The Cat Who Walks through Walls

By: Robert Heinlein

Narrated by: Tom Weiner

Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Robert A. Heinlein wrote some of the best-selling science-fiction novels of all time, including the beloved classic Stranger in a Strange Land. In The Cat Who Walks through Walls, he created his most compelling character ever: Dr. Richard Ames, ex-military man, sometime writer, and unfortunate victim of mistaken identity.

When a stranger attempting to deliver a cryptic message is shot dead at his dinner table, Ames is thrown headfirst into danger, intrigue, and other dimensions where Lazarus Long still thrives, where Jubal Harshaw lives surrounded by beautiful women, and where a daring plot to rescue the sentient computer called Mike can change the direction of all human history.

©1985 Robert Heinlein (P)2007 Blackstone Audio

Critic reviews

"Dialogue as witty as Oscar Wilde's, action as rollicking as Edgar Rice Burroughs', and satire as spicy as Jonathan Swift's." ( New York Times)

The cat who walked through Walls was

Possibly the most masterful of all Heinlein’s prose.
The nonstop action presented thru Mr. Weiner’s excellent narration is nail bitting. The multiple voices Mr. Weiner uses for each of the characters are clear and unique.
Though I have read the print version of this novel numerous times, listening to it as an audio book brought a whole new dimension to the story.
Bravo!!!

An almost pointless story with a horrid ending.

i almost stopped listening several times. now that I finished I wish I had.

The story was mostly pointless and the ending was a horrid mess. The story changed into too many directions and felt like several storied rolled into one.

i normally live SciFi but this just sucked.

Classic Heinlein

Great entwining of new story with previous ones. It's better to read older ones before reading this one.

Pretty Good Book, but Too Dated For Me

I have always been a fan of Robert Heinlein. I especially loved Stranger in a Strange Land. However, now that I'm older, I think the dated style that Heinlein used is starting to grate on me. This one is done in the noir style of Raymond Chandler, et al. But his cutesy banter between men and women wasn't even realistic in the forties, let alone today. It appeared often enough that I got tired of rolling my eyes and searching for a way to skip past it in the audio-book (too bad they don't have a Skip Forward button!)

Also, the Everyman Yankee (AKA MacGyver) who can do the most random things that 99% of people can't do (and serendipitously progress the plot) has become less believable as I have grown more experienced. For example, how many readers can really pick a lock?

The story is pretty good, and the narration was quite good. But I guess I have just outgrown Heinlein. :(

An interesting tale of time and relationships

This Heinlein classic is a study in alternate relationships, quantum travel and good old fashioned science fiction. We follow a man living in the future as his life is turned upside down by a series of events that lead to ducking everything from local police to shadowy super villains. There are a few twists in the story.

As it is with most classic science fiction, it is fun to listen to this and compare the technology Heinlein thought up to what we really have today.

This book is a sequel to the Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It is a good listen and makes the miles go by fast.

A Sexually Frustrated Master of Filler Writing

There is a thoroughly forgettable story there. But, by the time you hit the half-mark, the writing mostly devolves into flirting between the main character and the women around him. And by flirting I mean the women pushing themselves simultaneously at all sides at the main character, while he grumpily agrees. Is she his wife? She's apologetic and horny. Is she the nurse in the same room with his wife? She's sassy and horny. Is she a scientist? Scantily clad and horny. Is she twelve? You get the idea. And they're all brimming with the desire to serve, and are downright offended if the character doesn't want them then and there - individually or as a group.

This stuff ends up taking up so much writing space that I want to pat Heinlein on the back and say 'there there old man. It'll be all right.' And then I remember that it's my time he's wasting, and that what I wanted was to listen to some @#$%ing sci fi when I bought this audiobook.

The narrator is pretty good. You'll probably be reminded of The Scary Door narrator from Futurama, but it kind of works.

Its entertaining

I very much liked the first 3/4 of the book and plot. Action packed, and kept me curious. The last quarter was a bit confusing as it seemed spotty. I infer that it was somewhat intentional. Narrator was good, but his monotonous voice would put me a dull trance that at times made me want to take a nap.

favorite

still my favorite Heinlein story. I like reading with Moon is a Harsh mistress. I was so sad the day RH died.

Sad ending

I loved the story narrator was great. I wish the book was longer wanted more

Audio is great on low volume

The narrator has an overly dramatic voice which lends the book to sound like a Guy Noir parody. BUT if you are like me and enjoy listening to books on very low volume this book as great recording quality. Many audiobooks have a popping or hissing effect in the narrators voice at 20% volume. I think it's because of the audio compression, but I don't. I gotta say, this is one of the few books I can leave on when I'm drifting off to sleep and there is zero degradation in the audio quality. The quality of the writing... eh, its classic Heinlein. He's always been a bit misogynist, depicting a future women are still second class citizens and have the emotional depth of a teaspoon.