A Wrinkle in Time

Starred review from April 30, 2012
Hope Davis narrates this engaging new audio production of L’Engle’s classic novel. When the troubled and underachieving Meg Murry’s physicist father goes missing, Meg—along with her younger brother, Charles, and friend Calvin—warps across the universe in an attempt to find him. The trio is aided by three angels, Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which, who use Dr. Murray’s mysterious tesseract project to whisk the children through space and time. Davis delivers pitch-perfect narration that captures the spirit of the author’s prose. She also creates distinct voices for the book’s many characters, most notably the petulant Meg and enthusiastic Calvin. Listeners are in for a real treat—and longtime L’Engle fans will delight in Davis’s outstanding performance, which breathes new life into this acclaimed fantasy title. Ages 10–up.

avanish - Imagine that we are all ants on an endless sheet of paper that we call the universe. What if we could fold this paper and walk across, moving to a vastly different place without even moving? This is the baseline for this intense 1962 Science Fiction book, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. I thought very highly of this book and I would rate this book 9/10 stars. In this book, the main characters are a pair of siblings named Meg and Charles, who are considered outcasts. Charles is "abnormally shy" and society thinks he is dumb when his family knows he is a prodigy. Meg is a misfit and resorts to violence in disputes. They meet three superior beings named Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which. They are able to tesser or teleport through time and they lead Meg, Charles, and their friend named Calvin on an intergalactic quest to find their lost father. They explore the galaxy and locate him on a "evil" planet called Camazotz. A being called "It" holds the planet hostage and all the innocent citizens have to act in unison. Girls jump rope at exactly the same time and boys throw balls at the same time with fake grins. If they fall out of line, they are severely punished by It. Charles tries to combat It but he also falls into a trance. Meg is forced to combat him alone with a special skill. I enjoyed this book so much because of the overall themes and morals that are echoed as well as the well-constructed plot. In the book, they accidentally go to a planet where the inhabitants are monstrous creatures. Charles and the "Mrs" are separated from the others and Meg is severely injured. The inhabitants offer to help them and out of desperation, accept. Meg is very suspicious but eventually gives them her trust. They heal her and give her extra strength. Delved into this experience is the theme of trust. Always trust someone with good intentions. Another major theme is individuality as oppose to conformity. In the beginning, Meg is insistent on being normal but after she visits Camazotz, she realizes the complete conformity is boring and makes the world dull and lifeless. Also, there is an intersection of faith and reason. Mrs. Which says, " The heart has its reasons, whereof reason knows nothing". The quest is driven by both the reason of science and logic and the faith in family. "It" corrupts people to lose their faith and be controlled only by reason. These are some of the many themes and morals in the book. There are many books that are based off of this book as well. Some of these titles include books in L'Engle's very famous Time Quintet that won a Newbury Award and other works. The book I will compare and contrast this to is The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. In both books, they travel to a weird land by a mystical force and both are filled with puns and allegorical references. A difference is that the Tollbooth takes place in a different world and is more silly and lighthearted whereas a Wrinkle in Time takes place in the far reaches of the universe and is more serious and dark. Both books are stellar beyond words and touch the hearts of many people. In conclusion, this book is incredible. Anyone who enjoys science and has a great imagination would love this book. I recommend that you read it someday.