Pervy, bad takes on sex and so-so writing. Whole lotta mind poison in this book, wish I just gave up on it.

'of an age' both for the author and for the era. heinlein's few works from the late 60s to mid 70s were mediocre, usually staggered writing with an unintentional burroughesque feel (william burroughs, who wrote novels, then cut the manuscripts into sections and randomly assembled the pieces into a final draft). In the mid 70s, after brain surgery, the old heinlein re-emerged and he published some fine novels, e.g. Friday.

There are a couple of lucid novellas buried in a too-large novel of rambled thoughts. Those are worth reading, and will be evident to those familiar with heinlein if they skim the book. The rest can be placed in the bad hemingway bin.

'of an age' also from the generational gap the 1960s uniquely represents. Many stereotypes from that era are backdrops for the novel's characters.

It's also nice to think of the main character, Lasurus Long, still with us. Heinlein immortalized.

The storyline and character development is typical Heinlein quality and thus I couldn't wait to sit down and continue reading. This is more of a story about sexual morales and short stories of a characters lifetime than it is about science fiction. However there were long periods where the main character would muse about sexual morales in an almost dogmatic manner as if Heinlein himself wished for these morals to be true in his lifetime. Other times I felt that Heinlein purposely pushed the reader to accept these dogmas which themselves are contrary to 20th century thinking. These two things in themselves aren't what I disliked, but the amount of time it distracted the reader from the story is what I found annoying. Other than that this is a fun read and definitely conjures up some interesting thoughts.

Second DNF of the year. Maybe I'm not in the mood for self-congratulatory philosophising that goes nowhere and accomplishes little, maybe it's maybelline

Weird and fascinating. I think Heinlein showed more of his own thinking and philosophy in this than in any other book he wrote. His protagonist, Lazarus Long, appears to be a very thinly veiled (and, of course, idealized) self-portrait as far as personality and values go. If I had to pick one of Heinlein's books for someone to read to get a picture of his world view, this would be it. Caution: this has some violence and sexual situations, including adult incest, that might be disturbing to a lot of readers.

I'll not beat around the bush: this is a novel about sex (incest in particular), spanking or cutesy threats thereof, and, tangentially, aging.

Despite the promising premise of a two thousand year old main character, Heinlein's flaws as a writer are as present as ever:

- An ever-monologuing character who mansplains everything about the world
- Flat and stereotyped women
- A variety of dated moral axes to grind
- Lack of a meaningful plot arc, just a series of events

I enjoyed myself at times, but overall this is not a worthwhile read, even for a Heinlein fan.

Great book, imaginative and fun. The main character is full of good bits of advice, on nearly ever subject imaginable. He is likable despite being such a know-it-all, though, and by the end of the book you wish you could just go find him and hang out with him.

This one took me a loooong time. I first attempted to read it over a year ago (probably closer to two years), but just couldn't get into it. After I finished "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls," I decided to try it again. I was quite busy, working on a film set, but managed to eventually finish it in a little over 10 days (most days I could only read 5-10 pages).

I have no doubt that Heinlein was a skilled writer -- I loved The Cat who Walks Through Walls -- but this one was a little too all-over-the-place for me.

My previous favorite SF book (before I read Ender's Game), and the single novel that has had the most profound impact on me. For some reason old Lazarus Long really spoke to me as a teenager. I have read this book a couple of times since, and love coming back to it each time.

dirty old man intertwined with classic SciFi? Or just the former? It was hard to decide.