Heinlein, Podkayne of Mars

[timeripple]

I would just like to state, for the record, that this book gives me the SCREAMING HEEBIE-JEEBIES OF RAGE.

Comments

[satakieli.livejournal.com]

Oh, boy, now I remember. Gah. I'm sorry. Yes, I also read an edition with "most remarkable heroine" on the cover, and had the same stabbity reaction.

He writes very engagingly, but writes women TERRIBLY. ALL THE TIME. And I mean all, because I've read every novel he's ever written except J.O.B., and most of his short stories. (What can I say? I was 13.) The only two exceptions for me were Hazel Stone in The Rolling Stones and Friday, in Friday, though for the latter your mileage may vary all over the place, as it has some of the same awfulness, but by the time it shows up it felt to me that it had been earned (the character has idiosyncratic non-gender-based reasons to feel that way). That's always provided you can make it past the first or second (I think) chapter, which can also be rage-inducing.

(edited to fix typo)

[timeripple.livejournal.com]

GAHHH. Well, I'll keep those two in mind in the event that I ever decide to read Heinlein again.