A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time

Madeline L’Engle

I was at the library the other day and picked this book up. I’d heard of it, but I didn’t really know what it was about- I just knew it was supposed to be a children’s classic. I certainly had no idea that it was apparently controversial!  I read a special edition of this book, so it had a big long “afterward” that I skimmed through, and  one phrase back there that I read concerned me. It said that some people criticized  the book for being “too Christian” and other people for it not being “Christian enough”. And later it read, “A Wrinkle in Time was condemned by the same people who would later condemn the Harry Potter books.”

Me: “What- what?” Since we were the people who didn’t like the Harry Potter books due to the witchcraft, I was wondering, what on earth was in A Wrinkle in Time? It doesn’t have magic, does it? I read this phrase when I was about halfway through the novel itself, and I certainly hadn’t read anything in there that offended me. Yes, this book is science fiction, so there was space travel and weird creatures, but I was pleased, because guess what? These crazy creatures praised God.

Now, later, there was one thing that I didn’t like. The children –Meg, Calvin, and Charles- are discussing heroes in the past who fought against darkness, and Charles says the first one is Jesus, and then they name many other famous “good guys” in history. However, it seemed to kind of lower the level of Jesus to just a “good” man and nothing more, so I did not care for that. (Really, putting Jesus in the same category as Buddha almost goes past "annoying" and into "offensive") And though I later learned some things about the author’s “liberal” Christianity that concerns me, besides that one scene, there wasn’t anything that really bothered me in the book. Granted, this book is the first in a series, and I haven’t read the other books, so maybe there is some objectionable stuff in there. (And I’m only getting around to reviewing this book just now, since it’s been a few weeks since I read it, so my memory on a few things might be a little hazy) But for the most part I found this book fine, although I probably wouldn’t let really young children read just because they might get confused theologically in some ways.

So what is this story about, anyway? Meg Murry’s father has been missing for months after working on a top secret project for the government. Accompanied by her brother Charles, their neighbor Calvin, and an odd trio of strange old ladies by the names of Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which, she goes off in a journey to save her father –and later, Charles- from the mysterious but dangerous creature called IT. (Who, no matter how the book described it, I visualized as the Face of Boe)

A Wrinkle in Time was an exciting Science fiction adventure that really rather crossed of a number of genre lines. Although I do caution for a bit of discernment while reading, I personally liked it quite a bit, even if it isn’t one of my favorite books of all time.

Rating: 8