Science fiction/fantasy adventure based around Christian philosophies.

3.5

"it was a dark and stormy night . . ."

and so begins one of the best stories ever with one of the most improbably wonderful first lines. i read this first in fourth grade, at the pressure of my mother, who insisted i would love it despite the fact i was in a phase of "anything not based on history or about living in the woods/island/frozen tundra alone sucks!!" so it took me a while to pick it up. then i simply couldn't put it down. i have probably read this book upwards of fifty times, and it never seems to get old. perhaps because i so related to meg (except for being good at math), perhaps because i somehow understood the christian theology on a level i wouldn't fully get until much later, but honestly, i think it was the sincere horror of "IT" and that planet.

the messages this book sends are remarkable. it's layered and complex and still able to be enjoyed by a ten year old. i'm so glad it's never been turned into a movie, and i find it highly ironic that it took so long for l'engle to find a publisher for this -  A Severed Wasp was sold first, i think, and then she shopped this around and couldn't find any takers.

i have about three copies - all different editions. i give this away as a present all the time, though i've done it so often now, i'm going to have to find a new fall-back book. this is the book i tend to reread when i'm feeling particularly down. it's still innocent l'engle, it's still the safe world of the murrays - she develops into a harder person, i think, with the austins and even the o'keefes (at least, through polly). this book reminds me of simpler times, and how things tend to always come back to your roots, to the beginning.

I reread a childhood favorite in one night. Who can forget the cozy Murry kitchen, the way science and religion are valued equally, tesseracts and planet adventures. If a book can be a warm blanket, this is mine.

When I as young, I loved Meg because I felt as awkward as her, and also as unable to grasp a boy ever liking me the way Calvin just does. But I also had those weird insights in ways not quite as dramatic as Charles Wallace, so I was all of those kids. And my Dad worked all the time, maybe not on another planet, but far enough away for my Mom to run the household, minus the science experiments and liverwurst-and-cream cheese sandwiches.

Meg Murray misses her father. He disappeared years before when her younger brother Charles Wallace was a baby. Meg feels a bit lost. At school she feels left out and stupid. At home she feels left out and stupid. Her older brothers are athletic and smart. Her younger brother is a genius. But she is just Meg. Where does she fit in? Out of everyone, Charles Wallace is the one person who understands her. Then one night Charles Wallace mentions his three strange friends who live in a strange house in the woods -- Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. The three strangely magical beings will lead the children on a quest to rescue their father and teach them lessons about life, the universe, and love.

When I heard they were making a new movie version of this book, I decided I needed to read it again. I loved this book when I read it as a child. It mirrored a lot of my own feelings about myself. I liked the discussions of poetry, mathematics, the universe, God....plus the strange creatures and worlds they explore. As a child some of the philosophy and insights in the story were over my head. Re-reading this as an adult, I caught more of the wisdom and lessons from this book than I did as a third grader. I never read the rest of the series when I was younger. I'm glad that I now have the entire set and can read the rest of the story.

Now that I've re-read the book I'm waiting patiently for the movie to be released on DVD. I wonder if it follows the book, or deviates substantially? There is a lot of discussion about God in A Wrinkle in Time. I'm curious to see how much might have been removed in the movie version. I'm equally as curious about the mathematics, physics and science woven into the story. I can't wait to see the movie to see how they might have changed the characters, story and ideas.....and whether the tale still retains its magic in the film version.

A Wrinkle in Time is the first of five books in the Time series featuring the Murray family. I never read the complete series, so I'm excited to finally have the rest of the books. I also want to read the Austin Family Chronicles, another series written by Madeleine L'Engle.

Have you ever read a book and felt that you were missing something?

Yep, that’s me with A Wrinkle in Time.

Confession time: there were many parts of this book that made me giggle. Starting with the first line: It was a dark and stormy night. Then, the mention of stew. One member of my family thinks that stew is ew, and “stew” was mentioned six times in this relatively short book. Finally, the mention of IT. Trust me. I hate going to IT.

I was able to follow the plot—it seems relatively straightforward. However, the symbolism was lost on me (other than I know that there was some religious symbolism). A Wrinkle in Time makes me want to locate someone smarter than myself and ask them to explain it to me.

At the beginning of A Wrinkle in Time, the author said that children get this book and adults do not. Maybe I am overthinking it?

A Wrinkle in Time is a fast-paced fantasy novel. In my opinion, it was a little too fast-paced especially in the beginning where we are introduced to a deluge of characters. It was also a bit too focused on world building instead of on plot.

2025 Reading Schedule
JantA Town Like Alice
FebtBirdsong
MartCaptain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
AprtWar and Peace
MaytThe Woman in White
JuntAtonement
JultThe Shadow of the Wind
AugtJude the Obscure
SeptUlysses
OcttVanity Fair
NovtA Fine Balance
DectGerminal

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I had forgotten so much of this book. Most of my memories are of the kitchen and farmhouse, and just the fact that they were searching for their father. I had forgotten how spiritual the book is, for one thing, and found myself almost in tears as I read to my children about this fight between the darkness and the light, between free will and having every choice made for you. Oh, how I love Madeleine L'Engle!

Lately I’ve started reading books without realising they have religious content or connotations until half way through. This book is one of them.

The start was very promising and then I felt it went downhill. It also felt rushed to me and didn’t all come together or make enough sense.

This is a short, easy read that rates a 4.4 on the Flesch-Kincaid reading index (meaning that it requires a 4th-5th grade reading level). But that's based strictly on the sentence structure, vocabulary, paragraph size, etc.

What the stats don't cover is the depth of feeling and the profound scope and meaning in this book. Madeleine L'Engle's sentences may be rather simple but her notions of good, evil, love, and devotion are taken to a cosmic level (literally). This isn't mere sci-fi or fantasy; it's gorgeous, breathtaking Humanism.

L'Engle never talks down to her child/young adult audience; though she aims at their level there are plenty of weighty, inspiring themes for adults to savor. The child-centric focus gives it a level of simplicity, yes, but also a kind of intense purity. She brilliantly weaves in issues relating to childhood, adolescence, parent-child relationships, maturation, acceptance, social stigma--all of which make the book utterly relatable, even when the kids are transplanted to fantastic or awful new planets in far off galaxies.

There are some religious overtones, but they're really more cosmic than religious (even the stars in the galaxy are fighting the great darkness). She uses some of the language of Christianity to express her notion of universal love, but I don't think that should be seen as making this a Christian text. As an agnostic-bordering-on-atheist none of the language turned me off. Christians are free to embrace it as a wildly expansive view of Christianity but non-believers should be able to see that she has a vision that goes beyond the language used.

I can't do the book full justice here. Just pick it up and engross yourself in it. It's only about a 4 hour read for most adults and easily well worth it.

Do enjoy.

I do not like Meg. I really do not like Meg. She's a stubborn, whiny little brat.

I wasn't all that into this story until they got to the planet of Camazotz. Then it becomes sort of like a kids' book version of Brave New World, with "IT" instead of "soma."
"On Camazotz we are all happy because we are all alike. Differences create problems."
"We let no one suffer. It is so much kinder simply to annihilate anyone who is ill."

I'm not terribly wild about the in-your-face religious references in the book. That sort of thing needs to be used subtly or not at all. But perhaps this was more prevalent at the time the book was written.

Mrs. Whatsit is my favorite character. I think I'll start taking my fashion tips from her. I like Mrs. Who, also, with all her goofy quotes.

An evil darkness consuming the universe, and three little children determined to stop it.

In a little cozy home, in the midst of a lovely gardened area, lives the Murry family. A scientist mother, a distant father on a secret mission, two overprotective twins, the little and enigmatic Charles Wallace, and the ever troublesome Meg.

A storm presages the dangers to come. The Darkness, the evil Black Thing threatens to swallow the Earth and everyone in it, among other worlds and universes already corrupted by its malevolent presence. Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin, a fellow schoolmate, embark on a desperate mission through several worlds to try to find their lost father, and, maybe, just maybe, save a small part of the universe.

An enjoyable read, simple, endearing, and weird! Not exactly recommendable, but good enough to hold interest. The first of five moderately short books.

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n  PERSONAL NOTEn:
[1962] [218p] [Fantasy] [Not Recommendable]
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★★★★☆  1. A Wrinkle in Time
★★★☆☆  2. A Wind in the Door

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Una malévola oscuridad que consume universos, y tres pequeñs niños determinados a detenerla.

En una pequeña y acogedora casa, en el medio de una area hermsamente cultivada, vive la familia Murry. Una madre científica, un padre distante en una misión secreta, dos mellizos sobreprotectores, el pequeño y enigmático Charles Wallace, y la siempre problemática Meg.

Una tormenta es el presagio de peligros por venir. La Oscuridad, la Maldad Negra, amenaza con tragarse la Tierra y a todos en ella, entre otros mundos y universos ya corrompidos por su malévola presencia. Meg, Charles Wallace y Calvin, un compañero de la escuela, se embarcan en una misión desesperada a través de diversos mundos para tratar de encontrar a su padre perdido y, tal vez, sólo tal vez, salvar una pequeña parte del universo.

Una lectura pasable, simple, tierna, y extraña! No exactamente recomendable, pero lo suficientemente buena como para mantener el interés. El primero de cinco libros medianamente cortos.

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n  NOTA PERSONALn:
[1962] [218p] [Fantasía] [No Recomendable]
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5 Stars for A Wrinkle in Time (audiobook) by Madeleine L’Engle read by Hope Davis.

I found this book on a list a while back and I added it. I recognized the title but I didn’t know anything about the book. So I gave it a try. The story is wonderful, it seems to be in the tradition of Alice in Wonderland. It hits that sweet spot of YA story that adults can really appreciate. In this edition the author and others talk about how hard it was to get this book published and how the publishers couldn’t figure out how to categorize it. I think the problem of how to categorize it is over now. It just belongs on the list that I found it on, that was a list of best books of all time.

I passed over these series as a child, although I remember wanting to know what the hype was about. I finally picked up this first book and gave it a try. I'll just come out and say it: I was almost annoyed with how bored I was reading this. I'm really confused as to why it was such a big deal! It felt like a short story! I've read a lot of children's books and none of them felt this...lackluster in regards to the content inside the story. I'm not saying I disliked the characters or the events. Those were fine. It felt like someone had the plot outline and then just turned that in as the book. There didn't seem to be much detail or emotion even in any situation in the book. It was like every third sentence had been chopped from the book. Kids are not complete idiots. They can deal with more detail or momentous situations.
I'm going to keep reading the series in the second book and see if my opinion changes. I really hope it does change upon further reading.