The Arm of the Starfish

Hokey? Yes. Stiffly unrealistic dialogue? Yes. Unbelievable characters? Yes. Credulity-straining plot? Yes. Annoying spelling of Poly? Yes.

Is it a wonderful book that transcends all the limitations? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

Again, it's the joy L'Engle evokes that hooks me. Her world, at base, makes sense and is full of strong, moral, and unabashedly joyful characters.

Oh, wow. Re-reading thru the Wrinkle in Time series within in the last year left me a little disenchanted toward the end; the last couple of books just weren’t as good as I had remembered them.
I had started reading An Acceptable Time and realized that at least this book of the O’Keefe series had taken place before it, so I took a detour, since I hadn’t read this series before.
Here was the L’Engle writing that I loved in A Wrinkle in Time and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Her ability to capture the complexity of life, especially for a young adult is amazing. Meg and Charles Wallace were quite unique in their abilities and intelligence, but Adam is much more just a normal kid; intelligent, focused and pretty privileged, but not show more overly “super”. 16 years old is quite grown, but still not quite, full of experiences but with so many unknowns, and the things Adam has to deal with are pretty major - Not knowing who to trust, whose side to be on, or what each side even stands for.
The story is practical, not preachy. Adam doesn’t investigate and choose sides based on facts and details; he chooses with his gut and his feelings. He likes Kali and her attention and is swayed by that, but the truth of Joshua and Poly and Dr. O’Keefe also hold sway. Maybe I relate because I’ve been led by my “gut” my whole life, and I have always felt that when I follow it, everything ends up alright. Not peachy keen with no troubles, but I end up down the correct path.
I also appreciate how L’Engle doesn’t shy away from pain or overwhelming emotion. The narration of Adam’s experience and emotions at the end of the book ring true, including his realization of the similar and even stronger feelings of the other characters, but the fact that they don’t overshadow or temper his own feelings, because really, at 16 (or maybe just in general) why would they?
I enjoyed this book completely. I figured out some of the plot twists well ahead of time, but it was still action packed and held my attention to the very end.

I will say, mostly for myself, that the only thing I was sad about was that Meg had such a tiny role! She doesn’t even get a name besides “Mrs. O’Keefe”, and tho her small contribution was a good one, it just showed nothing of her personality and abilities. We’re told that she occasionally helps Dr. O’Keefe with his work, but she is mostly matronly in her role (nothing wrong with that, says this mother of four!) and shows nothing of the Meg I know and love from her own series. Even Calvin (Dr. O’Keefe) is barely there as a character. I don’t disagree with the choice in either regard, it’s just a little sad when you’re looking forward to hearing about your old friends and you only get to see them thru the eyes of some strange kid who has no frame of reference or any idea of who they are or why they’re so special to you. It’s just not in the scope of the story, and that’s ok. show less

Of course Wrinkle in Time is the author's most famous work. If you liked that, especially if you liked the sociology and the philosophy, you might enjoy this. It's about and for older children, and it's Cloak & Dagger instead of Science Fiction & Fantasy, but it's still good. In fact, in some ways it's better, as it's written with more developed skill. Engaging & thought-provoking.

I just wish the O'Keefes were more than window dressing. I do see it's a series, and maybe I'll read more.

One of the wonderful qualities about Madeleine L'Engle's writing is that her books feel timeless. This story could be happening now. On the surface it is a mystery/science fiction/suspense novel for young adults. Yet the reader is led to consider how do we do Good, and for whom. I think this one quotation says it all, "If you're going to care about the fall of the sparrow you can't pick and choose who's going to be the sparrow. It's everybody."

I read The Arm of the Starfish as a child 50 years ago; therefore, when I gave up on Madeleine L’Engle’s sequels to A Wrinkle in Time, I thought I’d re-read this book so as to give her another chance.

Although some of the characters from that other series pop up (a grown-up Meg Murry and Calvin O’Keefe), readers who begin with The Arm of the Starfish will do just fine without having read A Wrinkle in Time or its inferior sequels.

The Arm of the Starfish differs considerably from L’Engle’s best-known work, being more of an international thriller than a children’s fantasy. Marine biology whiz kid Adam Eddington heads out to Portugal to spend the summer working with one of the premiere marine biologists in the world, Dr. show more Calvin O’Keefe. However, en route, he’s warned that Dr. O’Keefe is up to no good by a pretty blonde. So is Dr. O’Keefe a traitor to his country? Or are there villainous forces out there that the naïve Adam can’t begin to understand? I thoroughly enjoyed this game of cat-and-mouse and the novel ends with a big of a cliff hanger. I’ve already bought the sequel, Dragons in the Waters. Readers are advised that they should really do the same before they get to the end of The Arm of the Starfish. show less

Intended as a teenage thriler, written fifty years ago, this is a very well written book with a great deal of suspense. The action moves at just the right pace; not so rapidly that I lost track of what was going on, but with detours into sightseeing and conversation that keeps the tension, and made it quite difficult to put the book down.

The theme is a marine biology project which is perhaps unrealistic; but it doesn’t matter. If it’s science fiction rather than science, it’s very well done, and the detail is minimal. The danger of important research getting into the wrong hands, however, feels all too real as the protagonist comes up against ruthless greed.

Many of L’Engle’s books have a Christian theme, usually fairly low show more key. The overall story has a clear good vs evil plot which could appeal to anyone. L’Engle doesn’t make the mistake of spelling out her beliefs, but the power of love is strong.

I wasn’t sure I liked this when I was about half-way through, and the climax to the book includes a shocking scene which I should perhaps have foreseen. Having finished it, I rate it highly. Not for young children, but teenagers who have read the later ‘Harry Potter’ books, or ‘Lord of the Rings’ might well enjoy this. And as an adult, I very much appreciated it too.

Definitely recommended. show less

This was...very different from the Time Quintet (Wrinkle in Time- An Acceptable Time). It still has the science fiction (some, but not in the same sense as Tesseracts), meditation, well-developed characters, and plot twists. It is very similar to Troubling a Star, except this one has a male lead (young Adam) instead of female. I personally enjoyed Adam's perspective more than Vicky's (she's a little too much for me at times...especially in The Moon by Night). Overall, this book was more like a YA/middle school "spy" novel. There is spying involved, as well as secret experiments, kidnappings, and car chases. I enjoyed it, even though it wasn't much like A Wrinkle in Time (even though Calvin features as Dr. O'Keefe along with the family show more he started with Meg- Poly one of their kids). I'm still recovering from the plot twists. Usually I'm okay at predicting how twists will turn out...but this one, no. Which attests to this novel's quality. However, I did take off one star because of its similarity to Troubling a Star- they were a little too similar for my liking. I guess that just happens to many authors when they write a lot of books in the same genre. show less