A Ring of Endless Light
by Madeleine L'Engle
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2198)
Read in September, 2003
I read this book in fifth grade, and I loved it so much. I bought it earlier this spring at Borders (I think it was on sale because it’s newbery honor sticker is the wrong color), though I just picked it up.
Vicky Austin goes to her grandfather’s house on Seven Bay Island. Each day, her grandfather only seems to grow weaker from Leukemia. The book begins with the Austin’s family friend Commander Rodney’s funeral. There, she meets her older brother’s friend Adam, who she thinks she ...more
Vicky Austin goes to her grandfather’s house on Seven Bay Island. Each day, her grandfather only seems to grow weaker from Leukemia. The book begins with the Austin’s family friend Commander Rodney’s funeral. There, she meets her older brother’s friend Adam, who she thinks she ...more
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Read in January, 2002
Where to begin, this book is the second best book Madeleine L'Engle ever wrote(the first being Wrinkle in Time) it is on the Chronos side of her fiction books, and it is the ongoing story of Vicki Austin, which was begun in Meet the Austins.
Vicki's grandfather is dying of leukemia and her family is spending the summer vacation saying goodbye.
This book does have the teen romance thing going on but it isn't over the top and it isn't one of those books were the writer goes on and on about how m...more
Vicki's grandfather is dying of leukemia and her family is spending the summer vacation saying goodbye.
This book does have the teen romance thing going on but it isn't over the top and it isn't one of those books were the writer goes on and on about how m...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 1995
My first L'Engle book and it was amazing -- I've since read it full through at least ten times. Vicky is a lovable character because she represented the best and worst of me. L'Engle doesn't let her seem like the perfect high schooler, but shows her nerdy sides as well as her stubborn and selfish sides. While it's a true coming-of-age novel, topics from the Bible, literature, and science are debated by the characters and skillfully force the reader to re-examine her own thoughts.
The charact...more
The charact...more
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For a long while this book was my favorite. I haven't read it in a wh8ile though, and many other amazing books have pushed it to the back of my mind until I remembered it recently. What I like is that it has so many components that satisfy each of my desires in books. There is that whole confusing start that I enjoy so much, then there is the path of this teenage girl as she discovers herself and this new passion: dolphins. Yeah, boys, I know it doesn't sound to interesting and I guess that's fo...more
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Read in January, 1998
Ok...normally I'm not a fan of L'Engle because she has a tendency to write more futuristic/sci-fi novels, but I love this book. I first read it in 7th grade? and then I thought I would reread it in high school to see if I thought it was as good as I had thought. Still a big fan of it.
This quote from Horn Magazine gives a good synopsis about it:
"Presents with passion and energy all sorts of theological, scientific and philosophical ideas to support L'Engle's ultimate theme: that coming...more
This quote from Horn Magazine gives a good synopsis about it:
"Presents with passion and energy all sorts of theological, scientific and philosophical ideas to support L'Engle's ultimate theme: that coming...more
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Read in August, 1995
I read this book in 5th grade and it has held a special place for me ever since. Even when I went back to re-read it in high school and again in college, I could still find the mysticism that captured me the first time around. Though from an older perspective, I see now that Vicky is much older than her tender teenage years belie, and the relationship she has with a college student raises my eyebrows now. However, at the time, I was completely drawn in and could believe it. This is no typica...more
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Read in January, 1992
recommends it for:
every single person who has ever lived
This is one of L"Engle's books in the Austin series, which I think is not as well-known as the Wrinkle-in-Time series. Vicky Austin, the main character in this book, and her family, stay at her grandfather's island house the summer he is dying from cancer. It is one of the most wonderful books written in all time, and I will tell you, you will find all of the most wonderful questions about perfection and brilliance and philosophy and life. Oh, and there's some stuff about communicating w...more
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In my youth I was on a L'engle tear having gone through the "Time" series...however I didn't get the memo that L'engle's writing ministry developed into one catered towards guiding pre-adolescent females through their awkward years.
Needless to say, I caught on when I realized that the books really weren't speaking to me like the others were...and I quietly returned this one back to the library and saw that I was the only dude to read the book for the past decade...
A good read n...more
Needless to say, I caught on when I realized that the books really weren't speaking to me like the others were...and I quietly returned this one back to the library and saw that I was the only dude to read the book for the past decade...
A good read n...more
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Read in April, 1999
recommended to Valerie by:
Michellerecommends it for: Anyone who enjoys the ocean, dolphins, family ties, and magic
This is one of my favorite books of all time. A beautifully written coming-of-age story about a young girl. I loved the setting near the ocean, the mysteries involving the dolphins, and the intricities of the family relationships. Enduring is her relationship with her grandfather and confusing is her relatioship with boys. This book has some great science fiction/magical moments to it that I enjoyed, even though I am not a big science fiction reader. I need to read this book again!
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Read in November, 2007
This incredible book is about a girl named Zoey.With her grandfather gravely sick,her confusing love life was not a help at all.Three boys were trying to capture her heart.They were Adam,Zachary and Leo.Zachary was a rich playboy,Adam was a reliable dolphin trainer and Leo was Zoey's neighbour and an old friend.When Adam exposed the world of dolphins to her,she found out her spcial connection to them.Who will Zoey chose?It is for you to find out!!!
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Read in January, 1989
I must have torn through over a dozen Madeleine L'Engle novels over a couple of years in my early adolescence, but this one stands out in my memory as one of the darkest and most powerful of her "non-fantasy" novels. I reread it recently after a friend died, and it was more powerful than ever. The characters are all very flawed, and thus very real. Ms. L'Engle's writing is sensitive and beautiful.
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Read in January, 1995
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in February, 2007
This is a great example of why sometimes it's better not to re-read books that meant something to you as a kid. I remembered this book as being deep and moving. This time around it was kind of obnoxious. There was a lot of moralizing and long, melodramatic dialogue. Yeesh. This must be why I liked non-contemporary type books about animals and people in other ages and dimensions.
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Read in August, 2007
I just reread this book for the first time since I was 14 or 15. I think the book was even more powerful today, than it was the first time I read it, especially having since lost 2 grandparents. The powerlessness Vicky feels about life and her unsureness about where she fits are universal and transcend the young adult genre this book was written for.
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Read in January, 1983
A lovely coming of age tale (one of a series about the Austen family focusing on Vickie Austen). Vickie and her family spene the summer on a New England island with her dying grandfather. Vickie grapples with boys, being a teenager, sibling rivalry with a pretty younger sister, and the impending death of her beloved grandfather.
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One of my top 20 favorite books. It gently presents a coming of age story in the transition from youth to adult inculcated with dreams of hope, death, magic, and love in a way that I haven't experienced since reading "Remember Me to God", another wonderful story. It also has a bit of resonance with "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn".
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I agree with my mother in naming this one of the top Madeleine L'Engle books. It is head and shoulders above the rest of the non-Wrinkle in Time series books I've read--except Troubling a Star, I guess. There are deep questions and beautiful insights about life and death in this fairly (for L'Engle) realistic adventure.
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My mother gave me this book as a teenager and I read it several times. It is actually the latter part of a series about the Austin family and I read this out of order. I went back to read the preceeding books, but this was my favorite in the series. This is a classic adolescent novel, but also appropriate for adults.
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This book is a wonderful example of L'Engle's ability to combine multiple elements, i.e religion, poetry, marine biology, death, into a harmonious story. At the end of the book readers recognize death as a terrible beauty. There is more in this book for the adult reader than it's young adult classification implies.
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I read this when i was a young adult and it was still good now. I can't believe how well the author writes. With such intelligence and knowledge whithout shoveing philosophy down my throat. The heroine was believable and likable and every girl could look up to her.One of my twenty best of all time!!! Loved it!
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