Rating: 
Summary: No wonder I was disappointed
Review: I finished "Cat" (my third Heinlein novel, after "Job" and "Stranger in a Strange Land") with a vague feeling of unease. Why did I lose that sense of excitement and fun near the end? Why doid I end the book, not with a feeling of pleasure and delight, but with a sense of pointless futility.
Thanks to the other reviews at Amazon, I understand -- "Cat" is fun for the first half, but then it putters out of gas and rolls to an anticlimactic (and disappointingly arbitrary) ending. Perhaps Heinlein purists will devour this book, but for a less evangelitical fan like myself, it's fairly forgettable.
I'm glad to hear that not all of Heinlein's titles are of this level, though -- it gives me hope for the next RAH book I'll tackle.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful introduction to the world of Robert A Heinlein
Review: "We need you to kill a man..."
If you've never read a Heinlein novel, this would be an outstanding place to introduce yourself to one of Sci-Fi's greatest authors. Heinlein wrote about the human condition and how extraordinary people reacted to their ever changing environment.
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls brings us one of his most dynamic protagonists. Gwen is strong, resourceful and brilliant. Everything Heinlein cherished in the human spirit
Rating: 
Summary: A WONDERFUL addition to the future-history series
Review: While I haven't read many of Heinlein's books, but I did find myself taken with the series. His wonderful interweaving of events provided a real life-like setting into which I was happy to escape. I do recommend reading "The Moon is A Harsh Nistress" before undertaking this book, and if interested in the series, begin again with "Methusalah's Children". OVERALL I found this book to be intriging and exciting, a must read for any lover of sci-fi
Rating:
Summary: A book of potential unrealized - a rare Heinlein stumble
Review: No one is a big a Robert Heinlein completist as I am. I even own the hardcover of "Tramp Royale." I've read and reread my Heinleins happily for years. Including "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls."
Sadly, it is a completist who will get the most enjoyment out of this book.
The first half of the book is a true adventure, and is very well told and paced. It features the tight characterization and dialogue that made Heinlein's reputation, along with the hard science fiction that Heinlein championed and told so well. After the first half... it slips. Badly. It slows to a crawl, it becomes nearly opaque, and the heart of the book -- Richard's banter with his wife -- is almost completely missing.
There are many cries about Heinlein's physical condition at the time he wrote "Cat." His latter years were in poor health, to be certain. But this health did not affect his writing (save for a condition he underwent around the time he wrote "I Will Fear No Evil," which precluded his editing the novel, which suffered for it). Indeed, two of his more successful later books -- Job: A Comedy of Justice, and Friday -- were both worked on and written in the neighborhood of this one. "To Sail Beyond the Sunset," Heinlein's last (and much much better) novel that was a sequel to this shows his acuity as a writer continued. My assumption is that Heinlein had certain events he wanted to set up for "To Sail..." and therefore wrote this book.
Nevertheless, I have read it several times, and do enjoy it. Fans of "Time Enough for Love," "The Rolling Stones," "The Number of the Beast," and "To Sail Beyond the Sunset" will want to read this. Fans of "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" will likely want to give it a look. But newcomers to the Grand Master should go elsewhere -- "Starship Troopers," "Double Star," "Stranger in a Strange Land," or "Citizen of the Galaxy," to name some -- to cut their teeth on this seminal Science Fiction author's work
Rating:
Summary: The one that hooked Dean
Review: Everyone should have a book they read over and over again, and this is mine. Cat was given to me a few years back by a dear friend who said "try it, you'll love it!". After over 20 readings I still find something new and exciting and the adventure still sweeps me away to the far away lands. The plot grabs you and holds you to the very end. Well worth the time to read
Rating:
Summary: This book is a must read for any sci-fi fan.
Review: I am new reader of Heinlein's works. But, after reading this book, I am now an avid fan. Unlike some of the other reveiwers, I was not at all bothered by the plot. I found the plot to be exciting and funny. But, I would recommend "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" before picking up this one. This book will not disappoint you in it's entertainmant value. A must for any sci-fi fan
Rating:
Summary: What's there to expect??!!
Review: Unlike the previous two reviewers, I have not read any ofHeinlein's other works. I can tell, though, that he (the author) isa very inventive sort. In fact, my one line summary of this book should read: "VERY, VERY ORIGINAL." Conceptually speaking, Star Trek has nothing on this book. I also loved the very witty prose- it's what kept me reading
on and on. Not a novel enthusiast, yet very much a reader, I have never
seen such dialogue as charming and sexually tense as Heinlein's. This
also kept me reading on and on. One thing that didn't was the plot. Like Mercutio, I thought the plot was very swift and tight the first half, then dragged
and DRAGGED the remaining half. The finale was especially horrible. I had come to expect a very original ending and instead, I got the (snap) and it's over
effect. Now, Heinlein kept on bringing up (like a pessimistic critic, I might add) the idea that no piece of fiction could be wholly original anymore, so I guess he thought that he was sealed to his fate as an "impersonal writer of one [big, collective] story," as a Walt Whitman (?) might have said. Still, I wish he could have taken some time to change the finale, maybe even rework the plot (I know how hard that is) to make the latter half as refreshing and exciting as the first.
Rating:
Summary: "The thinking man's Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy"
Review: -San Francisco Chronicle
An abosolutely mindnumbing adventure through space and time, "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls" is quite possibly the best book Heinlein has written since "Stranger in a Strange Land". This time creating the compelling character
of Dr. Richard Ames, part-time writer, full-time cynic, and unfortunate victim of mistaken identity. Ames is thrust headlong into a daring plot to rescue a sentient computer called mike, dragged through different dimensions where Lazarous Long and Jubal Harshaw still thrive, and becomes caretaker of a small kitten called Pixel. All this, in the name of Love.
Rating:
Summary: I certainly disagree with Mercutio's review!
Review: One of the later books including the Long characters. An
absolute delight and a top-notch adventure. For best
continuity, read after "Time Enough for Love" and "The
Number of the Beast."
All in all, my favorite of the forty-some-odd Heinlein
books in my collection.
Rating:
Summary: It's all about the possibilities
Review: I agree with the other reviewers who note that this should not be your first Heinlen book. With that said, this and many of his books are about the possibilities we all forget about as we grow older. The title of the book comes from a particular scene in the book when the main character learns a little more about the cat, Pixel. It seems Pixel can walk through walls because he doesn't know you can't! If only we all approached life without those preconceived notions about what we can or can't do! This reminder makes this one of my favorite Heinlen books.
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