SFnal Heresy

I recently tried re-reading a few of Robert A. Heinlein's novels. I cut my teeth on them in my teens in the late 50s, and remember them with awe. Not so much, half a century later.

A few examples:

"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" still worked for me -- kept me turning pages.

"The Rolling Stones" has flip dialogue, but the plot carried it'

"Stranger in a Strange Land" (Author's 220,000 word version) had vast, weedy monologues -- often running to 3 or 4 pages -- that I found myself skipping.

"The Puppet Masters" -- When I found myself rooting for the brain slugs, wishing they'd shut the mouthy cardboard characters the hell up, I threw the book in the Out box.

I'm a cranky old man, I guess, and smart-mouth 30s/40s jive talk just sets my teeth on edge.

(Heinlein is still WAAAY better than A.E. van Vogt, however!)

Grump!