cpw1952's Full Review: Madeleine L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time: Literature ...
I admit it. I laughed out loud! How can you possibly go wrong with the novel that introduced the famous opening line "It was a dark and stormy night"?
The earth is surrounded by a sinister presence – a dark, foul fog that is the tool of an ultimate evil – whose ambition is to enslave the planet with the complete removal of free will. Three magical beings, Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who and Mrs Which – witches, angels, demigods perhaps – appear to Margaret and Charles Wallace Murry and their friend, Calvin O’Keefe, to persuade them that it is their destiny to battle this evil on its own turf and to rescue Margaret and Charles Wallace’s father. Dr Murry has been missing for some months and the kids learn that he has been captured by the evil while he was “tessering”, traveling time and space in the course of his scientific research.
While the writing is straightforward, well crafted and obviously aimed at a younger audience, “A Wrinkle in Time” is nonetheless a fast paced enjoyable tale of good vs evil that combines elements of science fiction, fantasy and magic even adult readers will flip through relentlessly. But there are lots of life lessons, issues and moral themes sprinkled throughout – low hanging fruit just waiting for the eager child, the observant questioning teen, the confused parent or thinking adult to pick and chew on, as it were – the coming of age realization that parents are not infallible; the cruelty of malicious gossip; God and evil; the awkwardness of romantic adolescent relationships; the potential destructiveness of pride or vanity; the marginalizing of people who are different; the enormous difficulties of selflessness; the understanding that all life’s questions will not be answered; and more.
L'Engle has used fascinating, well developed characters to convey these ideas and to move along a plot that is at once realistic and yet entirely fantastic. Meg is the smart kid whose intelligence manifests itself in bratty rebellion and a refusal to conform. Charles Wallace is so brilliant - even his mother acknowledges that he's quite off the scale -that he instead chooses withdrawal to the extent that all of the other children are convinced he's a complete moron and is doomed to a life of failure. Calvin O'Keefe, on the other hand, is blessed with size and physical ability. So he chooses to mask his intelligence and awkwardness with the forced appearance of self-confidence, conformity and participation in team sports.
While some readers criticize “A Wrinkle in Time” as being overtly moralist, I felt somewhat differently. It was clear to me that religion and, in particular, Christian symbolism was present but I felt that L’Engle let it sit quietly just beneath the surface and the story never became even remotely preachy.
It is little wonder that “A Wrinkle in Time” has been elevated to the status of children’s classic and continues to be enjoyed by adults and children alike more than 40 years after it was first published for a grateful reading world.
Paul Weiss
[also published on Amazon]
[modified slightly for Epinions]
One stormy night a strange visitor comes to the Murry house and beckons Meg, her brother, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin OKeefe on a most da...More at Christianbook.com
Meg Murry, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are having a midnight snack on a dark and stormy night when an unearthly stranger appe...More at HotBookSale
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.