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Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.
BookshelfMonstrosity: Time is a key component in both of these compelling, coming-of-age fantasies with complex plots centered on girls who share absent fathers and the struggle to save the life of a boy near-and-dear to them.
bmlg: similar themes of the loving relationship between an awkward, insecure older sister and her odd younger brother, and her efforts to protect him from supernatural danger
I didn't purchase this book, I won it...however, I would have bought it eventually. But I didn't have to, so woo-hoo for me! Now, to the review:
I enjoyed this book quite a bit! Being that it was first published about 50 years ago, I didn't know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. I was hooked from, "It was a dark and stormy night."
The story is centered around Meg and Charles who (along with their friend, Calvin) are looking for their father. The kids are helped by an amazing cast of characters (including Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which, and Aunt Beast), some of whom can actually morph into other creatures. Evidently, dad has successfully traveled through time and space and is trapped somewhere far, far away by a force from which he cannot escape - a force which, it seems, can hijack your mind and alter your sense of reality. Meg is the older sister to Charles - who has special, and perhaps unnerving, gifts. "Ordinary" Meg seems to feel inferior because of this and sometimes doubts herself. These gifts Charles has may put him in danger on their quest to reclaim their father, however. Can Meg save him? Can she save them both? You will have to read it to find out because I am not going to tell you. Heheheh.
There were several allusions made to biblical texts and principles throughout the book. I have no problem with this - I read the Bible. It's the only book I read every day. I did have a little issue with the author equating Jesus with famous, dead philosophers, scientists, composers - great men, but men nonetheless. If you are a Christian (as I am), you might take issue with this as well - as if the author is suggesting that Christ was not divine. I've read that Madeleine L'Engle was a Christian, so I wonder if this was actually the intention. However, aside from this one thing, I enjoyed the book enough to give it four stars. ( )
For Charles Wadsworth Camp and Wallace Collin Franklin
First words
It was a dark and stormy night.
Quotations
"The tesseract--" Mrs. Murry whispered. "What did she mean? How could she have known?" [p.27]
Well, the fifth dimension's a tesseract...In other words, to put it into Euclid, or old-fashioned plane geometry, a straight line is not the shortest distance between two points. [p.75]
“Maybe I don’t like being different,” Meg said. “but I don’t want to be like everybody else, either.”
“You mean you’re comparing our lives to a sonnet? A strict form, but freedom within it?”
“Yes.” Mrs. Whatsit said. “You’re given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you.”
The middle beast, a tremor of trepidation in his words, said "You aren't from a dark planet, are you?"
"The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world, things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are." - Mrs. Who's second gift to Meg is a quote from 1st Corinthians 1:25-29
Don't be afraid to be afraid. We will try to have courage for you. That is all we can do.
Like and equal are not the same thing at all.
Last words
But they never learned what it was that Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which had to do, for there was a gust or wind, and they were gone.
Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.
▾Library descriptions
No library descriptions found.
▾LibraryThing members' description
Book description
Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace leave Earth in search of Meg's father, Mr. Murry. Mr. Murry is a scientist who has been missing since the birth of Charles Wallace, Meg's baby brother. Mrs. Which, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Whatsit, however, assist the children in their journey by helping them to tesseract or wrinkle in time. They soon discover that their father has been detained by IT. IT tries to transform people into mindless robots. Will they be able to overpower IT? Will they be able to save their father?
I enjoyed this book quite a bit! Being that it was first published about 50 years ago, I didn't know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. I was hooked from, "It was a dark and stormy night."
The story is centered around Meg and Charles who (along with their friend, Calvin) are looking for their father. The kids are helped by an amazing cast of characters (including Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which, and Aunt Beast), some of whom can actually morph into other creatures. Evidently, dad has successfully traveled through time and space and is trapped somewhere far, far away by a force from which he cannot escape - a force which, it seems, can hijack your mind and alter your sense of reality. Meg is the older sister to Charles - who has special, and perhaps unnerving, gifts. "Ordinary" Meg seems to feel inferior because of this and sometimes doubts herself. These gifts Charles has may put him in danger on their quest to reclaim their father, however. Can Meg save him? Can she save them both? You will have to read it to find out because I am not going to tell you. Heheheh.
There were several allusions made to biblical texts and principles throughout the book. I have no problem with this - I read the Bible. It's the only book I read every day. I did have a little issue with the author equating Jesus with famous, dead philosophers, scientists, composers - great men, but men nonetheless. If you are a Christian (as I am), you might take issue with this as well - as if the author is suggesting that Christ was not divine. I've read that Madeleine L'Engle was a Christian, so I wonder if this was actually the intention. However, aside from this one thing, I enjoyed the book enough to give it four stars.
( )