A Wrinkle In Time

This classic novel for middle graders begins on "a dark and stormy night." Meg Murry, her younger brother Charles Wallace, and her mother, a scientist, are in the kitchen having a midnight snack when a strange visitor shows up at their door. Soon after, this visitor, Mrs. Whatist, takes Meg, Charles Wallace, and their schoolmate, Calvin, on a dangerous journey to save Meg and Charles Wallace's father, a scientist who has been missing for over a year.

A Wrinkle in Time has been a favorite of children for many years. Because I never read it as a child, I'm not sure if my opinion about it would be different. For example, I recently reread The Chronicles of Narnia, a series that I read multiple times when I was a child. While I observed some shortcomings in the books and was bothered by the religious undertones I never seemed to notice when I was a child, I thoroughly enjoyed rereading them as an adult and getting reacquainted with familiar characters and plots.

Maybe I would have felt the same with A Wrinkle in Time. However, after reading it for the first time as an adult, it was just okay.

I loved the characters…kind hearted Meg, the exceptionally bright Charles Wallace, down-to-earth Calvin, and the quirky Mrs. Whatist. The plot full of magic, space travel, suspense and mystery is good enough to get a child hooked on sci-fi/fantasy. The dark and frightening climax when Meg is fighting "It", the disembodied brain, will keep kids on the edge of their seats and leave many eager to read the other four novels in the quintet.

What bothered me though was the lack of detail I would have liked to have seen more of. I wanted to know more about Mrs. Whatist and company and more about Aunt Beast, the furry creature that saves Meg's life. I would have liked to have seen the aftermath of Meg's defeat of "It" on Camazotz. Were the people freed? Was "It" destroyed? Granted, this may be revealed in a later novel in the series, but I did wish that there was a little more background information.

The other thing I had a hard time getting past was L'Engle's religious messaging. I admit that I'm uber-sensitive about having religious messaging in children's books that aren't advertised as religious-themed books. I feel that it alienates children of different faiths and is unnecessary in mainstream stories like this, especially when it adds nothing to the storyline. This has been a contentious issue since the book's publication, and L'Engle herself has always claimed that she talks about faith, not religion. I remain skeptical about that.

But religion aside, I do think it's a book that many children will enjoy. Because there are some frightening situations, I do not recommend it as a read aloud to younger children. I think grades 5-7 would be the appropriate age range.

Cross-posted at The Well-Read Child

Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

How many times have I read this book? Ten? Fifteen? I know only that much of the book I already knew by heart.

Meg is a classic gifted kid, brilliant in certain areas, but without a clue as to how to fit in among regular kids. Her little brother, Charles Wallace, is even more precocious. Meg and Charles meet up with three mysterious creatures, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Which, and Mrs. Who, and befriend a boy as gifted as they are who has learned to get along, Calvin. Together, they go off in search of Meg and Charles’ father and, in the process, have to find a way to fight the Black Thing and IT.

This was the first book I remember wanting to read over and over again when I was a little girl.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

I seem to remember that when I read Wrinkle as a kid I thought it was fabulous, brilliant, gripping. I'm really not sure what I thought was so great about it. Perhaps it's a book for kids, and its appeal doesn't reach forward over the generations as one ages. I don't know. Anyways, on this re-reading, 20 years later, I found it plodding and inscrutable, preachy, and overly pseudo-intellectual. The characters were hard to like. The story was hard to follow - or at least, hard to want to follow. Perhaps I need to read the other 78 books in the series to justify why they wanted to go this peculiar planet to begin with. There's no apparent motivation for It, or for the bizarre planet It runs, nor is there any particular motivation to save the cardboard-cutout people from It's reign.

Granted, many, many people I know tell me that this is one of the most brilliant books ever written, and that I'm just being obtuse. However, I'm pretty sure that most of them read it when they were 20 years younger than they are now.

A Wrinkle in Time - 3M's Review

A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle

1962, 224 pp.

Rating: 4

Newbery Medal




I listened to this book on CD with my sons on a short road trip. All three of us enjoyed it very much. Meg Murry is a girl whose parents are both scientists. Consequently her family is a little different than others. She and Charles Wallace, her littlest brother, get made fun of at school because everyone thinks they're either stupid or not living up to their potential. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Her twin brothers are more normal so they fit in.

Their father works for the government and has been missing for a few years. The search for Mr. Murry, with a little help from Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which, takes them on a journey too incredible to imagine. Three sequels follow that each of us plan on reading this year or next.

And Another Thing About A Wrinkle in Time....

...that I had forgotten, but remembered when starting A Wind in the Door (the sequel) with my son tonight.

I don't know if it shows how long ago the book was written, or how just how very different the Murry family is - but they eat liverwurst and cream cheese sandwiches.

Liverwurst and cream cheese sandwiches? That's almost as scary as the Black Thing.

A Wrinkle in Time

I first read A Wrinkle in Time sometime around the time I was 11 or 12, and I remember loving it so much that I went on to read all of its sequels and many of L'Engle's other books, including the adult ones. I think this prompted me to read a lot of other science fiction (and The Tempest), too, which led to an interest in science and other cultures that remains with me today. There's not too many books that I read as a child that I can point to as so influential, even affecting what I do and read today - which still includes lots of science and science fiction.

Despite my love for L'Engle, however, I never went back and re-read her books after my teen years. I'm not sure why. As my kids have gotten older, however, I've picked up many of L'Engle's books when I've seen them at library book sales, anticipating the day that they'll be old enough to read them. My son is finally old enough - but perhaps because of the somewhat girly 70's cover of the copy we have (see right), he didn't ever start it, despite (or because of?) my enthusiastic recommendation. Since we still read aloud at bedtime, though, and we're taking turns picking the books, I picked A Wrinkle in Time for the most recent story. And he likes it after all. Really, how could he not like it?

And how could I have forgotten this story for so long? It's very strange, reading about the oxygenating flowers, and creepy Camazotz, and the lovely fur-covered, tentacled Aunt Beast again. It's almost like reading it for the first time, but there's a familiarity, too - and I have to say, A Wrinkle in Time (like a few other Newbery winners - especially The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler) really stands the test of time. There's just one part in the beginning, where Calvin and Charles Wallace and Meg are talking about people assuming that Charles Wallace is a moron that strikes me as rather painfully dated.

The descriptions of Camazotz were especially chilling:

Below them the town was laid out in harsh angular patterns. The houses in the outskirts were all exactly alike, small square boxes painted gray. Each had a small, rectangular plot of lawn in front, with a straight line of dull-looking flowers edging the path to the door. Meg had a feeling that if she could count the flowers there would be exactly the same number for each house. In front of all the houses children were playing. Some were skipping rope, some were bouncing balls. Meg felt vaguely that something was wrong with their play...

Then the doors of all the houses opened simultaneously, and out came women like a row of paper dolls. The print of their dresses was different, but they all gave the appearance of being the same. Each woman stood on the steps of her house. Each clapped. Each child with the ball caught the ball. Each child with the skipping rope folded the rope. Each child turned and walked into the house. The doors clicked shut behind them (p. 103-4).

And Meg? How could I forget a character like Meg, with her stubborn anger, her loyalty, and her love?

Now I just want to go and read all the rest of L'Engle's books again. If you don't hear from me for a while, that's probably where I'll be.

1963 ~ A Wrinkle in Time ~ by Madeleine L'Engle

Title, author, date of book, and genre?
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle, 1962, YA speculative fiction

What made you want to read this book?
After posting the story of Madeleine L'Engle's death, I got A Wrinkle in Time from the library and read it that same evening. But then I couldn't write the review. I guess I'm in mourning. This morning I decided I really MUST do this so I can move on to the other books I should have already reviewed. Okay, so I've gotten started, thanks to my handy-dandy book review outline.

Did it live up to your expectations?
My first reaction: Well, of course it did, since I've read it before! On second thought: I was surprised this time by what seemed to be missing, things like cell phones and computers which, of course, were not yet the ubiquitous items they are today. But I was also overwhelmingly pleased with what WAS in the book.

Summarize the book without giving away the ending.
The article below, that I posted from AP, does that quite nicely:

Wrinkle tells the story of adolescent Meg Murry, her genius little brother Charles Wallace, and their battle against evil as they search across the universe for their missing father, a scientist. The brother and sister, helped by a young neighbor, Calvin, and some supernatural spirits, must pass through a time travel corridor (the "wrinkle in time") and overcome the ruling powers on a planet with a totalitarian government reminiscent of George Orwell's 1984.

Meg is 12, the twins Sandy and Dennys are 10, and Charles Wallace is 5. Calvin O'Keefe, 14, goes with Meg and Charles Wallace to find their father.

Which character could you relate to best, and why?
Meg and I are both the oldest of our siblings, so I relate best to her. However, I find Charles Wallace to be the most interesting, though he's so young he does things I didn't want him to do. Well, Meg didn't want him to do those things, either. On the other hand, in some ways I relate best to Calvin O'Keefe (see the quote below).

Were there any other especially interesting characters?
Oh, yeah! Three of them: Mrs. Whatsit was the comforter, an interesting allusion to the Holy Spirit, in my opinion. A Wrinkle in Time exposes readers to the words of great thinkers, as Mrs. Who quotes Pascal, Seneca, Shakespeare, the Bible, Euripides, Dante, and others. Mrs. Which is so ephemeral she shimmers ... and doesn't quite appear.

What did you like most about the book?
I like the fact that Madeleine L'Engle never, ever talks down to children. She assumes children know a lot more than most adults seem to think.

Share a quote from the book.

Calvin: "I'm not alone any more! Do you realize what that means to me?"

"But you're good at basketball and things," Meg protested. "You're good in school. Everybody likes you."

"For all the most unimportant reasons," Calvin said. "There hasn't been anybody, anybody in the world I could talk to. Sure, I can function on the same level as everybody else, I can hold myself down, but it isn't me."

No wonder I have always liked Madeleine L'Engle! She understands! See what I wrote in March.

Share a favorite scene from the book.
Meg is talking with her mother (pp. 46-47 of a paperback copy):

"I like to understand things," Meg said.

"We all do. But it isn't always possible."

"Charles Wallace understands more than the rest of us, doesn't he?

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I suppose because he's -- well, because he's different, Meg."

"Different how?"

"I'm not quite sure. You know yourself he's not like anybody else."

"No. And I wouldn't want him to be," Meg said defensively.

"Wanting doesn't have anything to do with it. Charles Wallace is what he is. Different. New."

"New?"

"Yes. That's what your father and I feel."

Meg twisted her pencil so hard that it broke. She laughed. "I'm sorry. I'm really not being destructive. I'm just trying to get things straight."

"I know."

"But Charles Wallace doesn't look different from anybody else."

"No, Meg, but people are more than just the way they look. Charles Wallace's difference isn't physical. It's in essence."

Meg sighed heavily, took off her glasses and twirled them, put them back on again. "Well, I know Charles Wallace is different, and I know he's something more. I guess I'll just have to accept it without understanding it."

Mrs. Murry smiled at her. "Maybe that's really the point I was trying to put across."

"Yah," Meg said dubiously.

Her mother smiled again. "Maybe that's why our visitor last night didn't surprise me. Maybe that's why I'm able to have a -- a willing suspension of disbelief. Because of Charles Wallace."

"Are you like Charles?" Meg asked.

"I? Heavens no. I'm blessed with more brains and opportunities than many people, but there's nothing about me that breaks out of the ordinary mold."

How would you rate the book?
Rated: 10/10, a book I couldn't put down.

Read Madeleine L'Engle's Newbery Award Acceptance Speech

and her Acceptance Speech upon receiving the Margaret Edwards Award from the ALA.

Now read what her former neighbor says about her!

This review was also posted on my book blog: Bonnie's Books.

Madeleine L'Engle (November 29, 1918 - September 6, 2007)

I'm sure you've heard the news of Madeleine L'Engle's death. I just didn't feel like we should let this moment pass without acknowledging the life of such a gifted author.

I'll end this with a couple of quotes:

"You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children."

"In the evening of life we shall be judged on love, and not one of us is going to come off very well, and were it not for my absolute faith in the loving forgiveness of my Lord I could not call on him to come."
-Madeleine L'Engle

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L'Engle

I first read this book in the fourth grade and can't believe I've waited this long to read it again. What a book! It's definitely one of my new favorites.

"It was a dark and stormy night," begins the story of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin, three children who learn to travel through space and time via a wrinkle, a tesseract, in order to rescue Meg's father, a scientist who disappeared while on a top secret mission.

In rescuing Mr. Murry, the children come face to face with evil and must stand up against it with the one thing they possess that evil does not--love.

What an incredible story! I particularly enjoyed reading it because Madeline L'Engle's book, Walking on Water, is one of my favorite non-fiction books. In it she talks about the relationship between faith and art and shares so much insight into her own writing process as well as a lot of other wisdom for life in general. If you've not read it yet, do!

L'Engle's own faith shines through this book and it asks some big questions about love, evil, and free will. As she says in the introduction, "Some of these questions don't have finite answers, but the questions themselves are important. Don't stop asking, and don't let anybody tell you the questions aren't worth it. They are."

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:

"One thing I've learned is that you don't have to understand things for them to be."

"You don't know how lucky you are to be loved."

"I think with our human limitations we're not always able to understand the explanations. But you see, Meg, just because we don't understand doesn't mean that the explanation doesn't exist."

"But of course we can't take any credit for our talents. It's how we use them that counts."

"Don't be afraid to be afraid."

I can't wait to read the rest of this series and think I'll start reading this book out loud to my girls tonight!