Portable Magic
Reading, for me, is entertainment and an escape from the real world. But it can also inform and stretch the boundaries of the life I live.
Currently reading
The Door Into Summer ★★★☆☆
This story is definitely amusing fluff, which seems right for a short sci-fi novel written in the 1950's. I best liked Pete the cat and that the story does not take itself too seriously. Its attitude toward its female characters is pretty awful, though, even taking into account that was written in the 50's. I have the uncomfortable feeling that RAH was a founding member of the MRA society. The ladies are all evaluated first on their physical attractiveness, and I say "ladies" loosely because this also applies to an 11 year old girl. The only smart woman is a "man-eater" caricature, who gets her just desserts as
(show spoiler)And the attitude toward the little girl is just creepy, as she is primarily described in terms of her future desirability as a sexual companion. She and the main character
(show spoiler)Gross.
Audiobook, borrowed from my public library via Overdrive. The performance by Patrick Lawlor is excellent - he reads with just the right amount of self-aware amusement - and dragged this book back up to 3 stars to redeem it from its miserable female characters.
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