Cat Who Walks Through Walls: A Comedy of Manners (1985)

Robert A. Heinlein

Ace Books, New York; ISBN 0-441-09499-6; Pages: 388

Review © 2003 Branislav L. Slantchev

When in Danger or in Doubt
Run in Circles, Scream, and Shout.

This is a much-maligned (for no good reason) late entry in the RAH opus that is frequently blasted for being obscure, for switching pace/plot midway, for referencing too many other RAH works making much of the action unintelligible to newcomers, and for being too preachy in the second half. The bad reviews usually end with condescension, wiggling out of a true verdict by claiming the old escape clause: for "true fans" or "Heinlein completists" only.

Well, everyone is entitled to an opinion, even if it is stupid. I would be the first to say that enjoying this book does require one to have read several other RAH novels, especially The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (to get the background story about Mike, the sentient computer), Methuselah's Children (to get an idea about Lazarus Long, who inexplicably ends up looking like a cranky bastard every time RAH does not make him the central character), and perhaps The Rolling Stones (to get the story of Hazel Stone) and even Stranger in a Strange Land (to get some notion about the nests where everyone in the family happily copulates with everyone else).

All these would be helpful, but they are not required, especially for the first half (or perhaps two-thirds) of the book, which is a fast-paced (I should stop saying this about RAH's novels because of repetitiveness) detective story with rollicking dialogue, outrageous escapades, and mysterious tension. Richard Colin "Dr. Ames" Campbell "I am not an assassin. Killing is more of a hobby with me" (p.3) is hosting a dinner for Hazel Stone (aka Gwen Novak) when a stranger has the bad taste to get himself killed at his table. Pretty soon Richard and Gwen find themselves on the run, hunted by unknown assailants, for an unknown purpose, with the entire small orbital company-run colony becoming one huge trap ready to snap any second. The story follows their hasty marriage, their narrow escape to Luna where they get into one adventure after the other, if not cuddling with very young girls, then shooting "agrarian reformers making a political statement," or trying to navigate a lemon Volvo ship plummeting to the moon surface (prescience on RAH's part again: Just how did he know that Ford would take over the company and ruin it?!), which, by the way, is the occasion of one of my favorite lines: "Captain Midnight, undaunted as usual, knew just what to do. 'Gwen! It lost the program!'" (p. 107).

When Richard and Hazel make it to Luna City, he finds out that his wife is really several centuries old and that they are supposed to rescue a sentient computer. When their stray kitten and pet project Bill finally turns on them (having been a sly agent all along), the married couple are rescued into the distant future and onto a distant planet, where Richard has his narrow concept of the world blow from under him, which naturally ends with him kissing a guy. This is where the novel slows down considerably and loses much of its wit.

The interest is piqued for a bit when Pixel (aka The Cat Who Walks Through Walls aka Schrödinger's Cat) shows up and occasions a brief discussion of indeterminacy, which constitutes a clue to the ending of the novel that might otherwise appear unfinished and unsatisfactory without the reference.

This book can be treated as RAH's penance for The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (TMIAHM), which many libertarian luddites took way too seriously as a political statement, which it manifestly was not. Although it has been impossible to pin Heinlein on his political beliefs, his wry satirical wit, military background, and the non-fictional Take Back Your Government along with the What I Believe statement make most of them pretty transparent. The runaway unrestrained liberty of TMIAHM has degenerated either into civil totalitarianism in Luna's Hong Kong or has become a corrupt democracy run amok in Luna City, a clear indictment of liberty without responsibility and without civic duty. If there's one thing that RAH can be seen as affirming time and again, it would be the duty to the fellow countrymen (not the government!), which places significant restrictions on personal freedom because of the obligations it generates.

There is also some interesting solipsist philosophy that views the entire universe as fiction, each different world in the multiverse is the creation of some especially fertile mind (usually a literary one), that manages to populate it with characters like the Galactic Overlord and the Beast. The "World as Myth" idea is further developed in The Number of the Beast and To Sail Beyond the Sunset.

Whatever its failings, this book is an enjoyable read, mostly because it showcases RAH at his best in the dialogue department and, at least for the first half, in the tight pacing and scripting departments as well. There is some rambling pseudo-philosophy here and there but I still have not made up my mind whether it's just thrown in as flashes of inspiration before they have been digested or as infuriating little sermons guaranteed to bother this reader.

Notable quotes

"Writing is a legal way of avoiding work without actually stealing and one that doesn't take any talent or training" (still, writing is not a victimless crime); (p. 33).

"How is a sincere criminal, trying hard, going to get ahead in his profession if his victim fails to cooperate? Almost all crime depends on the acquiescence of the victim" (p. 55).

"Unbridled curiosity about your wife's/husband's past is a sure formula for domestic tragedy" (one may add that unbridled curiosity about your wife's/husband's extracurricular activities is just as sure); (p. 85).

"Women seem to have almost unlimited capacity for forgiveness. (Since it is usually a man who needs forgiveness, this must be a racial survival trait.)" (p. 195)

"A boy's 'honor' was more delicate. If he lost it to another male (i.e. if they got caught at it), he might, if lucky, wind up in the State Department --- or, if unlucky, he would move to California" (p. 289).

"Women and cats do what they do; there is nothing a man can do about it" (p. 368).

March 24, 2003