I have long thought that Heinlein's juveniles, from Rocket Ship Galileo to Have Space Suit—Will Travel were the height of his literary achievement. I don't include Starship Troopers, which was submitted to be his thirteenth juvenile and bounced; I'm afraid I think his publisher was justified in having problems with it, though perhaps not in the lack of courtesy of the rejection. It just didn't seem as if Juan Rico had enough agency to make him capable of getting into interesting conflicts. Now The Rolling Stones is just crammed with characters who have agency (though, sad to sad, that doesn't seem to include Meade).
I agree, and I think that's because the publisher was reining him in. Like I said last year in "Constraints as the Writer's Friend", that pushed him away from excesses and toward better second thoughts.
That's a good point about "Starship Troopers." Making it another juvenile would mean taking away most of the moral philosophy lectures, but I could see that. But you're right - Juan, as it is, doesn't have strong enough motivations to make him an interesting protagonist of a leaner novel. Though, on the other hand, I could imagine more motivations being added to his character in revisions in a way consistent with the existing events?
It's hard to beat Heinlein's YA novels!*
*I know they're not technically YA in the current sense, but you know what I mean.
I have long thought that Heinlein's juveniles, from Rocket Ship Galileo to Have Space Suit—Will Travel were the height of his literary achievement. I don't include Starship Troopers, which was submitted to be his thirteenth juvenile and bounced; I'm afraid I think his publisher was justified in having problems with it, though perhaps not in the lack of courtesy of the rejection. It just didn't seem as if Juan Rico had enough agency to make him capable of getting into interesting conflicts. Now The Rolling Stones is just crammed with characters who have agency (though, sad to sad, that doesn't seem to include Meade).
I agree, and I think that's because the publisher was reining him in. Like I said last year in "Constraints as the Writer's Friend", that pushed him away from excesses and toward better second thoughts.
That's a good point about "Starship Troopers." Making it another juvenile would mean taking away most of the moral philosophy lectures, but I could see that. But you're right - Juan, as it is, doesn't have strong enough motivations to make him an interesting protagonist of a leaner novel. Though, on the other hand, I could imagine more motivations being added to his character in revisions in a way consistent with the existing events?
... and yeah, shame about Meade's insipidity.