Reading a Wrinkle in Time was reminiscent of reading the Phantom Tollbooth or even The Little Prince. Like the previous two books, I found that I had to take my time reading the book and really absorb the story. Although, this is a really quick read, I didn't want to miss out on all those messages layered in about family, courage, bravery, but most of all love. I must admit that going in to A Wrinkle in Time, I really didn't entirely know what to expect. I expected there to be science fiction, and maybe even a scary monster of some kind. I mean the story does start out with "it was a dark and stormy night..." (Which by the way, I really like that line). But, somehow I was kind of let down with IT and The Black Thing, they didn't seem as scary to me as I had envisioned they would be. So, I'm going to say A Wrinkle in Time is a gentle introduction into science fiction and good versus evil in a non scary way. Meg is an endearing character, even with all her insecurities about her looks and wanting to be popular, qualities that as a kid I would have easily identified with. I also liked the relationship and closeness that she shares with Charles Wallace. The characters of Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which were intriguing, they come off very angelic and at one point I thought that Charles was too, mostly because of his extraordinaire abilities. L'Engle sure doesn't write down to her reader either and I appreciate that as well as all of the various poems that she introduces through Mrs. Who. I really enjoyed reading A Wrinkle in Time, would my child self have enjoyed it, probably, especially for the sweet moments between Calvin and Meg. Since Calvin's family had so many children it was easy for him to get lost in the shuffle and feel unloved, so the moments that he found comfort with Meg by holding her hand or asking her lots of questions to get to know her better were really sweet and made the story for me.
a gentle introduction into science fiction and good versus evil in a non scary way.
ReplyDeleteThat's the perfect way to put this, Brenda! I think I agree with you re: IT not being quite as scary as I thought it would be, or as scary as I found it as a child. I think it's more the idea of IT that is scary than the actual thing, if that makes sense, and when I thought about it like that, I was able to kind of accept it more.
It does have a bit of a LITTLE PRINCE feel! I don't think I ever read PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH, which I need to rectify sometime. I loved Meg and Calvin, too--and I actually always thought there would be something more to Charles Wallace as well. Funny.
Apologies for visiting you SO late, by the way! Always enjoy chatting with you, and we're eyeing what is hopefully the end (or at least a pause) of our current crazy busy period.
Wendy @ The Midnight Garden
No worries Wendy, I've been following along with the blog and Twitter so I can see all the work you've been up to :) Plus, I can imagine just keeping up with responding to posts on your blog would keep ya busy. Thanks for stopping by and I really enjoy chatting with you and the other ladies over at The Midnight Garden too, plus your book recommendations are awesome.
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