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jayshay 's review for:
Space Cadet
by Robert A. Heinlein
Reading Heinlein's juveniles, his books written for boys, I can see why he is such a foundational, and highly influential writer in the sf field. If Heinlein got to you young (which he did for me reading him first in the 80s as a young teen) he got into your head and for good and ill shaped you. The good is that he's a pretty subversive and subtle writer. I especially like the end of the novel where main character Matt isn't the hero and the main lesson he learns is that he is going to have to earn respect and his place in the space patrol. Heinlein is so suited to this early form of YA because he is genuinely interested in the education and formation of his young male characters. This enthusiasm is contagious.
The bad is the usual complaint this is an all male world, perhaps to keep sex out of a story targeted at young boys, though when Heinlein does get into sex in his later adult books you might wish he'd stay sexless - we are into free love and the freak is on. Now it is interesting that the alien race the boys end up in is one where the male is hidden and all that is seen is the female of the species. Is this H's comment on the patriarchy of the 40s and 50s in the U.S? I'm not sure. People try and pin Heinlein down on his politics, both personal and political - in his works he seems to like to play with it all. It is what keeps his works fresh.
Oh the book also suffers from another dumb ass Heinlein villain. "That's the last we'll see of him," says one of the boys - I laughed at that. Heinlein is great at explaining and having his characters puzzle out a problem, but is incapable of giving his villains even one-tenth of the intellect of his hero. Evil is stupidity to Heinlein, which maybe true - if you think everyone who doesn't agree with you is dumb, but it is a measure of Heinlein's other strengths that this doesn't sink his books.
The bad is the usual complaint this is an all male world, perhaps to keep sex out of a story targeted at young boys, though when Heinlein does get into sex in his later adult books you might wish he'd stay sexless - we are into free love and the freak is on. Now it is interesting that the alien race the boys end up in is one where the male is hidden and all that is seen is the female of the species. Is this H's comment on the patriarchy of the 40s and 50s in the U.S? I'm not sure. People try and pin Heinlein down on his politics, both personal and political - in his works he seems to like to play with it all. It is what keeps his works fresh.
Oh the book also suffers from another dumb ass Heinlein villain. "That's the last we'll see of him," says one of the boys - I laughed at that. Heinlein is great at explaining and having his characters puzzle out a problem, but is incapable of giving his villains even one-tenth of the intellect of his hero. Evil is stupidity to Heinlein, which maybe true - if you think everyone who doesn't agree with you is dumb, but it is a measure of Heinlein's other strengths that this doesn't sink his books.