It still surprises me that, as a child growing up, I never came across certain classics that have been the staple young children's imaginations for decades. For instance, I only discovered the Chronicles of Narnia in my late teens, the Lord of the Rings somewhere around the time the movies came out, and Madeleine L'engle and her stories...well, even later than both. I can't say why this has been the case, and I would really hate to blame it on my family.
Anyway, the last words I read with my head on my pillow last night before I closed my eyes were from A Wrinkle in Time. It is the story of the Murry family (comprising of Meg, Charles Wallace, the twins, and Mrs Murry) whose father has been missing for nearly two years. It is left to Meg, little Charles Wallace, and their new friend Calvin to rescue Mr Murry from the clutches of an evil entity in a distant (very distant) planet and bring him back home. They receive plenty of help from the mysterious triad delightfully known as Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which.
They travel by 'wrinkling' or 'tessering' through dimensions, and I won't bother to explain because I would do a very bad job of it. The book describes it quite sufficiently. What's important here is that they do travel, and in the course of their adventure, Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin are tested beyond their strengths, which means they win in the most unexpected way. In the end, it is left to Meg to pull things through and overcome the evil that seeks to destroy them all.
I had heard of this book and how good it was before I had read it, of course, which is why I was surprised by the writing style - simple, crisp, and straight to the point. But the fact that it is a story written for children makes perfect sense that it is written in this way (this made me realise that much of the literature out there today that we call Children's Literature is really literature written for adults). Furthermore, the writing does not get in the way of the story but rather propels it forward.
For a children's story, the characters are complex and come on strongly, particularly little Charles Wallace, whom I absolutely love but still don't understand, which is to be expected, since even his own mother does not fully understand him! The story is rich with metaphors and allusions to God and references to biblical scriptures.
What this book celebrates are the values that make us human - words, literature, music, art, wisdom, freedom, science - and the ways of a loving, sovereign, and powerful God. Whether there is a connection between the two, I'll leave that for you to decide. But I believe there is a connection, and that there would be nothing without this connection.
A simple, instant, and unpretentious classic that is truly deserving of the status it holds in the hearts of not only young book-lovers, but even older ones. After all, Madeleine L'engle believed that if something was too difficult for adults to understand, then you were to write it for children.
Anyway, the last words I read with my head on my pillow last night before I closed my eyes were from A Wrinkle in Time. It is the story of the Murry family (comprising of Meg, Charles Wallace, the twins, and Mrs Murry) whose father has been missing for nearly two years. It is left to Meg, little Charles Wallace, and their new friend Calvin to rescue Mr Murry from the clutches of an evil entity in a distant (very distant) planet and bring him back home. They receive plenty of help from the mysterious triad delightfully known as Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which.
They travel by 'wrinkling' or 'tessering' through dimensions, and I won't bother to explain because I would do a very bad job of it. The book describes it quite sufficiently. What's important here is that they do travel, and in the course of their adventure, Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin are tested beyond their strengths, which means they win in the most unexpected way. In the end, it is left to Meg to pull things through and overcome the evil that seeks to destroy them all.
I had heard of this book and how good it was before I had read it, of course, which is why I was surprised by the writing style - simple, crisp, and straight to the point. But the fact that it is a story written for children makes perfect sense that it is written in this way (this made me realise that much of the literature out there today that we call Children's Literature is really literature written for adults). Furthermore, the writing does not get in the way of the story but rather propels it forward.
For a children's story, the characters are complex and come on strongly, particularly little Charles Wallace, whom I absolutely love but still don't understand, which is to be expected, since even his own mother does not fully understand him! The story is rich with metaphors and allusions to God and references to biblical scriptures.
What this book celebrates are the values that make us human - words, literature, music, art, wisdom, freedom, science - and the ways of a loving, sovereign, and powerful God. Whether there is a connection between the two, I'll leave that for you to decide. But I believe there is a connection, and that there would be nothing without this connection.
A simple, instant, and unpretentious classic that is truly deserving of the status it holds in the hearts of not only young book-lovers, but even older ones. After all, Madeleine L'engle believed that if something was too difficult for adults to understand, then you were to write it for children.
1 comment:
It truly is a masterpiece, a timeless recollection of the forces of good and evil brought to light and conflict and resolution by the innocence of children.
i was struck by the last phase of the book. Love. it was a emotion in the purer forms a human can give which has the power to defeat the most evil of evils.
the beauty of the book is that it is indeed unpretentious in its diction. thats why i love this book. everyone may read it and enjoy its adventure. and the purpose of the author through his or her book is to pass on something substantial, something tangible, and what this book had done for me when i read it was just that. it brought me back down toward the modest and bare emotional responses of people and their relationship thereof.
its such a beautiful book.
im glad you like it man.
-josh choi
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