Madeleine L’Engle started writing this book the year I was born, and I think it has fared a bit better than me

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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Madeleine L'Engle is a Christian writer, more so even than C. S. Lewis in my opinion. However, while the influence of Christian Theology (and in later books, biblical history) is woven throughly through out all the books in this series, it is not offensive to non-Christian readers. I am one of those.

To be completely honest, when my mother first read me this when I was about 7 years old, I was totally oblivious to the influence L'Engle's faith has on her writing. It wasn't until I was twelve or thirteen, when I read the entire series several times over, that it became obvious to me.

But I digress. What really makes this book (and others in the series) has nothing directly to do with the writer's faith. It has to do with the different types of non-sexual love found between family, friends, society, and the individual. I know, big thing for a Children's novel, but it generally is shown rather then told thereby allowing young children to learn by example.

Going back to the faith thing for half a second, it's like a large parable for how the New Testament (Protestant Christian, any how) advises people to form relationships and maintain them. We are to love and respect our parents, even when the world doesn't. Meg believes in and loves her father, even though he has some odd theories and has been missing for years. We are to care after our siblings regardless of personal quibbles, again like Meg and her brothers. WE are to show compassion for our neighbors despite what other members of our society think (See Calvin's friendship with Meg and Charles) and To care for them even though it might mean personal risk, as in some of the later scenes. Over all, it demonstrates a non-sexual love as one of the most powerful forces in the Universe. And this is a moral lesson that every faith can embrace.

This is a beautifully told story that is basically about love. Important messages about family, friendship, being different, and standing up for what's right. Sci-fi for kids. It says 12 & up but most 9 to 11 year olds enjoy it also. L'Engle introduces concepts from science, philosophy, music, etc., with great imagination. And it's been one of my favorite books since I was 9 and my 4th grade teacher read it to the class. Then my 5th grade teacher read it to us. And then I bought the book for myself, and I still have that copy. I'm always surprised when people are not as enthusiastic as I am about this book. I always cry with emotion at exactly the same place near the end of the book...won't give anything away here. I reread this one every few years and it's a special experience each time.

Oh, and I so love the original book cover art that's on the book I own. Leaves all to the imagination unlike the various newer covers.

I was scared to reread this book, I hadn't read it since I was in seventh grade and that was a loooong time ago. A Wrinkle in Time was the book I would read as a kid when I was in a bad mood or bored or just because I wanted to get wrapped up in the magic of another world. I read A Wrinkle in Time for the first time in second grade and it made me fall in love with reading. Of course I liked to read before then but this book turned me into the voracious reader I am today. So as I said before I was scared to reread this book after all these years given how much it meant to my childhood. I worried I wouldn't like it and I didn't want to destroy the memory of this book.

So how do I feel after rereading it?

I didn't love it as much as I did when I was a child but that was an impossible bar to reach. I have to admit I was very confused for the majority of the book. I don't know how I understood this book as a 8 year old when I could barely keep up as a 32 year old. I'm glad I reread it and I'm glad I didn't hate it. My childhood memories remain intact. Had this been my first time reading my rating would have been lower(2.5-3 stars) but since I probably wouldn't be the reader I am today or the woman I am today without this book 4 stars seems a fitting rating.

The Bookbum Bookclub

2018 Bookriot Read Harder Challenge: A Children's Classic Published Before 1980

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2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge: a book with an ugly cover.

A Wrinkle in Time (Time Quintet #1), Madeleine L'Engle

A Wrinkle in Time is a science fantasy novel written by American writer Madeleine L'Engle, first published in 1962. It is the first book in L'Engle's Time Quintet series, which follows the Murry and O'Keefe families.

The book spawned two film adaptations, both by Disney: a 2003 television film directed by John Kent Harrison, and a 2018 theatrical film directed by Ava DuVernay.

One night, thirteen-year-old Meg Murry meets an eccentric new neighbor, Mrs. Whatsit, who refers to something called a tesseract.

She later finds out it is a scientific concept her father was working on before his mysterious disappearance.

The following day, Meg, her child genius brother Charles, and fellow schoolmate Calvin visit Mrs. Whatsit's home, where the equally strange Mrs. Who and the unseen voice of Mrs. Which promise to help Meg find and rescue her father..

عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «چین دادن زمان»؛ «چینی بر زمان»؛ «سفر شگفت انگیز»؛ نویسنده: مادلین ال اینگل؛ تاریخ خوانش: روز بیست و یکم ماه سپتامبر سال 2009میلادی

عنوان: چینی بر زمان؛ نویسنده: مادلین ال اینگل؛ مترجم: صدیقه ابراهیمی (فخار)؛ بی جا، مترجم، 1371؛ در 216ص؛ موضوع داستانهای نوجوانان از نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 20م

عنوان: سفر شگفت انگیز؛ نویسنده: مادلین ال اینگل (لنگل)؛ مترجم: صدیقه ابراهیمی (فخار)؛ تهران، دستان، چاپ دوم 1381؛ در203ص؛ شابک9646555888؛

عنوان: چین دادن زمان؛ نویسنده: مادلین ال اینگل؛ مترجم: صدیقه ابراهیمی (فخار)؛ تهران، کاروان، کتابهای لوک، 1388؛ در240ص؛ شابک9789641750833؛

بـُعد پنجم همچون بعدهای: طول، عرض، ارتفاع، و زمان، بعد دیگری از دنیای ماست، اگر بـُعد پنجم را بشناسیم، میتوانیم فواصل طولانی چندین سال نوری را، در چند دقیقه میانبر بزنیم؛ خانم «چیستان (میسز واتزایت)»، «کیستان (میسز ویچ)» و «کدام (میسز هو)»، سه پیرزن عجیب، در خانه‌ ای به نام خانه ی دیوها زندگی می‌کنند؛ آنها به ظاهر ترسناک هستند، زیرا لباس‌هایی شبیه جادوگرها می‌پوشند؛ اما «چارلز» باور دارد، که آنها می‌دانند پدرش کجاست؛ در یک شب توفانی و تاریک، این سه پیرزن عجیب، همراه با «چارلز» و خواهرش «مارگریت»، و دوستشان «کالوین»، راهی سفری دور و دراز بین سیارات دوردست می‌شوند، تا پدر «چارلز» را پیدا کنند، و از آن مهم‌تر دنیا را نجات دهند؛ در داستان علمی-تخیلی حاضر شرح این سفر به تصویر واژه های خیال انگیز کشیده شده است

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 08/10/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 13/07/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

3.5 Stars

Anthem by Ayn Rand is one of my favorite books, and I feel like this is the perfect kid-friendly version of that.

I've been going back and reading a lot of children's classics I neglected to read as a kid, and I think they're fascinating. I see how they appeal to young readers, and I can predict how much I would have loved it as a kid, but I also catch really deep themes and allusions that I know I never would have understood as a child. This book makes so many Shakespeare references and includes such a mature discussion about conformity and knowledge, and I think it's a priceless success if a book can be compelling for readers of all ages.

That being said, the only enjoyable part of this book I found was only the middle bulk. I didn't attain a particular attachment to any of the characters, and the writing style felt cozy but average. Until we arrived at the discussion about that dystopian planet around page 100, the book felt a bit aimless. I don't anticipate I'll read the rest of this series--sci-fi isn't my thing--but I did really enjoy the plot of this when we finally got to the good stuff.

We all want to fit in somehow. We also want to be ourselves and thus stand out a little bit, but basically we don't want to deviate too much from "the norm" because it's usually considered bad by others (funny, considering that we're pretty much all feeling the same way so we should just let the others be) and especially children often have a hard time when not fitting in with their peers. Thus, being different can be risky.

Meg is a girl that doesn't fit in. Her parents are multiple PhDs and have taught her and her siblings a thing or two (about maths mostly) with the result that Meg can often not understand why she is supposed to solve a (mathematical) problem in school this way instead of that. The problem is that neither her teachers nor the other kids in school are thrilled with what her parents have already taught her and she is therefore subject to verbal bullying from both groups.
Meg has three brothers: twins (Sandy and Dennys) and Charles Wallace. The former two know how to play the game and usually don't let anything get to them. The latter is 5 years old and usually doesn't speak at all because he knows full well that his correct and adult way of speaking - to say nothing of knowing peoples' minds - would freak others out. He prefers letting them think he cannot speak and is "dumb". He's also Meg's confidant and (thanks to his ability) always knows what she and their mother need.
The children live in a house with their mother who conducts experiments in a room off the kitchen. Sadly, the childrens' father has been missing for over a year, leaving the family emotionally desperate. He worked with the government and there isn't any information the family is given by way of explanation. The cruel people of town speak about him having left for another woman, which doesn't make Meg feel any better, of course. In fact, Meg hates people for being so unfair and ignorant and she frequently grows impatient with the way things are (leading to her getting into trouble).
Thanks to her gifted brother Charles Wallace, the family encounters a peculiar old woman called Mrs. Whatsit. The following day, Meg and Charles Wallace not only meet Mrs. Whatsit's sister (Mrs. Who) but also a boy from school - a popular boy, Calvin, who nevertheless seems to have enough troubles of his own and reveals to only be popular because he is what everyone expects of him without it really being him.

To go into such detail about the children is important to me because they are the central characters. Sure, Mrs. Which, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Who are important as well and the kids meet other creatures besides them, but the author managed to truly write a story for and about children.

Anyway, at one point, the three ladies reveal to Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin that they want to help getting back Meg's and Charles Wallace's father because he is in great peril. Thus, they take them on a fantastic journey through several galaxies.

It's a tale of all your faults being necessary at the right time if you can apply them properly, of perseverance, love, and self-sacrifice. It's about the darkness in the world and that we can't simply do nothing, even if that might seem seductively easier. It's also about celebrating who you are instead of homogenizing the entire world.
Camazotz, a world the children travel to while trying to find their father, is the perfect example of what happens when everyone has to be like everybody else. Not only does it make the world grey and dull, it also does not make the people in it happy.
This is definitely a tale I'd read to my children if I had any, because it teaches so much about people, the world, perception, and looking beyond the surface. It's also about compassion and intelligence and hard lessons that all people need to learn at one point in their lives or another and the author had a wonderful way of not only delighting me when I travelled to distant planets with the children, but of also breaking my heart once or twice.

I loved the prose, I loved the author's imagination, I loved the children and everyone they encountered for the colourful worlds they inhabited and their strangeness. I loved how the interaction of light and dark was portrayed, how our way of seeing the world was challenged, and the fact that the book was filled with scientific topics, explained so children could understand them. In the introduction to my edition, the author said that the book had been rejected many times, usually because nobody could tell what it was (it was as different as its main characters) and the publishers said that children would never "get it" - to which the author commented that children usually perceive much more than adults, and her own children (demanding more writing from her) were proof enough for her to persevere. I therefore love her self-imposed high standard to make this a tale for children, about children, that nevertheless equally thrills thanks to the adventure and educates through the imbedded facts. It is rather fascinating even though there are plenty of religious themes embedded as well (though much more subtly than C.S. Lewis did in most of his books).

I have the audiobook that was read by Hope Davis and was delighted about her narration. I've listened to a number of audiobooks lately but she must be one of the top 3 narrators I've heard so far and I hope she's narrated the rest of the series as well.
Because this is a quintet and while you could technically regard this as a standalone, it literally ends in the middle of a sentence from Mrs. Whatsit which caught me by complete surprise and left me wanting more (nice touch). *lol*

So 41 of my goodreads friends have read A Wrinkle in Time, but I never picked up the book until these past few weeks. I’m not sure how this novel and I slipped past each other in my youth. I’m guessing that since the main character was a girl I wasn’t that interested in middle school and when I grew older the science fiction elements didn’t appear strong enough to snag my interest. Oh well. Last weekend I bought A Wrinkle in Time at a Borders near the Seattle airport. I wanted the novel to get me through the grueling twelve hour journey (whoo, flight delays and pre-dawn connecting flights!) home, and I thank Ms. L’Engle for the perfect story for early hour near-hallucinatory reading in the middle of the Minneapolis International promenade.

What makes this book so good? First off, A Wrinkle in Time works under the assumption that kids are smart enough either to grasp the nuances of some fairly deep physics or, if they don’t get every detail, they’ll flow with the storyline anyway. One woman I know said, “I didn’t understand all the science when I was a kid but I still loved it.” That makes sense to me. Hell, I didn’t understand all the science now, and I’m (supposedly) a grown-up. L’Engle doesn’t just say, “And then they traveled time.” She tries to explain how time travel might work. I wonder if so many kids, especially girls, liked this novel because they felt L’Engle respected them as intelligent readers.

Second, A Wrinkle in Time frames Meg’s personality as multi-faceted and more complex than just about any I’ve encountered in YA literature. In fact, reading this novel I couldn’t help but consider her a template on which some more modern coming-of-age characters (think Harry Potter) were modeled. She’s brave but doubts her own strength in an tangible, authentic manner. And her relationship with Calvin is sweet without getting all High School Musical.

Third, the evil in this novel is damn scary and the darkness pure and substantial. We’re talking elemental, unadulterated evil that manifests itself in the fear and conformity of those who break down in its presence. And the characters’ encounters with this evil feel real. The climatic scenes are perhaps slightly too swift but the nuances of the battle fit well with a remarkably philosophical (and Christian, but in a positive way) resolution of good and evil’s conflict.

If my friends’ reviews are any indication a lot of smart girls who turned into strong, intelligent women grew up under the spell of A Wrinkle in Time. I feel like I know them a little better after reading this novel, and I can see them all, around age ten, turning the book’s pages in their rooms, feeling their own strength and potential. And that’s damn cool, really, don’t you think, a whole generation of girls reading A Wrinkle in Time? Maybe little girls across America are googling “tesseract” as we speak…

I have one general, self-imposed rule about reviewing on this site: I write about the books I've read in the order I've finished them. By that logic, I should be cobbling together my reaction to Hunger right now but I am so taken by this childhood staple that there's no room in my brain for anything other than uncontrollable glee over this book that another Madeleine has given to the world.

I never read this book as a kid. I didn't read it as a teenager or a college student. I read it for the first time with 30 coming at me like a crazed stalker who won't let a pesky thing like a restraining order stand in the way. And that did concern me, especially after half-heartedly slogging through the first four books comprising the Narnia Chronicles a few years ago before taking an indefinite break from tackling what should have been another enthusiastically remembered staple of a young reader's diet. I was afraid that I'd completely missed out on enjoying A Wrinkle in Time, a novel that I have heard praised up and down by so many people as the prime example of how good children's literature can be.

So I read it like I read as a wee lass who didn't realize that she was poised at the very beginning of what would become a lifelong pursuit of books fueled by an insatiable need to keep reading. I read well past my bedtime with one tiny light illuminating the path to somewhere magically transportive, knowing full well that the bookworm gratification far outweighed the inevitability of being a zombie all morning. I read it when I should have been doing something else as dictated by responsibility. I read to be told a story and to consider ideas I'd never come across in the world beyond two covers, sure, but mostly I read to give myself up to a writer's lush landscape, to lose myself in someone else's words. I read it to let my imagination run free through a universe I fervently and fruitlessly wished to be a part of.

And my adult self was just as enchanted as my inner child was. Sure, A Wrinkle in Time has its faults but I honestly couldn't tell you what they are because I was so thoroughly entertained, so taken with these characters I couldn't believe I could relate to in a way that was far less remote and removed than I expected (which is to say, at all) that all the things my nitpicky, pretentious post-English-major self would usually hone in on paled in comparison to the sheer enjoyment of the rush of letting a book completely suck me into its world to the point where the real world could have collapsed around me and I wouldn't've either cared or noticed because I was so wrapped up in this story.

On one hand, yeah, I do feel a little cheated that so much of what I needed to hear as a kid has lived within these pages all this time and I could have had such imperatives by my side to ease the pains of childhood's harsh but necessary learning experiences had I just shown even a fraction of some interest in this book. Among them: One's parents are not infallible. Weaknesses can become strengths -- nay, tools integral to besting some truly harrowing obstacles -- in the right circumstances. That sometimes you have to face down scary or unpleasant truths, and you're not excused from looking away or backing down just because the task ahead is either scary or unpleasant. It's better to embrace your individuality and not compromise yourself, no matter how uncomfortable you are in your own skin, than to mindlessly submit to the herd mentality and easy conformity. Just because something appears strange doesn't make it bad -- or all that strange at its core, after all. What things are is infinitely more important than what they look like.

But conversely? This book drenched my ordinary existence with fantasy's magic for a few days, and I'm sure it'll stick with me in the days to come. My first encounter with this book wasn't a foggily but fondly recalled childhood memory that's destined to be tarnished by the darkening cynicism of the years upon revisits from my older self. I got to experience the breathless wonder of a kid discovering an instant favorite for that very first time as an oasis of sheer escapist rapture in the face of a few intense work days and the humdrum nature of routine adulthood. And it proved to me that I don't always have to be such a goddamn snob about kid lit because when it's good, it is extraordinary. (And, really, let's be honest: Younger Me wasn't exactly the sharpest crayon in the tool shed, so who's to say I would have picked up on the more subtle elements that made this such a delightful read, anyway?)

Despite my natural inclination toward hyperbole, I am not exaggerating when I say I'm a little better for having read this book, one that I initially arrived at out of dubious curiosity and left in a state of giddy, childlike awe. And maybe a few tears.

5+++++ Stars!!!!

“A Wrinkle in Time”. How can I never have read this before??! Have I been living under a rock my entire life?

This was utterly DELIGHTFUL, Amazing, Funny, Scary, Brilliant & Crazy Bold. In short, I loved it. Ok, and I admit, I didn’t read it. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Hope Davis - and she was amazing. That being said, thank you Madeiline L’Engle, - “A Wrinkle in TIme” was mystical, magical and nothing short of fantastical.

Thirteen year-old Meg Murry and her little brother, Charles Wallace end up going on a little trip.. (without their Mum or their siblings), to the 5th dimension. Mind you, they don’t go alone. They go with Mrs. What-Its, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Witch and a young man named Calvin. Yes, the 5th dimension exists my friends and the trip takes a mere second or two (see, I knew it!). It’s a terrifying trip, yet they go nonetheless. Why do they go you ask? To find and save Meg’s father, a scientist, who has been trapped on Camazotz for years. With help of Calvin, Mrs. What’s Its, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Witch and a friend she encounters named Aunt Beast, Meg is sent off to do the impossible.

Camazotz is an evil planet however, and Camazotz is being controlled by “IT” (not Stephen King’s “IT” mind you), and IT controls everyone and everything and if IT gets control of you, there is no getting free. Finding the strength to fight IT takes something special. It takes something that is inside of everyone who is human. Meg just has to find it.

“A Wrinkle in Time” surprised me. I didn’t have any idea how much I would love it. It was amusing, frightening, intense, intelligent, oh so magical. I simply adored it. I wanted to get to it before the movie came out in a few months and I am so glad I did. If for some reason, you are like me and have never read it, I highly recommend you either read or listen to the audiobook. You will not be sorry. A Wrinkle in Time will leave you breathless. One minute a huge smile will break out on your face, and you will be grinning from ear to ear and then next you will be clenching your teeth, scared for Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin, hoping against hope that all will turn out ok.

Published on Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter on 10.15.17.

“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.