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brandifox's review against another edition
4.0
L’Engle has a poet’s porous treatment of language and idea. Don’t bother with this book if you require absolute agreement with anyone from whom you might learn. Her reflections are so multifaceted I’m not sure she could ever pass that test. I’m not sure she would even want to try.
cimorene1558's review
4.0
I’m so glad I decided to give these another try, I started them in my twenties, and thought they were fine, but not brilliant, but now in my nearly-forties I find them exactly what I need to read.
adamrshields's review against another edition
4.0
Short Review: I really love this series. It can be more than a little meandering. But the organization isn't the point. The point is the exploration of life and the wisdom that can be gained from it. This third book in the series of memoirs is roughly organized around the Liturgical year. It is very rough. Some of the connections are pretty tenuous. But again, that isn't really the point.
This also fits in with a lot of the resurgent thought recently about the liturgical year, the importance of repetition of the liturgy in general and the importance of regular seasons of grief, joy, celebration, introspection and 'ordinary time'.
One more of the memoirs to go, the last one is on her marriage.
My fuller review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/irrational-season/
This also fits in with a lot of the resurgent thought recently about the liturgical year, the importance of repetition of the liturgy in general and the importance of regular seasons of grief, joy, celebration, introspection and 'ordinary time'.
One more of the memoirs to go, the last one is on her marriage.
My fuller review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/irrational-season/
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
I struggled with this book. I mostly love L’Engle’s writing, but for the most part this left me cold. Thank goodness for her poetry - it kept me reading.
allisonjpmiller's review against another edition
4.0
Just as I consider C.S. Lewis my third grandfather, Madeleine L'Engle is my third grandmother. She is such a role model for me – not only because of her wisdom but because of her foolishness. She is so honest and transparent about her faults, failures, and doubts; it makes her statements about hope and joy actually resonate as truthful experience, instead of hollow wishes. And I'm so inspired by her as a writer. She drives me to persevere in creating.
The Crosswicks Journals are slices of life, carefully observed, that I will return to time and again.
The Crosswicks Journals are slices of life, carefully observed, that I will return to time and again.
brendaclay's review against another edition
5.0
This memoir (the last Crosswicks Journal I hadn't read) is loosely set within the framework of the church calendar, starting in Advent. The general theme is how to believe in and trust a good God in a world of "wars and insane asylums," and with so many tragedies happening recently, it's VERY relevant to this moment in time. It's almost as good as A Circle of Quiet - I wanted to highlight probably the last third of the book. Overall, it's classic L'Engle, so if you love her, you'll love this.
vickysimpson's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely LOVE the way Madeleine L'Engle writes about faith, love, church and community. The way she speaks of metaphor and poetry is so beautiful too. She wrote this book decades ago and yet it is so timeous, on a personal as well as a wider level.
rissaleighs's review against another edition
2.0
This book just wasn't for me at the moment. Too meandering, too much a jumble. Too many sentences starting with 'and' or 'but'. (Normally, I would be the last person in the world to notice something like that, but it was so irritatingly excessive.) I remember really enjoying the first Crosswicks a few years ago, but this one didn't work for me. I felt like Madeline was either railing at God, or stalwartly insisting on the unknowableness of things, or inventing her own theology to suit her feelings.