Meg Murry, nuestra protagonista, tiene problemas para adaptarse en la escuela, es difícil adivinar que sus padres son científicos. Su padre desapareció tiempo atrás en extrañas circunstancias, pero la mamá no ha perdido la esperanza de volver a verlo. Su hermano pequeño, Charles, es un no prodigio; su mente posee una percepción excepcional que le permite más allá de las apariencias. Es esa habilidad la que les permitirá encontrarse con las señoras Qué, Cuál y Quién, y descubrir que detrás de ellas se esconde un increíble secreto, "la arruga en el tiempo" que puede llevarlos a otros mundos. Justo lo necesario para emprender la búsqueda de su padre perdido, ¿no creen? En el espacio exterior no existe el aire, así que respira hondo y prepárate a viajar junto a Meg, Charlie y su amigo Calvin para averiguarlo.
Ese libro es un clásico inclasificable de la literatura juvenil. Me encantó

4★
“Meg looked up at her mother, half in loving admiration, half in sullen resentment. It was not an advantage to have a mother who was a scientist and a beauty as well. Mrs Murry’s flaming red hair, creamy skin, and violet eyes with long dark lashes, seemed even more spectacular in comparison with Meg’s outrageous plainness.”

Ah, poor Meg, convinced she is plain, not so much because of her beautiful mother as because of the popular girls at school who make fun of her. They are among those who have been spreading the gossip that Meg’s father ran off with someone and abandoned his family.

Meg knows he wouldn’t do that, and her mother refers to his eventually coming home. He worked for the government and was often away, so they believe he’s been delayed somehow, and Meg is determined to find out. She is independent and quite different from the other teens in her class.

Her little brother, Charles Wallace, didn’t speak during his earliest years and is considered stupid, but it’s obvious he is unusually perceptive, hyperalert to people’s thoughts and feelings.

“‘School awful again today?’ he asked after a while.

‘Yes. I got sent to Mr Jenkins. He made snide remarks about father.’

Charles Wallace nodded sagely. ‘I know.’

‘How do you know?’

Charles Wallace shook his head. ‘I can’t quite explain. You tell me, that’s all.’

‘But I never say anything. You just seem to know.’

‘Everything about you tells me,’ Charles said.”

The two of them have decided they will visit the local haunted house, because they are pretty sure they know who has been stealing sheets off the neighbours’ clotheslines. They walk through the woods one evening with their big dog, and as they near the haunted house, the dog begins to bark furiously.

Here is where we meet Calvin (who becomes our third musketeer, so to speak), who is a good-looking, popular athlete a couple of years ahead of Meg in school. Charles Wallace demands to know why he is at the haunted house. Calvin is escaping his family.

“‘I’m third from the top of eleven kids. I’m a sport.’

At that Charles Wallace grinned widely. ‘So ’m I.’

‘I don’t mean like in baseball,’ Calvin said.

‘Neither do I.’

‘I mean like in biology,’ Calvin said suspiciously.

‘A change in gene,’ Charles Wallace quoted, ‘resulting in the appearance in the offspring of a character which is not present in the parents but which is potentially transmissible to its offspring.’

‘What gives around here?’ Calvin asked. ‘I was told you couldn’t talk.’

‘Thinking I’m a moron gives people something to feel smug about,’ Charles Wallace said. ‘Why should I disillusion them?’”

Calvin goes on to explain he had a strong compulsion to come to this house. He said he doesn’t often feel like this, but when he does, he follows it. Charles Wallace can see that he and Calvin are on a similar wavelength, but he explains to Calvin that Meg is “not one thing or the other”, which annoys Meg, of course.

These are our three main characters. In the haunted house are three other characters, Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which, who start out sounding like fairy godmothers of old, but are much more interesting and complex. So is the story. These ‘women’ help the children find their way into another realm, travelling through space and time. Here they go.

“ Did the shadow fall across the moon or did the moon simply go out, extinguished as abruptly and completely as a candle? There was still the sound of leaves, a terrified, terrifying rushing. All light was gone. Darkness was complete. Suddenly the wind was gone, and all sound. Meg felt that Calvin was being torn from her. When she reached for him her fingers touched nothing.

She screamed out, ‘Charles!’ and whether it was to help him or for him to help her, she did not know. The word was flung back down her throat and she choked on it.

She was completely alone.

She had lost the protection of Calvin’s hand. Charles was nowhere, either to save or to turn to. She was alone in a fragment of nothingness. No light, no sound, no feeling. Where was her body? She tried to move in her panic, but there was nothing to move. Just as light and sound had vanished, she was gone, too. The corporeal Meg simply was not.”

As you can see, it gets quite scary, as they battle a dark thing, a dark shadow, an evil dark force of some kind.

This was written for young readers, and had I read it as a child, I would have been completely absorbed, I’m sure. Today’s young readers have been exposed to so many modern time travel and world-building stories that this may not have quite the same magic pull that it would have had back then.

Meg is still a great heroine, a clever, bright girl who won’t take no for an answer. Little brother Charles Wallace is a delight (and, I assume, named for the two people to whom the book is dedicated, Charles Wadsworth Camp and Wallace Collin Franklin. Calvin was a nice addition, since he has a bit of age and presence that the children don’t.

There were some religious overtones or undertones that gave me pause, but not enough to worry me. Good fun, and I’m glad I finally read it.

Last reread: April 22, 2018

(Mrs) Who knows how many times I read this book as a child.

After recently reading an adaption, a graphic novel, and then feeling as if I were Charles Wallace eating the food of Camazotz, I felt a pull to reread the original, hoping to supplant that sawdust taste with the original wonder. It worked. (It also pointed out a few places where the graphic novel takes shortcuts and thus doesn’t make sense if you don’t already know the story.)

Thinking of the film adaptions (I was sorely disappointed in the first and will not see the second), I realize only now that I've never thought of this book as science fiction or fantasy. I wouldn't have even known what that was as a kid, and it didn’t lead me to read more science fiction or fantasy. It scared me, thrilled me, made my heart pound. I found it odd—though, strangely, also matter-of-fact. I loved it for all those reasons. I related to Meg’s insecurity and fear, if not her anger. I wouldn’t have fully understood the references to The Tempest for example, but they likely were planted in my brain, waiting for later acknowledgment. No graphic novel or filmed version will ever live up to the (simple though effective) images in my head.

P.S. On page 186 (out of 216) of my (childhood) copy of the book, I’d written my name in script at the bottom, but added an extra ‘s’ to my name—a highly unusual act for me. I puzzled over that for a bit until it occurred to me that maybe I was trying to write myself into the story by comparing my name to the word tesseract.

P.P.S. It's fitting that I finished this (adult) reread on my mom's birthday, as she, always trying to keep up with my reading addiction, enrolled me in a mail-order book 'club' for children that sent me this book, as well as others that became favorites.

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!

First off, I was super excited to find out that I owned this book.
Second, I really wanted to read A Wrinkle in Time because of the movie trailer.
Third, n  Chris Pinen is the dad in the movie.
Fourth, CHRIS FUCKING PINE is in the god damn movie.
Fifth, I am in love with Chris Pine.

Okay, so A Wrinkle in Time is a super quick read. I mean it's like what... less than 300 pages?!? It took me less than an hour to read it and type out my buddy read comments. I loved everything about this book - even though I was confused in some parts.

I don't want to spoil a whole bunch about this book because honestly this book should be read by everyone on this planet. It was just that good. However, I will mention that I didn't like IT. IT is evil. IT is not the clown from Stephen King's book.

I could totally see myself rereading this book over and over again. It just blended everything together really well. Plus, I love happy endings!

Now I'll just patiently wait for the movie to come out!

Read this as part of 2018 Ultimate Reading Challenge, Category: "A book by an author you haven’t read before".

Buddy Read with Nameeta.

This book has won many awards and is considered one of a kind when it was published in 1962. This has a unique mix of fantasy and science fiction still retaining a spiritual undertone to it. Sounds fascinating, doesn't it? But the fact is even though there is all this potential in the story it falls short of 'all it could have been'.

The story is from the perspective of Meg whose parents are scientist and her father has been missing from past couple of years. Now this has a decent start but to really like a book you need to connect to its characters. I found Meg really really irritating. There were times when she threw a hissy fit and all I wanted to do was smack her in the face. Not a very noble thought but that's the reaction she got from me most of the times.

Apart from that I felt all the other characters are two dimensional. There was no character development whatsoever....

There is talk of 5th dimension and I really liked the concept. But I wanted more on this and less on the other nonsensical things going on and overall I just felt very unsatisfied.

There are beings from other galaxies and this part was most interesting. Atleast for me this was one saving grace which did not make it a 1 star read.

The ending is very anti-climatic. We are building towards this epic ending and then it ends just like that. I was like...


All I can say is this book could have gone the other way for me if Meg was a more endearing character and the focus was the 5th dimension and other galaxies rather than Meg and her tantrums.

n  “We look not at the things which are what you would call seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal. But the things which are not seen are eternal.”n

If you want to try out a science fiction book, and you're a beginner then I'd recommend this one. Even though this is considered a YA book, I think it's more suited to be a middle grade one. It was well written with a conspicuous plot, but it didn't really leave me wanting for more. It was mediocre. So, that explains the three stars.

n  “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."n

A wrinkle in time is a heartwarming and adventurous story about travel through time and space. Meg and Charles and their classmate Calvin travel through space and time in search of Meg's and Charles's father. Their father is a scientist who was trying to fight an evil shadow that was often seen looming over the Earth's surface. However, his plans failed and he's now held prisoner, on a mysterious planet, by evil forces.

n  “There will no longer be so many pleasant things to look at if responsible people do not do something about the unpleasant ones.”n

The three children with the help of three Celestials, Mrs Which, Mrs Who and Mrs Whatsit fight the evil forces and restore happiness.
I also loved the philosophical aspects of this book.
The author brings out the strengths and weaknesses of every character in a beautiful way. The travel to different planets made me look at earth in a different point of view as I found myself visualizing myself as a Celestial. I loved all the characters for different reasons.

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

CHARACTERS

Meg
Meg is determined to save her father, but her anxiousness blinded her from solving other problems that arose.

Charles
Charles is a very clever boy but he let his pride get in the way, and it didn't turn out that well for him.

Calvin O'Keefe
Calvin was kind and helpful when Meg yearned for warmth and affection. He was unwilling to take risks.

They were the perfect trio who were ready to fight anything that got in their way!

Will I continue reading this series?
Yes, I might. The book didn't really end on a cliffhanger so I might pick up the second book after a few days.

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

Meg Murry and her friends and family become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.



As I'm reading the book I find myself surprised by the movie trailer... it's nothing like I'm imagining as I'm reading, which is weird. Not only is the family different, but the three women are nothing like in the book. I was surprised I recognized many sentences and metaphors in the story in other books. So far, Charles Wallace Murry is my favorite!



I found the trailer sort of pretentious, focusing more on effects and the three main actresses than the story and the children, it also focused on skin color and feminism more than the simple story, making a children book a cause, not for entertainment but to make a point. Enough is enough.



As for the story, it seems a story of faith and loss, and I'm not talking about Meg's father. I'm talking about the author, it seems like in its core the story holds a message. I guess that's why the author never liked her stories adapted into movies: they lost their meaning.

the book that first inspired me to tentatively pick up my pencil and my marbled black-and-white composition notebook (remember those?) and write (in 4th grade). the influence l'engle herself and her work have had on my life cannot be overstated. i met her many many years later, during college, when she was well into her 80s, but she was exactly as i pictured her-- spirited, engaging, challenging. when i (very nervously and shyly) told her that she gave me my first inspiration to write, she looked me in the eyes and, with a genuineness in her tone i can't describe, thanked me. i gave her my book to be autographed. she signed in it an handed it back to me. as i walked away, i read her inscription, which said, with love and a flourish, "ananda!" i admit it-- i had to look it up to find out what it meant and when i did, my respect for her grew even deeper (i won't get into the entire background of the word/name here, you can google it yourself). "ananda" means bliss or joy. it was so perfect, i nearly cried.

an amazing book and an amazing woman.

Anybody else read it with this cover?



I did. 1986, I was in 6th grade, and it was assigned to us by our teacher.
This book changed my world. Or at least, my reading world.
Welcome to sci-fi, kid!
I have no idea how many times I've read this story, but as a child, I read it so much that this awesome cover eventually fell off. Just so many great memories of these characters make it is easily my favorite childhood novel.

After doing a re-read of it this year, I have to say it holds up pretty well for a book that was written in 1962. One of the things that help it age so decently is that L'Engle didn't have much in it that could age it. No brand names, no popular trends, no references to any politics of the day. The only stuff that really let you know you were reading a book written in the '60s was Calvin saying things like Golly! unironically or Charles Wallace being disrespectful by calling his father Pops.

It's a very simple story that I read in just under 2 hours, but I remember it being complex enough when I was younger. I think it hits all the right points for a kid who feels out of place and weird, and didn't we all feel out of place and weird at that age?
Yes. Yes, we did.

The only thing I was less excited about this time around were all the religious references, but the book is what it is, and you just kind of have to accept that God is a big theme in this and move on if you want to enjoy it. It's not too preachy, so there's that.

Will kids today like it? I'm trying to get mine to read it now, so ask me again in 6 months.

But I'd been putting off re-reading this thing for 20 plus years and was pleasantly surprised that it was still such a charming story.
Highly Recommended...for nostalgia.

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.

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.