Book Review: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
There is a darkness between the stars, the Black Thing that hates the light and brings shadows to the worlds it touches. Some worlds have fallen completely to the darkness. Earth is not one of them. Not yet. Hope still lives there, and perhaps something even more important.
Meg Murry’s parents are both brilliant scientists, which would be cooler if the Murry family didn’t live in a village that is more interested in cruel gossip than science. (It used to be just their summer vacation home before Meg’s father disappeared and the family fell on hard times.) The villagers would rather believe that Mr. Murry ran off with another woman than that he’s working on a secret government project (and the government’s vague reassurances aren’t helping.) They’re also quick to point out Meg’s unattractiveness and ill temper, and her baby brother Charles Wallace’s oddness, while not understanding either.
Meg is at an awkward age (about twelve) and taking this all personally. Her mood is bleak, but one stormy night, a visitor arrives, the first of three amazing women (for lack of a better term) who will help Meg find her father. For it turns out, there is such a thing as a tesseract.
This classic children’s “science fantasy” book is clearly rooted in the author’s Christian faith, full of Biblical imagery and quotes. It dodges, however, making Christianity “the one true religion.” This and other factors made it a hard sell to publishers, even with the example of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books in mind.
Meg is a good protagonist, being mostly good-intentioned, but childish and self-centered. The book is up front about her personality flaws; when they help Meg achieve her goals, and when they make things worse. While a math savant, she’s poor at other school subjects and even mathematics is made difficult for her by forcing Meg to “show her work” when her brain just leaps to the correct answer.
She’s contrasted with her traveling companions, the precocious Charles Wallace Murry and new friend Calvin O’Keefe. Charles is apparently a mutant with intelligence far beyond the typical five year old and telepathic powers. Calvin is tall for his fourteen years, and gets strong compulsions that lead him to the right place at the right time, but is starved for affection as his large family usually ignores him.
The world of Camazotz, a planet that has fallen to the darkness, is a chilling setting, where conformity is mandatory, and everyone must obey IT. The obvious allegory was (American propaganda about) Communism, but you can also see Fifties suburbia and any authoritarian regime mixed in there.
Still, this is a children’s book, and the thing that Meg Murray, a child, has that IT does not is the key to a small victory.
Content notes: A fair number of ableist slurs aimed primarily at Charles Wallace, an ethnic slur I’m pretty sure the child using it didn’t know was an ethnic slur (a lot of us didn’t back in 1962), and a brief scene of a child being tortured.
The back cover of my edition gives an age range of 10-14. There’s some advanced vocabulary, which bright young readers will take as a challenge. This book is also well worth coming back to as an adult, to see what went over your head the first time.
And now, here’s the trailer for the recent movie adaptation:
