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Literary Friday: A Wrinkle in Time

Friday, February 23, 2018



Happy Literary Friday, My Lovelies!  Recently I re-read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I wanted to read it for a couple of reasons: I wanted to read it before the movie comes out this spring, and I wanted to read it before creating my Sketchy Reader Letter.


According to Goodreads:

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger. 

"Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger told them. "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me be on my way. Speaking of way, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract".

Meg's father had been experimenting with this fifth dimension of time travel when he mysteriously disappeared. Now the time has come for Meg, her friend Calvin, and Charles Wallace to rescue him. But can they outwit the forces of evil they will encounter on their heart-stopping journey through space?



My review:

The first line of the book is in bold print in the Goodreads blurb, above.  How can one not love a book that begins with: "It was a dark and stormy night?"   There's so much to love about this story, and I must start with how much I love Meg Murray.  I can remember being able to relate to Meg in so many ways when I read it as a child (and even as an adult).  Meg is frustrated because it's been a long time since her family has heard from her father.  He's a physicist working on a secret project for the government, and Meg is not reassured that his work is "very important."  She wants him home!  

Three ancient beings, Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which aid Meg, her precocious little brother Charles Wallace, and a popular upperclassman from her high school named Calvin, "tesser" or travel through wrinkles in time.  Their goal is to reach Mr. Murray because he needs help, and the three otherworldly women think that only Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin can help him.  Guided by their knowledge of the tesseract (fifth dimension) and scriptural wisdom, the three ladies tesser them through space to odd planets filled with even more odd beings (one of my favorites is the Happy Medium who quotes from Shakespeare's The Tempest).  When the kids find Mr. Murray on an insidious planet ruled by an evil entity, it's refreshing that one of Meg's faults might be their salvation.

This is a story of good versus evil.  It's a story filled with hope and biblical wisdom.  It's also one of the most banned and challenged books of our lifetime.  A Wrinkle in Time means the world to me, and it's one of my Top Ten Books that's influenced the adult I've become.  I hope that the movie does the story justice; I hope that the producers didn't leave out any of the biblical references.  In her Newberry Medal Acceptance Speech, Madeleine L'Engle said:

"What a child doesn't realize until he is grown is that in responding to fantasy, fairy tale, and myth he is responding to what Erich Fromm calls the one universal language, the one and only language in the world that cuts across all harriers of time, place, race, and culture...The best children's books so this....They partake of the universal language, and this is why we turn to them again and again when we are children, and still again when we have grown up."

A Wrinkle in Time is that book to me, along with a handful of others like Little Women, Charlotte's Web, and The Little House series.  They shaped, comforted, and entertained me as a child, and now again as an adult.  I read these classics to my children along with some new classics of their generation:  But none hold my heart like A Wrinkle in Time because an awkward, nerdy, and clearly imperfect girl saves the day.


Below is the official US trailer for A Wrinkle in Time:









Below is an affiliate link for purchasing A Wrinkle in Time via IndieBound.


Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org





What are your favorite childhood books?


Until next time...

Happy reading!
Ricki Jill



6 comments

  1. Thanks for the reminder! I want to re-read this too.

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  2. one of my favorites too.
    Love the way the letter looks!

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  3. Someday I hope to enjoy this one with our Baby Grand!

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  4. Uh oh, I've never even heard of this book...I love the idea of fairy tales and fantasies being a universal language...Your letter is adorable!
    Jenna

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  5. Happy reading Ricki. Fairy tales are so dreamy. Love your review. Happy Sunday.

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  6. It's been a LONG time since I read this book. I'm going to see if I can check it out from my library! Thanks!

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I'm Ricki Jill. Welcome! I'm honored that you're reading my blog. I enjoy sharing my creative lifestyle @ The Bookish Dilettante. For more information about my blog, please read the Start Here page. Thank-you for stopping by, and I hope you'll consider following me via email.

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