1963 - A Wrinkle in Time

Dates read: March 2008
Read or listened to: Listened to
Pages: 224 pp.
Rating: ●●●●○

As the American Idol judges might say (in the realm of singing, of course), I had a difficult time connecting emotionally to this book—until the end. Of course, I remember reading it once or twice as a kid in elementary school. I expected to get really into it, but it didn’t happen until I got to the last (5th) CD (where it was very good). I won’t say that I didn’t enjoy the book—because I did. I just expected to enjoy it more. Here are a couple pros and cons.

First, I listened to a recording done by Madeleine L’Engle herself. I am used to professional performers doing the recording so, although she did much better than the typical person, I found her voice a little bit distracting. Also, Meg is really whiny. I know that the book is supposed to show her strengths, transformation, etc. but her whiny-ness bugged. (I think it was compounded by the voice of the reader.)

I loved Aunt Beast. Even entering the story at the end, I found her very real and I connected to her. I loved the dialogue about light. Is true light found in what gives us ability to see? Or is true light found in what gives us the ability to know. I was touched by her comment that she knows things as they are as opposed to how they look. When Meg and Calvin were trying to find out if the beasts knew Whatsit and Co. all Meg could do was describe how they looked. Aunt Beast had to remind her that that was not going to get them anywhere seeing that the beasts had no eyes! Calvin tried to describe their essence. It got me thinking that perhaps we could do well to think of people by how they are and not just their physical and superficial qualities.

I will say though that in lots of distopia books the hero or heroine has to come to understand that his/her power comes from love. Now, I wholeheartedly agree that we gain power beyond our own through our love of others and relationships. It is indisputable and true! But I felt that it was a little too simplistic as I read/heard it in this book. Looking back to the book as a whole, I feel like it was believable, but at the time it was a bit cheesy.

Incidentally, throughout the book I thought about elementary and junior high school when the teachers would give us an assignment to find words on the pages that we don’t understand to create our own vocabulary list. I always struggled with those assignments because I found it hard to find words I wasn’t familiar with. (I don’t think I had such a great vocabulary, I just think the books had pretty basic vocabularies.) Anyway, this would be a good book for that. Twenty years after junior high and there are words in it that I didn’t recognize.

It might sound like I didn't like the book. I did though. I am just becoming more and more of a critical reader, I think. The story though is great and original and I loved the world and the concepts that L'Engle created!