芯 褑褟 泻薪懈谐邪 褋邪屑械 写谢褟 胁邪褋. 袥械谐泻邪, 蟹胁懈褔邪泄薪邪, 薪械 蟹屑褍褕褍褦 胁邪褋 褉芯蟹斜懈褉邪褌懈褋褟 胁 褑褜芯屑褍 卸邪薪褉褨.

袣薪懈卸泻邪 薪邪褋褌褨谢褜泻懈 褔褍写芯胁芯 薪邪锌懈褋邪薪邪, 褖芯 褨薪芯写褨 胁褨写褔褍胁邪褦褕, 薪邪褔械 褍 褌械斜械 褉芯蟹屑芯胁邪 蟹 谢褨锌褕懈屑 写褉褍谐芯屑 褨 胁褨薪 褌芯斜褨 褉芯蟹锌芯胁褨写邪褦 锌褉芯 褋胁芯褦 卸懈褌褌褟.

袣薪懈卸泻邪 薪邪锌懈褋邪薪邪 胁 50褏 褉芯泻邪褏. 袗谢械 邪胁褌芯褉 蟹屑褨谐 锌械褉械写邪褌懈 邪褌屑芯褋褎械褉褍 褨 70褏 褨 2000褏 锟斤拷芯泻褨胁, 薪邪褔械斜褌芯 胁褨薪 写褨泄褋薪芯 胁懈泻芯褉懈褋褌芯胁褍胁邪胁 屑邪褕懈薪褍 褔邪褋褍.

袚邪泄薪谢邪泄薪 锌芯泻邪蟹褍褦 薪邪屑, 褟泻械 屑芯卸械 斜褍褌懈 屑邪泄斜褍褌薪褦. 袟 胁械谢懈泻芯褞 泻褨谢褜泻褨褋褌褞 锌褉芯斜谢械屑, 胁懈锌褉芯斜褍胁邪薪褜 褌邪 斜邪谐邪褌芯 褔芯谐芯 褨薪褕芯谐芯.

袧械 锌芯褌褉褨斜薪芯 褋褍写懈褌懈 褋褍胁芯褉芯 褉芯屑邪薪 锌褉芯 蟹邪屑芯褉芯卸褍胁邪薪薪褟 谢褞写懈薪懈 薪邪 锌械胁薪懈泄 褔邪褋 邪斜芯 屑邪褕懈薪褍 褔邪褋褍, 褌芯写褨 斜褍谢懈 50褌褨 褨 褌邪泻褨 褕褌褍泻懈 斜褍谢懈 薪芯胁邪褌芯褉褋褌胁芯屑.

袛褍卸械 褉邪写卸褍 泻薪懈谐褍, 芯褋芯斜谢懈胁芯 胁 锌懈褌邪薪薪褨 蟹薪邪泄芯屑褋褌胁邪 蟹 薪邪褍泻芯胁芯褞 褎邪薪褌邪褋褌懈泻芯褞, 褨写械邪谢褜薪懈泄 锌褉懈泻谢邪写.

9/10
Profile Image for Volpe Nera.
124 reviews6 followers
June 1, 2024
孝褍褌 锌褉械泻褉邪褋薪芯 胁褋械. 袉褋褌芯褉褨褟 , 锌芯写芯褉芯卸褨 胁 褔邪褋褨, 褋褞卸械褌薪褨 锌芯胁芯褉芯褌懈 褌邪 泻褨褌鉂わ笍
Profile Image for Esti Santos.
249 reviews273 followers
February 9, 2024
Lo voy a aparcar, al 70%. Me estaba gustando, pero no pude leer en varios d铆as y me desconect茅. Luego se me cruz贸 otro libro y ya nada, no estoy en la onda.
Profile Image for 袩芯谢褨薪邪.
Author听9 books158 followers
April 25, 2024
笑械 写芯褋懈褌褜 薪邪褩胁薪邪 褎邪薪褌邪褋褌懈泻邪 褨 写芯 褋褞卸械褌褍 褦 泻褨谢褜泻邪 蟹邪锌懈褌邪薪褜. 袗谢械 褟泻 屑芯卸薪邪 薪械 锌芯褋褌邪胁懈褌懈 5 蟹褨褉芯泻 泻芯褌懈泻褍? 馃榿
Profile Image for Derek.
551 reviews101 followers
November 18, 2013
I first read this many years ago鈥攑robably about the time in which it is set: it was published in 1957 (just before I was born) but most of the story is set in 1970 and the rest in 2000/2001. 听The only thing that really stayed in my memory was the reason for the title.听

Dan Davis once lived in Connecticut in a house with twelve doors to the outside. In Winter, his cat Pete (Petronius the Arbiter) would make him open every door, looking for the one that led to Summer. Pete's not present for the majority of the novel, but he's very definitely a major character.

I pretty much stopped reading Heinlein after . He got increasingly misogynistic and right-wing (or else, he'd always been that way and just felt he could get away with writing about it in his old age). But I'd forgotten the immense vision he brought to his earlier stories like , the very first Heinlein I read, and , and this one. My first introduction to Science Fiction was , and Heinlein was my second. They share that vision of the possibilities of the future, and Clarke may actually have been technically more capable (when Clarke suggested satellites in Earth-orbit, I suspect he could have built one, with help鈥攚hen Heinlein builds a general household robot he's imagining what we would want to have done, and the way it should operate, but I can't imagine he actually could have designed the necessary circuit boards), but Heinlein is far and above the better story-teller.

Like many futurists, Heinlein's 50s vision of 1970 was a little too optimistic, and his vision of 2000 was much too optimistic, but still he wrote about so many things that have come to pass almost as he described. It's so stunningly accurate that the few anachronisms that creep in are totally hilarious.

"For my money Chuck was the only real engineer there; the rest were overeducated slipstick mechanics." 听Looking back from 60 years into Heinlein's future, it's hard to imagine that anyone would have missed the fact that "slipsticks" (slide rules) would be non-existent in 2000, and were on their way out in the 70s (I learned to use a slide rule in the early 70s, bought a beautiful one in 1977鈥攁t a huge discount鈥攁nd have probably not seen one for sale since).

In 2001: "The nearest twenty-four-hour bank was downtown at the Grand Circle of the Ways." I actually remember when there were less than a handful of bank machines in the whole of Toronto (~1981), but in a novel that centres on the life of an engineer who specializes in automatons, it's funny that he never imagined we could do away with physical banks for the mere dispensing of money.

But those things don't detract in the slightest from the things he got right (if not necessarily pinning them to the right time). Heinlein goes into great detail describing "Drafting Dan"鈥攁 way to automate drafting, so that an engineer can design without hunching over a drafting table. And what he describes is pretty much AutoCAD, only about a decade and a half too early.

He describes Roombas. He places them nearly three decades too early, but the physical description of the way they will ensure that a whole room is vacuumed and then return to their charging stations is uncanny.

One thing he got wrong, but it just goes even further to demonstrate his vision. In 2000, he postulates that, for some reason, gold has become very cheap. This leads to a great deal more automation, because all his robots need a lot of gold (perhaps not individually, but certainly in total) and with higher gold prices it becomes cost prohibitive. The prices of gold, platinum, and numerous other metals do in fact currently limit a great deal of our technology.

I recently finished , a time travel story that's all about paradox. Heinlein takes a different view (and one that, failing actual experimentation, must be just as likely): 'But I'm not worried about "paradoxes" or "causing anachronisms"鈥攊f a thirtieth-century engineer does smooth out the bugs and then sets up transfer stations and trade, it will be because the Builder designed the universe that way鈥�. He doesn't need busybodies to "enforce" His laws; they enforce themselves. There are no miracles and the word "anachronism" is a semantic blank.' 听Heinlein's idea of time travel is that you can't do anything that you haven't already done. "Free will and predestination in one sentence and both true". I've been trying to wrap my head around this idea, possibly even before I first read this story: I remember arguing with Calvinists as a teenager, who insisted that everything was predestined, but that we still had complete free will. 听It's actually easier to believe in time paradoxes!听

Anyway, this particular story probably doesn't deserve the 5-star rating. I use that for life-changing books, and in Heinlein's case, that is probably , but somewhere over the decades I lost that book so I can't reread it unless 听I find another copy. This one certainly has similarities and can stand in until I find another copy of听!
Profile Image for Stuart.
722 reviews322 followers
May 9, 2015
The Door Into Summer: A charming time-travel story from Golden Age Heinlein
Originally posted at
The Door Into Summer (1957) is an immensely enjoyable time-travel story told effortlessly by Robert A. Heinlein long before he turned into a crotchety, soap-box ranting old crank who had a very unhealthy obsession with free love and characters going back in time to hook up with their mothers (gross!!).

So back to this book. It鈥檚 the story of Daniel Davis, a hard-working engineer in 1970 who invents a wonderful robot vacuum cleaner named Hired Girl (not at all sexist, right?), but has more ambitious plans for an all-purpose household robot called Flexible Frank. He collaborates with his business partner Miles Gentry and assistant named Belle Darkin. However, one evening Dan discovers that his partner Miles is in cahoots with Belle to wrest control of the company from him. They take a controlling share and fire him as Chief Engineer, and to make matters worse they steal his designs for Flexible Frank. He is so upset that he elects to go into 鈥渃old sleep鈥�, entrusting his stock certificates to Ricky, the stepdaughter of Miles, hoping to wake up to a better world in 2000.

Of course when he is revived all is not well. His plan has not worked, the company that Miles and Belle ran has gone bankrupt, and a different company seems to have developed Flexible Frank under the name of Eager Beaver. Dan is at a loss to figure out what has happened. He starts to follow a series of clues that point to a number of paradoxes that could only be explained by time travel鈥�

Hang on, did I forget to mention the most important character in the story? Indeed I did, for the most charming figure in the book is a tomcat named Petronius the Arbiter (Pete for short), and he really steals the show. Dan brings Pete everywhere, including to restaurants and bars, where he keeps him hidden in a bag but orders him drinks. Pete plays an absolutely critical role later in the story, but Heinlein鈥檚 descriptions of Pete should really resonate with cat lovers.

Upon further reflection, I may have to revise my earlier statement that Heinlein didn鈥檛 delve into any of his later creepy obsessions about women or mothers. In this story the little girl Ricky is a plucky kid who is wise beyond her years, and Dan really admires her, imagining what a fine young woman she might grow up to be. But wait, if he goes into 鈥渃old sleep鈥� for 30 years, won鈥檛 that bring their ages closer together? Actually it鈥檚 much more complicated than that, and why bother getting together with Ricky when she鈥檚 in her 40s when you can manage things so she is only 21 instead? How is this possible? Well, when you鈥檙e the author you can make anything happen, didn鈥檛 you know?

So lurking under the surface of this otherwise charming and very cleverly-constructed time-travel story, we have yet another subtext of creepy wish fulfillment. It really didn鈥檛 have to be part of the story, but then again this is Heinlein, and for him writing was always an opportunity to explore his own fantasies and political ideas. If you can overlook this, and it鈥檚 such a brisk and well-told story, I think you will find it quite enjoyable, even if he is laying the foundations for later travesties like Time Enough for Love, To Sail Beyond the Sunset, and The Number of the Beast.
Profile Image for Jim.
Author听7 books2,077 followers
October 23, 2014
Another old favorite picked up as a downloadable audio book from the library. It was quite enjoyable in this medium & the reader was very good. Originally published in 1957, it is set in 'the future' years 1970 & 2000. The idea of traveling into the future via 'cold sleep' was a pretty popular until sometime in the 70's, but cutting edge at this time, I think. Haven't heard about it in humans for years.

The hero, Dan, is an engineer & inventor. His genius isn't in break through technology, but in putting together mostly off-the-shelf parts to create really useful laborsaving devices. Steve Jobs type genius, timing, & design. Heinlein's discussion of this tech timing over the course of the book is very practical & interesting. It's amazing how much supporting technology there has to be for every major breakthrough.

Engineering is the art of the practical and depends more on the total state of the art than it does on the individual engineer. When railroading time comes you can railroad-but not before. Look at poor Professor Langley, breaking his heart on a flying machine that should have flown-he had put the necessary genius in it-but he was just a few years too early to enjoy the benefit of collateral art he needed and did not have. Or take the great Leonardo daVinci, so far out of his time that his most brilliant concepts were utterly unbuildable.

It was Heinlein's genius to take this a step further into the prosaic & make it sound so easy & obvious.

Amazingly little real thought had been given to housework, even though it is at least 50 per cent of all work in the world. The women's magazines talked about "labor saving in the home" and "functional kitchens," but it was just prattle; their pretty pictures showed living-working arrangements essentially no better than those in Shakespeare's day; the horse-to-jet-plane revolution had not reached the home.

Of course, Heinlein got a lot wrong about the future, but that wasn't too bad. Most obviously, we still don't have most of the devices that he describes. I loved his idea of Thorsen Memory tubes & macro programming, even though both are silly & simplistic. He had helicopter buses & completely missed the idea of the Internet - overall communications or electronic databases - yet he had transmutation of elements. Not a bad reason, if incorrect, for getting off the gold standard & he had the timing pretty close.

The overall story was a pretty good one of love & betrayal. With the time travel tossed in, it got quite twisty - although I was a little disappointed the he seemed to try to obscure it a bit too much especially in the last conversation. That was too much as the character is supposed to be fairly intelligent.

And that brings me to the creep factor that really brings the book down for me - Dan's relationship with Ricky.

So it was a 4 star story with 1 star removed due to this one creepy factor. It's well worth reading or listening too, though. Glad I did again after all these years.
Profile Image for Kuszma.
2,688 reviews255 followers
February 10, 2024
Van egy hipot茅zisem. Ha egy k枚nyvbe tesz眉nk macsk谩t, akkor az 48,2%-os n枚veked茅st induk谩l az elad谩si adatokban. Elm茅letemen felbuzdulva Heinlein is cselekedett, 茅s reg茅ny茅be k枚zponti szerepl艖nek beletette Pete-et, a harcm疟v茅sz kand煤rt, kimaxolva ezzel a cukis谩gfaktort, 茅s egyben megteremtve a "macsk谩s sci-fi" m疟faj谩t, aminek az贸ta sajn谩latosan kev茅s k枚vet艖je akadt. Pedig!!!

description

Am煤gy ez egy igazi habsci-fi, ami ink谩bb hab, mint sci-fi. 脡s nem csak a macska miatt. Van ugyan benne egy meglehet艖sen 茅rint艖legesen t谩rgyalt atomh谩bor煤, robotok, hibern谩ci贸, de alapvet艖en az eg茅sz egy k枚z枚ns茅ges Monte Cristo-parafr谩zis. Van ez a v茅gtelen眉l naiv, 谩mde zseni谩lis m茅rn枚k 茅s kand煤rtulajdonos, Daniel, aki feltal谩l mindenf茅le k谩pr谩zatos h谩ztart谩si robotszolg谩t, de 眉zlett谩rsa, valamint bitang ellenszenves titk谩rn艖je 谩tveri, mire szeg茅ny harminc 茅vre m茅lyaltat谩sba vonul. Amikor felkel, azon kapja mag谩t, hogy az utols贸 garas谩b贸l is kiforgatt谩k, ami ugye a probl茅ma, amit meg kell oldani. Az 枚sszes tudom谩nyos biszbasz, ami felbukkan, sokadlagos 茅s igaz谩b贸l hanyagolhatn谩nk is - ha p茅ld谩ul Danielt nem lefagyasztan谩k, hanem harminc 茅vre egy f枚ldalatti v谩rb枚rt枚nbe z谩rn谩k, az semmiben nem befoly谩soln谩 a cselekm茅nyt. Csak ugye a lefagyaszt谩s cool. A l茅nyeg a tanmese az 谩rul谩sr贸l 茅s az emberi gonoszs谩gr贸l, valamint arr贸l, hogy az 茅lelmes 茅s b谩tor j贸 sz谩nd茅k k茅pes ezeken gy艖zedelmeskedni. Ha odateszi mag谩t.

Aranyos 茅s b谩josan t煤lhaladott cucc - hogyne lenne t煤lhaladott 2023-ban arr贸l olvasni, hogy egy szerepl艖 a hetvenes 茅vekben hibern谩lja mag谩t, azt谩n felkel 2000-ben. Az aranyoss谩ga miatt j贸 darabig olyan stabil n茅gyesre 谩llt, mint a c枚vek, azt谩n t枚rt茅nt k茅t dolog. Amit nem tudok spoilermentesen felv谩zolni, 煤gyhogy 茅rz茅keny idegrendszer疟ek innent艖l hunyt szemmel k枚vessenek.
1.) Ezt az id艖utaz谩s-dolgot az茅rt m谩r m茅gsem hiszem el. Ok茅, Heinlein bedob a k枚z枚sbe egy eredeti koncepci贸t err艖l az un谩sig ismert t茅m谩r贸l, ez eddig rendben van. De hogy az id艖utaz贸 szerkenty疟 titkos protot铆pusa ott porosodik egy k枚z枚ns茅ges laborban (mert egy eff茅le tal谩lm谩nyt csak 煤gy szertesz茅t szokt谩k hagyni a korm谩nyzati szervek, b铆zva benne, hogy majd mag谩t贸l lebomlik... persze...), amir艖l f艖h艖s眉nk egy kocsmai besz茅lget茅sb艖l 茅rtes眉l, h谩t ez nekem el茅gg茅 haj谩n谩l fogva el艖r谩ncig谩lt megold谩snak t疟nik Daniel am煤gy megoldhatatlan probl茅m谩ira.
2.) Azt谩n itt van Ricky, Daniel fogadott unokah煤ga. Akinek (ezt Heinlein nem gy艖zi hangs煤lyozni) nincs ugyan olyan j贸 teste, mint a titk谩rn艖nek, de legal谩bb meg lehet benne b铆zni, 茅s j贸l kij枚n a macsk谩val is. Ami nyilv谩n els艖dleges fontoss谩g煤. No most Ricky b艖ven kiskor煤, amikor Daniel azzal 谩ll el艖 neki, hogy (megk铆s茅rlem h疟en 谩tadni) "Dr谩ga sz铆vem, most m茅lyaltatom magam 30 茅vre, de ne b煤sulj, ha el茅red a 21. 茅ved, te is m茅lyaltasd magad, 茅s akkor, ha fel茅bredtem, elveszlek feles茅g眉l, azt谩n t枚rv茅nyes kereteken bel眉l gyermeket is nemzek neked." Szerintem ez el茅g beteg dolog. Lehet, 1957-ben az ilyen dolgok nem ind铆tott谩k be a v茅szcseng艖t, de sajnos 茅n nem tudtam 1957-ben olvasni a k枚nyvet. Nincs ugyanis id艖g茅pem.
Profile Image for Andreas.
483 reviews155 followers
January 3, 2016
I liked it far less than my previous RAH reads of , , or even .

The story - silly technician looses his garage corporation predictably to greedy woman and former business partner - wasn't very good with all that implausible back and forth through time and hibernated sleep. RAH rode that SF trope but didn't motivate it well enough; a lot of less riskier and far easier solutions to the protagonist's problems lay on hands. Especially his second hibernation was ridiculous.
Some of his sexual liberation stuff was needlessly included, especially the nudist camp, and I gnaw on those hints with the 11 year old girl.

As SF, this one didn't transport well into our times - which is a sharp contrast to other works from RAH, e.g. Starship Troopers, mainly because of his sloppy world-building with implausible anchoring of technology in society.
Concerning computer technology, he wasn't at the scientific height of the time of his writing, e.g. he didn't mention high-level programming languages (plan calculus or FORTRAN); magnetic core memory was well established, even the first mass produced computers were available with the IBM 650. I'm a sucker for nostalgic views at computers, and I think it would make perfect sense to visit a computer museum alongside reading this novel. As it goes, the inventor of computers, , had his labs some 10 miles from my home and the community founded a museum there - sorry, folks, its all in German. Fascinating stuff!

I understand that hibernation was a thing back in the 50s but I didn't like RAH's discussion of managing the legal parts. And a 70% survival chance would be an absolute no-go for me.

Lots of his extrapolations of technology of the years 1970 (which was 14 years near-SF at that time) and 2000 were funny to read. are a thing in this novel and some of them start to come true in our days, e.g. half-autonomous cars or cleaning roboters. It is interesting that it is far more complex to get legal issues cleared than getting the technology working, but RAH didn't dive into that one enough. Speaking of it, I like the concept of who is designed to "read emotions".

But really devastating were his social and political predictions of the world's state of 2000. Only thrown-in were facts as "England as a Canadian colony" or constructs like "Greater L.A.", a "6 week war" or a French monarchy. Why, oh why? It would have been very interesting to find out motivations for this settings, but RAH concentrated more on his time travel and hibernation roundtrips. Which I didn't like.

Sorry, only 2 stars - 1 of those for Pete the cat which I found quite funny and realistic as a character but very strange for a SF story.
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