A WRINKLE IN TIME (1962) by Madeleine L'Engle

[GRWelsh]

This is one of my favorite books and I remember reading it in 8th grade in the fall of 1981, a year when I was discovering a lot of science fiction and fantasy for the first time. I had recently read THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA by C. S. Lewis and THE HOBBIT by J. R. R. Tolkien and just started THE LORD OF THE RINGS. So, A WRINKLE IN TIME has that similar nostalgia for me. It still has a certain charm when I reread it now in adulthood, even though it blends spirituality and science fiction and I'm an atheist, I still like the main theme of children who feel like outsiders coming together to have an adventure with love prevailing over tyrrany (I still haven't seen the 2018 movie, so have no comment on that). Rereading it prompted me to want to read the rest of the "Time Quintet" which includes the sequels to A WRINKLE IN TIME written in the 1970's and 1980's. I'm up to the fourth one, MANY WATERS, and I have to say the sequels just aren't as good. They lack the charm and magic of the original. I like the idea of a universe with many beings and truths "hidden in plain view" if only we had the wisdom and enlightenment to perceive them, but other than that I'm just not feeling an overall theme to the series.

[GRWelsh]

I finished MANY WATERS (1986) over the weekend. It ended better than it started, and in the middle it sort of dragged on without much happening. It isn't worth a detailed critique, yet I enjoyed her portrayal of unicorns that are only there when you believe in them, and her take on manticores, griffins and the nephilim (fallen angels) and seraphim (loyal angels). Some reviewer described this book as "Bible fan fiction" and that is ungenerous but accurate... I'd say well-written Bible fan fiction. That highlights one of the many differences between this book and the first book in the series: A WRINKLE IN TIME (1962). The first book wasn't dogmatic about one religion or earthly worldview being true, and in fact it hinted at us not having the whole picture and enlightenment and moral exemplars arising from multiple points of view (pp. 88-89):

"And we're not alone, you know, children," came Mrs. Whatsit, the comforter. "All through the universe it's being fought, all through the cosmos, and my, but it's a grand and exciting battle. I know it's hard for you to understand about size, how there's very little difference in the size of the tiniest microbe and the greatest galaxy. You think about that, and maybe it won't seem strange to you that some of our very best fighters have come right from your own planet, and it's a little planet, dears, out on the edge of a little galaxy. You can be proud that it's done so well."

"Who have our fighters been?" Calvin asked.

"Oh, you must know them, dear," Mrs. Whatsit said.

Mrs. Who's spectacles shone out at them triumphantly, "And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."

"Jesus!" Charles Wallace said. "Why of course, Jesus!"

"Of course!" Mrs. Whatsit said. "Go on, Charles, love. There were others. All your great artists. They've been lights for us to see by."

"Leonardo da Vinci?" Calvin suggested tentatively. "And Michelangelo?"

"And Shakespeare," Charles Wallace called out, "and Bach! And Pasteur and Madame Curie and Einstein!"

Now Calvin's voice rang with confidence. "And Schweitzer and Gandhi and Buddha and Beethoven and Rembrandt and St. Francis!"

"Now you, Meg," Mrs. Whatsit ordered.

"Oh Euclid, I suppose." Meg was in such an agony of impatience that her voice grated irritably. "And Copernicus. But what about Father? Please, what about Father?"

Notice how Gandhi and Buddha got slipped in there? Also, in A WRINKLE IN TIME, the status of higher beings like Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which is much more ambiguous... They are like angels, but not called such. Mrs. Whatsit said she was a star who lost her life fighting the darkness, but what does that mean, exactly? By contrast, in MANY WATERS, the higher beings are simply identified as seraphim and nephilim -- no mystery at all. Also, the first book seemed to care more about having some grounding in science fiction, but MANY WATERS just ignores science by treating the flood myth as a historical event and young earth creationism as true... This series has trended to go more in the direction of Christian fantasy rather than ambiguously spiritual science fiction. Also, it's gotten less creative... Having the twins sent back to Noah's time just before the Flood sounds like a lack of original ideas.

I started on the final book, AN ACCEPTABLE TIME (1989), and it is much better so far. More of the action takes place in and around the Connecticut farm house where all of the adventures started back in A WRINKLE IN TIME. I think the author is at her best when describing the New England autumn and the comforts of home and interaction of the family members and friends. I've always wanted to see the characters discussing what happened to them previously, and building on that. For example, once they learn to tesser, that should open up all sorts of possibilities. But that sort of gets dropped in later books. In this book, she's also making more references to past books in what seems to be a self-conscious effort to tie it all together and end it. So, I'm hoping for a strong finish. Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs Which were such great characters -- I'd love to see them make a return!

[GRWelsh]

I finished AN ACCEPTABLE TIME and I'm glad I did but none of the sequels lived up to the original so I can't really recommend the series. These are young adult fantasy, so there really wasn't much to recommend other than the first one being so exceptional and iconic. In this latest book, I ended up liking Polly's visit to her grandparents in New England better than her adventure across time. The parts describing the New England autumn, and interactions with the grandparents, the bishop and Louise were all better than the time travel stuff that just wasn't that exciting or well thought out. British druids living among Native Americans didn't make much sense, and neither did the low mountains of Connecticut being high, jagged, snow covered peaks a mere three thousand years ago. The main themes were: the redemptive power of God's love, the theological question of how Christ existed and interacted with reality as the second person of the Trinity prior to the birth of Jesus, and sacrifice -- blood versus love. It felt like L'Engle was working out her own theological issues moreso than building on the interesting universe we were introduced to in the first book -- which is a shame.

[GRWelsh]

I am reading INTERGALACTIC P.S. 3: A WRINKLE IN TIME STORY by Madeleine L'Engle. It was originally published in 1970, but I am reading the illustrated Kindle version published in 2018. I had heard of this before, but never got around to reading it, since it was described as a sort of rough draft for A WIND IN THE DOOR (1973) which was book 2 in the TIME QUINTET series started by A WRINKLE IN TIME (1962). I'd say that is a good description, since many of the plot points and details used in INTERGALACTIC P.S. 3 are reworked in A WIND IN THE DOOR. But a nice surprise to me is that Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which appear in this story, and references to events and places in the A WRINKLE IN TIME are made as well, and so is tessering -- those are all things that I felt were sorely lacking in the later books of the series. The three Mrs. W were wonderful supporting characters and it is a treat to see them one last time. I was so happy to read this, as it was a cameo I was hoping to see in AN ACCEPTABLE TIME (1989) but didn't happen:

The wind shook the house, and rain dashed wildly against the windows. Charles Wallace cocked his head to listen, gave a pleased laugh. "Yes, she does, and they're about to arrive."

"Charles! How did you know?"

"You told me."

"But I wasn't even sure myself that they'd come."

"Who?" Mrs. Murry asked. "What are you talking about?"

Again the house quivered against the wind's attack. Then there was a strange and sudden shimmer in the air, and the flames of the candles on the dining table stretched towards the ceiling. Meg jumped up. The shimmering seemed to solidify, then to separate into three shimmers, to quiver, assemble, gather color, and there, in the middle of the large kitchen-dining room, were three extraordinary beings.

That gave me shivers.

Sadly, I can't recommend INTERGALACTIC P.S. 3 because it is incomplete. The narrative ends abruptly with the characters still on another planet. It was like L'Engle wasn't sure where to go with the story from there, which seems to be so since she started over and produced A WIND IN THE DOOR. I don't regret buying this, but it is really only for completists.