Tuesday, December 10, 2024

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle

We read this as a precursor to watching the movie. 

While it's YA, its topics apply to adults. Family, faith, feeling different or apart (less than) one's peers. First published in 1962, L'Engle seems to have been a trend setter for the rise of sci-fi. 

Meg and her little brother Charles Wallace, (plus a friend Calvin), set out to find their father. Three eccentric ladies - the 3 Mrs. W's (Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, Mrs Which) help them. There's time travel, called tessering, and the ladies (or aliens [or angels] we never quite learn what they are) "tesser" the kids to find their dad. Then they find a battle with "evil." There's always evil to be battled, isn't there? 

The wrinkle in time is the analogy for taking a piece of fabric and folding it so that two faraway spots come together. There's talk of physics and math in this book; some feel that if this book had been widely read by more young females in the 1960s, 70s, etc, that there'd be more females in STEM careers today. 

Meg's belief in a parent's ability to solve any problem is both sweet and heartbreaking. This begs the question -- when does a parent's "shield" begin to crack in the eyes of their kid(s)? Following that line of thinking, when does a parent finally admit they cannot fix the world for their kid, ie, protect them from all evil?

Note that this book was banned because of a passage that appears to put Jesus, Buddha and other spiritual leaders on the same level. How strange for that to be a reason to ban this book. 

The writing, while for a YA audience, is beautiful. Its theme of love conquering all exudes from each syllable. 

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