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halfcentreader's review against another edition
2.0
First, I have to say that L'Engle has always been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. This novel was a sequel to another book, that I don't remember reading, Camilla. It read a bit like a soap opera really, lots of tragic and relatively sensational things happen to Camilla's family... I almost feel like this novel was an attempt by the author to meet some publisher demand to be edgier to use more swear words and talk about taboo topics. What kept me reading was that the voice was distinctively L'Engle. I was feeling nostalgic. And there were likeable characters... with the exception being Taxi.
lijon's review against another edition
3.0
Extremely soap-opera-y story told in flashbacks of Camilla Dickinson's adult life. She is an elderly astronomer being honored for her work, and the flashbacks, told to her granddaughter, gradually explain a family conflict going on in the present day. I was riveted and couldn't wait to figure out what the next twist would be.
pturnbull's review
3.0
Camilla, an astronomy professor and widow of a clergyman, reveals family secrets to her granddaughter in a series of deep, intimate story-telling sessions. I found the secrecy that the plot was built upon less than convincing. The treatment of the issues--about the generational impact of child abuse and trauma--did not age well (the novel was published in 1996). The family "enemy" was very weakly presented and I was distracted from the plot by my desire to know more about him. Any L'Engle fan will want to read this; others can skip.
xterminal's review
4.0
Everyone knows Madeleine L'Engle, right? Admit it. You've all read A Wrinkle in Time, and you all thought it was cool. Most of you probably went on to read the other three books in the series. (Some of you probably sought out the other books in the two series that crossed over with the Time books, and you don't need to read this review, because you've probably already read this book.)
For the rest of you, who wondered what L'Engle had been doing since then... A Live Coal in the Sea is her forty-second book, at least the forty-second listed in the "Books by Madelieine L'Engle" page. A well-stocked bookstore will have books by L'Engle in fiction, young adult, drama, poetry, religion, and at least two or three other categories. I know this because while a bookstore manager I actually attempted to order a couple of everything she'd written. It was impossible. I exceeded the weekly budget. Nowadays, or at least in 1996 when this book came out, L'Engle is/was the writer in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. I'm not sure how one gets such a job, but I'll bet a good part of it has to do with writing a book that's been translated into every major (and many minor) language on Earth and has probably sold almost as many copies as the Bible.
So, the main question should probably be, has she lost any of that power in the last thirty-odd years since A Wrinkle in Time made its unassuming debut? And if not, why aren't her books still selling like hotcakes? The answer to the second question has to do with the changing priorities in the publishing business far more than it has to do with L'Engle, and the answer ot the first question is "not really." _A Live Coal in the Sea_ is a simple, warmhearted, moving family-type novel that has about as much in common with most books that fit that description as The Day the Earth Stood Still has in common with Plan Nine from Outer Space.
The book centers on Camilla Xanthakos, an astronomy professor at a small university in New York, and her granddaughter Raffi, a freshman at the same institution. One evening Raffi comes to Camilla's house and asks, "are you or are you not my grandmother?," thanks to a comment from her glamorous, overstressed, childish father. The book slides between Camilla's reminiscences of the past, and how they affect Camilla, Raffi, and their family and friends in the present. In other words, it's another heritage mystery. But it's handled in such a different way than The Quincunx (for one point, all the prevarication about whether to tell who about what is handled offstage, which is why this book is only slightly over three hundred pages) that, despite the fact that I was reading the two in tandem, I could draw no connections between them other than the most basic plot point.
Another thing that sets L'Engle apart from her contemporaries, and this is far more true now than it used to be, is her use of Christianity in her work. Contemporary Christian novels are far more likely to deal with God-as-concept rather than the human side of the religion; that's why it's so refreshing to go back and read Mauriac, or L'Engle's stuff, instead of trying to choke down these "War in Heaven" style novels that have little, if anything, to do with the human struggle to reconcile the existence of some kind of supreme being with what humanity faces on a day-to-day basis. And the Xanthakos family is faced with a whole bunch of it, from every direction, including inside (you don't have a scientist in the family without having the family faith questioned), and yet still everyone is able to reconcile the faith to the fallacy, and in a logical manner to boot. Questioning faithful types will probably find some affirmation in here; nonbelievers who have always wondered how thiking Christians reconcile things (especially those nonbelievers who have never been able to get good answers to some questions) may find answers in here. I did.
So the plot's good, the characterizations are fine, the theme is downright excellent, it's gonna get five stars, right? Nope. It doesn't quite hit lifechanger level, and the ending is something I'm still trying to figure out; to say more would consitute spoilage. Still, it's certainly a worthwhile book to pick up, as is anything by Madeleine L'Engle; the lady's still turning out better material than most of what's out there.
For the rest of you, who wondered what L'Engle had been doing since then... A Live Coal in the Sea is her forty-second book, at least the forty-second listed in the "Books by Madelieine L'Engle" page. A well-stocked bookstore will have books by L'Engle in fiction, young adult, drama, poetry, religion, and at least two or three other categories. I know this because while a bookstore manager I actually attempted to order a couple of everything she'd written. It was impossible. I exceeded the weekly budget. Nowadays, or at least in 1996 when this book came out, L'Engle is/was the writer in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. I'm not sure how one gets such a job, but I'll bet a good part of it has to do with writing a book that's been translated into every major (and many minor) language on Earth and has probably sold almost as many copies as the Bible.
So, the main question should probably be, has she lost any of that power in the last thirty-odd years since A Wrinkle in Time made its unassuming debut? And if not, why aren't her books still selling like hotcakes? The answer to the second question has to do with the changing priorities in the publishing business far more than it has to do with L'Engle, and the answer ot the first question is "not really." _A Live Coal in the Sea_ is a simple, warmhearted, moving family-type novel that has about as much in common with most books that fit that description as The Day the Earth Stood Still has in common with Plan Nine from Outer Space.
The book centers on Camilla Xanthakos, an astronomy professor at a small university in New York, and her granddaughter Raffi, a freshman at the same institution. One evening Raffi comes to Camilla's house and asks, "are you or are you not my grandmother?," thanks to a comment from her glamorous, overstressed, childish father. The book slides between Camilla's reminiscences of the past, and how they affect Camilla, Raffi, and their family and friends in the present. In other words, it's another heritage mystery. But it's handled in such a different way than The Quincunx (for one point, all the prevarication about whether to tell who about what is handled offstage, which is why this book is only slightly over three hundred pages) that, despite the fact that I was reading the two in tandem, I could draw no connections between them other than the most basic plot point.
Another thing that sets L'Engle apart from her contemporaries, and this is far more true now than it used to be, is her use of Christianity in her work. Contemporary Christian novels are far more likely to deal with God-as-concept rather than the human side of the religion; that's why it's so refreshing to go back and read Mauriac, or L'Engle's stuff, instead of trying to choke down these "War in Heaven" style novels that have little, if anything, to do with the human struggle to reconcile the existence of some kind of supreme being with what humanity faces on a day-to-day basis. And the Xanthakos family is faced with a whole bunch of it, from every direction, including inside (you don't have a scientist in the family without having the family faith questioned), and yet still everyone is able to reconcile the faith to the fallacy, and in a logical manner to boot. Questioning faithful types will probably find some affirmation in here; nonbelievers who have always wondered how thiking Christians reconcile things (especially those nonbelievers who have never been able to get good answers to some questions) may find answers in here. I did.
So the plot's good, the characterizations are fine, the theme is downright excellent, it's gonna get five stars, right? Nope. It doesn't quite hit lifechanger level, and the ending is something I'm still trying to figure out; to say more would consitute spoilage. Still, it's certainly a worthwhile book to pick up, as is anything by Madeleine L'Engle; the lady's still turning out better material than most of what's out there.
annieeditor's review
4.0
I think way back when I was a teen and looking for the L'Engle books I had missed, I saw this one and passed it over. The teen romantic in me wanted Camilla to end up with her first love, and that she would marry someone else seemed like a betrayal.
I know more now (thank goodness) and so when I rediscovered this sequel to "Camilla," right after I had finished re-reading that book with an adult perspective, I was thrilled. Here it was, the "Camilla" for adults. I had to read it right away.
It's not one of L'Engle's best books. The plot jerks around, in that the central mysteries turn out not to to be very mysterious at all. It's a good exploration of character, though, and specifically of characters dealing with love and marriage. It's one person telling a story to another, with another person telling a story wrapped inside, kind of like Arabian Nights.
L'Engle is able to latch onto the universal essence of desire for love and companionship and all of the things that can tear those things asunder. One thing that bothered me, though, was the idea that Camilla was a brilliant professor, mother and housewife all at the same time. It seemed incredibly unreal, especially that her husband Mac doesn't seem to be expected to help in the arena of the house and any details of the balance of her life are skimmed over quickly.
Reading "A Circle of Quiet" has helped put some of that in perspective. It's interesting, how L'Engle can be so progressive and old and conformist at the same time. She writes about her guilt over not being a good housewife. And while it seems like a part of her knows that she shouldn't use this to validate her worth, she still believes in this image of woman as the domestic goddess in her solitary domain.
A lot of this book is about marriage, but also on all the ways our parents mess us up, as the two things seem to be tied up together. While marriage seems to require grace (forgiveness, I think Elizabeth Gilbert would call it) being a daughter seems to require the ability to move on. Maybe the book suggests that that is a harder kind of grace, because one can never choose one's parents.
I know more now (thank goodness) and so when I rediscovered this sequel to "Camilla," right after I had finished re-reading that book with an adult perspective, I was thrilled. Here it was, the "Camilla" for adults. I had to read it right away.
It's not one of L'Engle's best books. The plot jerks around, in that the central mysteries turn out not to to be very mysterious at all. It's a good exploration of character, though, and specifically of characters dealing with love and marriage. It's one person telling a story to another, with another person telling a story wrapped inside, kind of like Arabian Nights.
L'Engle is able to latch onto the universal essence of desire for love and companionship and all of the things that can tear those things asunder. One thing that bothered me, though, was the idea that Camilla was a brilliant professor, mother and housewife all at the same time. It seemed incredibly unreal, especially that her husband Mac doesn't seem to be expected to help in the arena of the house and any details of the balance of her life are skimmed over quickly.
Reading "A Circle of Quiet" has helped put some of that in perspective. It's interesting, how L'Engle can be so progressive and old and conformist at the same time. She writes about her guilt over not being a good housewife. And while it seems like a part of her knows that she shouldn't use this to validate her worth, she still believes in this image of woman as the domestic goddess in her solitary domain.
A lot of this book is about marriage, but also on all the ways our parents mess us up, as the two things seem to be tied up together. While marriage seems to require grace (forgiveness, I think Elizabeth Gilbert would call it) being a daughter seems to require the ability to move on. Maybe the book suggests that that is a harder kind of grace, because one can never choose one's parents.
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