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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
Strange and amazing, this surreal novel fostered interest in my for time, space, and dimension travel. Love it, I've read it multiple times and it maintains the greatness of when I first read it.
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I picked this up on a tip from a character in a Japanese TV drama (I think it was in "The Journalist" with Yonekura Ryoko,) and was surprised and a little disappointed to find that it's clearly in the Young Adult or even Juvenile Fiction genre. That's not to say there aren't books within that genre that are edifying for adult readers - the obvious example is J.K. Rowling starting a series as YA and quickly elevating it to the complexity and depth of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings"; Lewis' "Narnia" books have ample depth and thematic material; and though Joan Aiken never got to the level of either, her "Wolves" series is worthy entertainment for adults regardless.
"Wrinkle in Time" was first published in 1962 and reflects that time and it's a good story - but with a depth limited to maybe an early- to mid-teen level. It's a story of three children who are "different" - picked-on outcasts whose outside-the-box intellect is mistaken as, alternately, social nerdiness and academic slacking - who embark on a quest for a missing person that traverses space-time, via the help of some strange, otherworldly characters.
It gets off to a slow start and ends rather abruptly - so an adjustment to consistency in pacing, at either end, would've made it a better book. There is a mystical content which, along with the wormhole-enabled planet-hopping is reminiscent of Lewis' "Out of the Silent Planet" and "Perelandra," but which manages to be subtle enough to avoid the pitfall of overt religious preachiness. There is also a hefty thematic exposition of dystopian collectivism in the story's villain, which evil is unambiguously identified as such. The identification of individualism as its antidote is less-clear but not hard to figure out, I'm thinking even for a young reader.
I bought this in a five-book omnibus edition so will likely read them all (they're only a day or two's investment of time, even for "glacial"-pace readers,) but I'm disappointed this wasn't weightier. I'm hoping the series will gain more depth in subsequent volumes.
"Wrinkle in Time" was first published in 1962 and reflects that time and it's a good story - but with a depth limited to maybe an early- to mid-teen level. It's a story of three children who are "different" - picked-on outcasts whose outside-the-box intellect is mistaken as, alternately, social nerdiness and academic slacking - who embark on a quest for a missing person that traverses space-time, via the help of some strange, otherworldly characters.
It gets off to a slow start and ends rather abruptly - so an adjustment to consistency in pacing, at either end, would've made it a better book. There is a mystical content which, along with the wormhole-enabled planet-hopping is reminiscent of Lewis' "Out of the Silent Planet" and "Perelandra," but which manages to be subtle enough to avoid the pitfall of overt religious preachiness. There is also a hefty thematic exposition of dystopian collectivism in the story's villain, which evil is unambiguously identified as such. The identification of individualism as its antidote is less-clear but not hard to figure out, I'm thinking even for a young reader.
I bought this in a five-book omnibus edition so will likely read them all (they're only a day or two's investment of time, even for "glacial"-pace readers,) but I'm disappointed this wasn't weightier. I'm hoping the series will gain more depth in subsequent volumes.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Ok, I recognize this is a remarkable work that’s both deeply clever and intensely meaningful, and the metanarrative alone makes it valuable, I do not like Meg, and I think the prose is too technical to be beautiful. There’s is an absence of music to the writing that disappointments me
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So ambitious and thought-provoking! Wish I had read it as a kid. But having read it for the first time now, I really liked it. The only thing is, it felt like it ended really abruptly. They saved Charles Wallace, but the black thing is still there, isn't it? Maybe that'll get explored more in the next 4 books.
adventurous
mysterious
i feel bad but a bit like a low budget cs lewis book, might read the rest might not