About this title: An inventor of timesaving household devices is frozen for 30 years after falling prey to an unscrupulous partner and girlfriend, who plan to profit from his latest invention, a specialized robot. When his wakes up in the year 2000, though, he realizes that his foes didn't count on one thing--time travel was perfected in the interim, allowing the ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: New American Library, New York
Date Published: 1957
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Free upgrade to First Class mail (for one book). Older book with edgewear and pages tanning due to age. Still a good reader. 159 p.; 18 cm. Signet science fiction, T3752.. read more
Edition: "Second Printing, March, 1964"
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: New American Library, New York
Date Published: 1964
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Free upgrade to First Class mail (for one book). Older book with edgewear and pages tanning due to age. Still a good reader. 159 p.; 17 cm. Signet books; D2443.. Publishing date found in the American book publishing record, 1960-1964. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Del Rey
Date Published: 1986
ISBN-13:9780345330123ISBN:0345330129
Description: Acceptable. Overall below average used book. May have highlighting, underlining, notes, price sticker on cover, or be an ex-library book. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Del Rey
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780345413994ISBN:0345413997
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. A former library book with the usual identifiers. -, Trade PaperBack, Very Good / read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Del Rey
Date Published: 1986
ISBN-13:9780345330123ISBN:0345330129
Description: Acceptable. Front cover has 2x3 inch piece missing along right bottom corner and water staining on same area of title page photo available upon request General Reading Copy, All pages and text intact, May contain highlighting/marking or other serious defects. Major defects may exist which may or may not be noted Customer Service isn't just a motto for us, its a way of life. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Date Published: 1986
ISBN-13:9780345330123ISBN:0345330129
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Ex-library. some wear to cover; some stains; no marks or writing within text; RTB747. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 304 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Signet Book
Date Published: 1957
Description: Very Good. Unread, unmarked copy with very light wear to cover. Free, automatic1st class upgrade for books under 14 ounces. Free Priority upgrade to all domestic orders over $20.00. Satisfaction guaranteed. read more
Edition: Second Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: New American Library
Date Published: 1964
Description: Good+ 12mo. {005497} The Door Into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein. Published by New American Library in 1964. MASS MARKET PAPERBACK 12mo Sci-Fi Second Printing {Book Condition} GOOD+ {Book Condition Details} Cover: edge wear, creasing on Spine, creasing, rubbing, End Papers: owner inscription(s) on front free endpaper, Text: tanning around extremities, occasional creasing. {Signet D2443.50} read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Signet, New York
Date Published: 1964
Description: Good. 159 pages. Signet #D2443 March 1964 Edition. Slight spine cock, reading crease and minor cover creases. Age tanning beginning on most pages. On the enlightened planet Earth it is no longer necessary to kill an enemy to get rid of him. Just get him into the Long Sleep. read more
Description: Good. Del Rey, PB, 1956, 1986 reprint edition, 7th printing (1990). Good reading copy, solid binding, wear on corners and edges, no markings, slight page toning. read more
Description: Good. A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (including dustcover, if applicable). The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "from the library of" labels. Return Policy Any defects, damages, or material differences with your item, must be reported to us within 7 days of receipt of the item or 30 days from date of shipment. The returned merchandise must be ... read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: New American Library, New York
Date Published: 1957
Description: Fair. No dust jacket. Pages clean, binding tight, no odor or stains, some wear on the cover, in great shape for such an old book. 159 p.; 18 cm. Signet science fiction, T3752.. read more
"Even though less acclaimed than "Stranger in a strange land" and "Friday", I found myself enjoying "The door into summer" much more than either of the other two. Maybe it was that the main character was an engineer and the story appealed to me more, I don't know..."
"I LOVED Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (best sci-fi book EVER), so I figured if it's only half as good as TMiaHM, it'd still be a dang fine book.
And it was a good book, but not a dang fine one. Definitely fun, but not genius. I will say this for Heinlein: He's amazing at describing complex sci-fi ideas in a way that makes them not only make sense, but seem like something we've already been employing for years. "Yes, of course we can time travel." or "Yeah, I read about cold sleep in Time magazine." I was amazed at the breadth of his ideas--did Heinlein do anything else besides come up with fake sci-fi inventions? I mean, did he take time to eat and sleep?
It was fun to read about The Year 2000, and learn about the great inventions that weren't: good-bye zippers, for example. He wasn't far off on some of them: reading a newspaper reminded me a little of a Kindle (except the newspaper was still made of paper-type stuff). Good fun at any rate.
As far as plot line goes, it's a little "predictable", but it's meant to be so, since they hint at it ON THE COVER. It makes me feel like a real genius, then, that I figured it out half-way through the book. ... The predictability doesn't make it less fun to read, cause you're still in sci-fi land, and you still don't know all the details.
The book is fun and light--won't make you ponder much about our place in the universe. Recommend for a quiet weekend read."
"Interesting. I'm more of a fantasy than a science-fiction reader, but once I got past the hokey cover the simple story was more than enough to hold my attention. I'm still not quite sure about Heinlein's explanation of time travel, and I was hoping for a more immediate confrontation between Belle and Dan, but all in all very satisfying."
"This is the first Heinlein book I've read, and I definitely enjoyed it. Dan Davis is a thoroughly likable main character. While his status as the clear protagonist of the piece is never in doubt, he exudes a mischievous and witty attitude which keeps him from becoming a boring, pure white hat.
Heinlen's depictions of 1970 and 2000, while obviously factually incorrect considering the book was published in 1957. are fascinating. He admits that the future has both its good -- who wouldn't want a smog-free Los Angeles? -- and its bad -- who wants an overcrowded Los Angeles? -- but seems to argue through Dan that the future is ultimately an improvement over the past. I can't say I necessarily agree, but I doubt I'd enjoy the past anymore than Dan enjoyed traveling back to 1970.
The time travel plot device was well used, though I probably would have enjoyed it more if it had not been spoiled by the plot description on the back of the edition I was reading. Heinlen the "closed loop" form of time travel, which prevents the possibility of paradox. That was smart of him as a writer, and it inspires Dan to make some profound declarations at the end of the novel concerning the possibility for free will and predestination to coexist, and how it all fits into God's plan.
He proposes a worldview similar to to that of Augustine's in City of God. Just as Augustine believes God can be omniscient while permitting humans to make their own choices, Dan believes that God allows to make him to make his own choices, though a set plan does exist. This philosophizing sounds much more interesting coming from Dan than Augustine, because Heinlein is a much more entertaining writer than Augustine!
Apart from these musings, the novel is just overall a fun yarn. It's difficult not to like Pete the cat and Ricky, and it's difficult not to hate Belle and Miles. The characters don't have incredibly complex motivations, but they don't need to in this case -- greed and love are simultaneously simple and powerful motivations, though love turns out to be the more powerful of the two. The love story does run the risk of being unsettling due to the initial age difference between the two characters before the time wackiness, but it ultimately ends up being endearing. It completely redeems Dan from engaging in the fiasco with Belle at the start of the novel.
To summarize after overlong review: a really enjoyable read that turns out to be more intellectual than the reader may have anticipated from the start."
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