Scan barcode
A review by authoraugust
A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L'Engle
5.0
Ahh, Madeleine. A staple of my childhood, with her Time Quartet (I didn't know about "An Acceptable Time" back then). She appealed to me for all the reasons a good author should: her characters were real and disagreeable yet worthy of admiration, in the end; her plots were full of mystery and adventure, but easy enough to follow; and she understands time. She speaks, in the last chapters of "A Circle of Quiet," about chronos and kairos, and it was her ability to express kairos without turning it into yet another scientific concept that hooked me on her literature in the first place.
This book is for growing-ups. Not grown-ups, because there's no such thing, least of all according to L'Engle; but growing-ups, the people who are learning to come into themselves as an unconscious yet deliberate journey. I can't express how grateful I am for the ways L'Engle weaves her narratives about those precious moments in life with the writing she was doing at the time. Knowing that it's possible to have a life so fulfilled by a significant other, children, friends of all ages and backgrounds, and writing itself -- that is an encouragement I needed right now. Written brilliantly and in her distinct style, "A Circle of Quiet" is a quiet book of love, acceptance, and a crumbling of those dangerous walls we build around our hearts.
This book is for growing-ups. Not grown-ups, because there's no such thing, least of all according to L'Engle; but growing-ups, the people who are learning to come into themselves as an unconscious yet deliberate journey. I can't express how grateful I am for the ways L'Engle weaves her narratives about those precious moments in life with the writing she was doing at the time. Knowing that it's possible to have a life so fulfilled by a significant other, children, friends of all ages and backgrounds, and writing itself -- that is an encouragement I needed right now. Written brilliantly and in her distinct style, "A Circle of Quiet" is a quiet book of love, acceptance, and a crumbling of those dangerous walls we build around our hearts.