Talk:Podkayne of Mars

message: Hi 68.50.125.89 -- Thanks for working on providing a vigorous defense of the ending as Heinlein originally wrote it. I felt, however, that what you wrote was repetitive, and the organization of the paragraph became unclear because you tacked your text onto the end. I've pared it way back down, and reorganized it into two paragraphs. Could we talk here about it?--Bcrowell 15:08, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi -- I'm glad we seem to be converging on a version that presents both points of view clearly and forcefully. I personally feel that both endings are weak, and that this makes the book one of the poorest of his juveniles. In any case, it's been a pleasure working with you on this article! --Bcrowell 18:23, 3 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion of ending

message: I just finished re-reading Podkayne of Mars (Berkeley Medallion Edition, 1/1970, 7th printing).  In this ending Poddy is hurt, but will recover, and Uncle Tom lectures Dad. The article says "Podkayne is injured by the bomb, but will recover, and the moral of the story, as spoken by Uncle Tom, is omitted entirely." Do you know if there are three different endings? I'm wondering if this could be someone's memory playing tricks on them, or perhaps the 1995 version with both ending omitted UT's lecture in one of the endings to avoid repeating it. I don't suppose anyone has a first edition copy of this book? DejahThoris 08:05, 25 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Question about Different Endings

message: Actually, Podkayne tells us that on Venus murder is considered a very serious breach of regulations that will have you working like a slave for the rest of your natural life to pay off the indemnity, and concludes that if you want to kill somebody you should lure him to somewhere like Mars or Earth where it's a social matter and all they do is hang you or something. No future in it on Venus.
Now that she mentions it, I wonder whether hanging would work on Mars. Low gravity. But I digress... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 4.232.99.143 (talk • contribs) 01:26, 26 October 2006  (UTC)
:Probably.  Longer ropes, or else pull the rope akin to tying it to horses.  Or weight the prisoner.--Wehwalt 14:42, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Kill somebody? Fine" 

message: A comment was made in the article (since removed, see "No Original Research) that there is not enough time in the events in the novel for the diary to have been written.  If this can be documented by reference to timings internal to the novel, then it might be suitable for inclusion. Hu 07:41, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I think the editor was referring to the self evident fact that regardless of the ending, Heinlein had to have someone else finish the story because Poddy was in no position to do it.--Wehwalt 14:38, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

text: Nice point.  If you can find a way to squeeze it in, go right ahead.--Wehwalt 16:34, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Timeline (internal consistency) 

message: Missing the section of the book where Poddy & Clark are on the ship and Poddy is helping out the racist older ladies.  Tom as I recall was black, and both Poddy & Clark would have been of mixed race.  Clark of courst gets his revenge on the old ladies by soaking their washclothes with some kind of coloring agent resulting in them having bright yellow-colored faces.
:I left it out because it wasn't a major part of the plot. We already know Clark is...ahem..."unusual". Clarityfiend 04:33, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Plot 

message: I've modified the rather bald statement that Mrs. Fries was not neglectful to make it from Poddy's POV.  There are some hints that Heinlein drops to make it clear that Mom wasn't around too much.  First, Poddy makes passing reference to various space construction projects that Mom was involved in (Deimos, for example).  Second, Poddy mentions that she had to save Clark from falling into the Grand Canal repeatedly.  I'd think Clark would be over that kind of thing by age six, so that means that until age 12 or 13, Poddy had some pretty strong reponsibilities vis a vis Clark.  Third, although it is possible that all this space construction took place before Poddy was born, after the "triplets" are decanted, Mom is repeatedly on the phone explaining that she isn't available for projects.  If her active career in space construction ended with Poddy's birth, it is hard to see why anyone would call.  So Tom's criticism may be valid; we don't know.  So I've rephrased it to mean that Poddy doesn't view her mom as neglectful.--Wehwalt 18:26, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Poddy's Mom

message: I grew up in the 1950's and 1960's when women just didn't do this sort of thing...it was a real revelation to find a character - in a juvenile read (though I didn't differentiate in those days) - who not only was a mother but a senior engineer on some major projects.  THIS was the woman I wanted to be...and today I am a Professional Engineer, Ph.D., etc. etc., play with some extremely big toys, and am a fairly major noise in my field.  Not to mention raising children (and now grandchildren) and supporting the whole bunch of them.  Oh - and my husband is an art historian.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.138.156.147 (talk) 16:04, 2 June 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Thank God you didn't choose Poddy herself to be your role model then. Otherwise you'd probably be fully absorbed by babies and your aspirations in life be restricted to caring for babies in a cool environment (maybe not a spaceship though). --Mudd1 (talk) 22:22, 18 March 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Poddy's Mom as Role Model

message: Is this only part of the revised ending, or also of the original ending of the story? If it's in both, then the article is currently misleading. FilipeS (talk) 16:21, 2 April 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: It is only in the version where Poddy survives.--Wehwalt (talk) 21:27, 2 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Uncle Tom's lecture in the epilog

message: John Varley has been writing novels as homages to Heinlein's novels, including Red Lightning, Red Thunder and Rolling Thunder.  I haven't read them yet, and I hope somebody else can include something about them here.
99.9.112.31 (talk) 21:25, 10 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  John Varley