The cat that walks through walls
The cat who walks through walls (original title: The Cat who Walks Through Walls ) is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein . The book was published in 1985; the German translation appeared two years later.
content
action
The action begins in the middle of a rendezvous between the two protagonists Richard Ames and Gwen Novak in a restaurant. Richard is about to order when an unknown man rudely sits down at the table. Richard tells Richard that he should kill someone because otherwise something bad will happen after seven days. But before he can say anything more about it, he will be killed. From here on, everything seems to conspire against Richard. He is forced to vacate his apartment and Gwen is not spared either. After both of them complained to the governor of the residential colony, but did not achieve anything apart from a little compensation money, they are now also wanted by the authorities for murder . Through a secret escape from the residential colony and a spectacular flight into space, the two manage to land on the inhabited moon . Even though Gwen is Richard's dream woman and she even proposed marriage to him, Richard believes that she has something to do with what has happened. In some way, he says, she's the key to everything. Gwen often has a helpful tool with her in tricky situations or saves both by taking the right action at the right time. Richard survived several assassinations on the moon, and there, too, the two are suddenly wanted. Now all that remains is to flee further into the future.
people
Richard Ames is a war veteran and has retired in space in the residential colony. He only has one leg and is wearing a futuristic prosthetic leg . In order to gain an advantage in certain situations, he likes to pose as a doctor , colonel or senator .
Gwen Novak is a journalist for a daily newspaper and a former police officer. Due to genetic changes, she has reached an old age (200 years older than Richard).
worldview
At the beginning of the novel, the protagonists live in a residential colony in space, not far from Earth, at the end of the 22nd century. This is a huge spaceship that, through its rotational movement, generates gravity within the residential colony. The colony has a form of government and acts as a separate state. The earth is very unpopular with the inhabitants of the colony. It is called a "filthy planet" and the inhabitants of the earth also have insulting names. When the protagonists flee, the moon was chosen as their destination, although the flight there is much more dangerous. There are only a few cities on the moon with their own oxygen preparation.
Classification in the work of the author
The novel The Cat That Goes Through Walls fits very well with Heinlein's typical writing style. It's instantly recognizable that it belongs to his specific science fiction franchise. As a reader, you almost get the impression that Heinlein had tried to include some elements of his books The Moon is a bitter mistress , The Lives of Lazarus Long and The Number of the Animal.
The novel was Heinlein's penultimate book. The author died on May 9, 1988.
reception
Many critics gave a one-sided negative assessment. It has been criticized that the first half of the story lacks tension. In the second half of the novel, the storylines and dialogues are very confusing. These shortcomings in the composition are unusual for this author.
Publications
English language editions
- The Cat Who Walks through Walls. Ace, 1988, ISBN 978-0-4410-9499-8
- The Cat Who Walks through Walls. Blackstone Audio, audio book read by Tom Weiner
German-language editions
- The cat that walks through the walls. Bastei-Lübbe , 1987, ISBN 3-404-28150-0 .
- The cat that walks through the walls. Bastei-Lübbe, 1989, ISBN 3-404-24124-X .
- The cat that walks through the walls. Heyne , 2017, ISBN 978-3-4533-1743-7 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d http://www.fictionfantasy.de/die-katze-die-durch-waende- geht
- ↑ a b http://rezensions.literaturwelt.de/content/buch/h/t_heinlein_robert_a_die_katze_die_durch_waende_ geht_mtz_12310.html
- ↑ a b c Archived copy ( memento of the original dated August 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
