This post is part of the 2016 Classics Challenge.

WHEN I Discovered This Classic
It's a children's classic that I've been aware of since joining the book community. It's super popular in the US, but not so much in the UK. Last year, Puffin got in touch to offer me a bunch of newly redesigned and published Puffin Classics. I couldn't say no and requested A Wrinkle in Time.

WHY I Chose to Read It
A Wrinkle in Time is not only a highly-regarded classic (it won the 1963 Newbery Medal), but a much-beloved classic. I was excited to finally pick it up.

WHAT Makes It A Classic
It's a novel that is seen to be for 9 to 12-year-olds and yet tackles highly complex themes. Good vs. evil – illustrated in the story as light vs. dark – and conformity vs. freedom are woven into the plot. It's scientific and philosophical, and some say religious.

Jean Fulton wrote: "L'Engle's fiction for young readers is considered important partly because she was among the first to focus directly on the deep, delicate issues that young people must face, such as death, social conformity, and truth."

"A straight line is not the shortest distance between two points."

WHAT I Thought of This Classic
I was intrigued, particularly by the concepts of wrinkling time and tessering; folding the fabric of space and time. Meg, Charles and Calvin are promised that they'll travel from one area of space to another and arrive back home five minutes before they left. As for the characters, I adored 13-year-old Margaret "Meg" Murray and her younger brother, 5-year-old Charles Wallace, who is both a genius and telepathic. They are the key to saving their father, a scientist studying tesseract, who is being kept on the planet Camazotz.

A Wrinkle in Time is one of the few children's science fiction classics I've read. It's impressive, challenging and ambitious. As my experience of science fiction is limited to dystopia and post-apocalyptic – and so therefore much easier concepts to grasp – I just about got my head around the science. But I appreciate that it was explained. I attended an event about writing children's science fiction a few years ago and a comment was made that it's easier to write for children because there's less to explain. I'm sure Madeleine L'Engle wouldn't agree. Rather than simply "travelling through time", the reader becomes more invested in how this might happen and what could go wrong.

Even so, A Wrinkle in Time was often a little too bizarre for me, as someone who generally reads contemporary fiction. I was hoping that I'd get into the story much more than I did. But I thoroughly enjoyed the personal journey that the children went on and it's one I'd happily give another shot.

“The only way to cope with something deadly serious is to try to treat it a little lightly.” 

WILL It Stay A Classic
I'm sure it'll continue to be popular within in the US, but it may be a little too peculiar to be reintroduced to the UK – but time will tell as a new adaptation is currently being made!

“They are very young. And on their earth, as they call it, they never communicate with other planets. They revolve about all alone in space."
"Oh," the thin beast said. "Aren't they lonely?”

WHO I’d Recommend It To
People who love science fiction. People who love stories about complex and challenging themes.

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

I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.

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!

4.5 stars!!

“Life, with its rules, its obligations, and its freedoms, is like a sonnet: You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself.”

This was my favorite book as a child, in fact I devoured the entire quintet throughout my tween awkward years. I remembered I had loved the book, but aside from a few random details, I found I barely remembered what happened. In fact, I read it so long ago, this was my copy:



Okay, so I’m not THAT old, my mom just bought a lot of books from the local used book store. I read too fast for her to keep up with me, normally it was just library books growing up. Anyways, I digress.

A Wrinkle in Time is about a young girl named Meg, she’s very awkward, has many faults (according to herself) and feels like an outcast. The only people she really finds a comfort with are her scientist mother, and her odd brother Charles Wallace. Meg’s father had also gone missing about two years ago, and while the town suspects he ran off with another woman, Meg and her family know this not to be true.

On a stormy evening, Meg and Charles Wallace receive a visitor, the peculiar Mrs. Whatsit. From there, Meg and Charles Wallace, along with a boy named Calvin, get whisked away in a journey to rescue their father. But they must travel through time and space to do so, and face a terrifying darkness to get him back.

“We can't take any credit for our talents. It's how we use them that counts.”

First off, I have to say, with the few exceptions this book really stands the test of time. It’s not dated at all, and except for the mention of a typewriter, this book could take place during any decade. It’s so rare to read a book written in the 1960’s that’s like that, so a solid kudos to the author.

One thing I’ve always loved about the story is Meg, and the idea that she’s not a perfect heroine, and that’s what makes her the hero of the story. It portrays that even though we have faults, sometimes our faults can be our advantage, and that fitting in with everyone else isn’t always the best thing for a society. I love that we have an “ordinary” heroine, who is expected to do extraordinary things, even though she’s not the smartest of the bunch.

It’s a bit obvious, being when this book is written, there are some subtext about the dangers of communism. The evil IT and how it makes everyone and everything the same, or else. I think with this subtext, it also portrays how important it is to be an individual and to make up one's own mind. In a way, this book is very relevant even present day. To fight against what’s wrong and not succumb to forces who want their definition of perfection.

Once I was able to put my mind to it, I was able to devour this book in a matter of hours. It’s a very fast read and one I believe all ages can and will enjoy.

“Like and equal are not the same thing at all.”


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I don't like time travel books much. I also thought reading science fiction often becomes a chore after some pages. I definitely didn't read the good ones. I realized it after reading A Wrinkle in Time.

“We can't take any credit for our talents. It's how we use them that counts.”

I read A Wrinkle in Time in grade school, 35-40 years ago. I remember really liking it, but none of the details. So, with the movie coming out, I decided to give it a re-read.

A Wrinkle in Time has the kernels of a lot of different ideas, scientific and religious, even if none are dealt with very deeply. I also thought the ending was pretty abrupt. But I think it works well as a book for gifted kids about gifted kids. And as a bonus, it’s got to be the best novel ever written that actually begins “It was a dark and stormy night.” Recommended for young readers.

Unlike some other reviewers I didn't think this book went downhill after the first three chapters.

I liked the first two chapters very much, but for a few chapters after that some of the writing felt a bit clumsy and I was starting to lose interest.

But the final half of the book was genuinely thrilling and I found it very hard when I had to put the book down!

I also very much enjoyed the portrayal of the children (in particular Meg) as flawed and often socially awkward human beings. In this regard this book reminded me of the early Harry Potter books (I've only read the early ones) and also in the way the children find their own strength.

I'm curious about what happens to Megan, Charles Wallace and Calvin, so will almost certainly carry on with this series.

Extra note: My edition also carries an afterword by L'Engle's granddaughter Charlotte Jones Voikis, which I found very helpful in understanding who L'Engle was as both a writer and a person.

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https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...

It was four-star stuff but the ending ruined it a bit - the part where Meg defeats IT by love. Why do people keep feeding this love-conquers-all nonsense to their children? Harry Potter, Doctor Who and now this. Love doesn't conquer anything, you need guns. In fact, I agree with Sherlock Holmes on this one - love is a serious disadvantage and sentiment is a chemical weakness found in losing side.

"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.

Science fiction/fantasy adventure based around Christian philosophies.

3.5

Reread this, one of the great children's classics of all time, via books on tape on the road through the American west this early fall, with L'Engle herself, RIP, reading it! A real treat to hear her voice with her own magic words. A book she tells us almost didn't make it to print because the publishing industry couldn't figure how to categorize it… they thought it was too deep for kids, etc. Great book, must read.

Life, with its rules, its obligations, and its freedoms, is like a sonnet: You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself.


I started reading A Wrinkle in Time last year, and I had to put it on a pause (not because it was bad, but because I had the longest reading slump of my life). Moving on to present time, since I've been reading a lot of children and middle grade books, I decided to pick it up again. And I'm so happy I did.

A Wrinkle in Time follows the story of Meg, her brother, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O'Keefe on their fantastic adventures filled with magic and different types of magical creatures. Even though the magic aspect of the story was really good, what I enjoyed the most was the science aspect of the story. Madeleine L'Engle mixed our own world perfectly with the magical one, but she also, at the same time, made it as realistic as she possibly could. The world, mixed with interesting character, and really creepy setting at times together made a wonderful novel, and an amazing start to a series that I cannot wait to continue.

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"Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world
And the seven seas,
Everybody's looking for something."

Eurythmics

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You have plenty of time to put this book in your reading queue before the movie release in March of 2018 starring Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon. Create some synergy by reading the book and then watching the movie.

Check out the trailer.

A Wrinkle in Time 2018 Movie Trailer

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