Many Waters (Time, Book 4)

by Madeleine L'Engle

book data

5,620 ratings, 3.96 average rating, 264 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		31%
4		38%
3		24%
2		4%
1		0%

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published

May 1st 2007 (first published 1986) by Square Fish

binding

Paperback, 224 pages

characters

Meg Murry, Sandy Murry, Dennys Murry, Japheth, ...more

isbn

0312368577 (isbn13: 9780312368579)

description

The fifteen-year-old Murry twins, Sandy and Dennys, are accidentally sent back to a strange Biblical time period, in which mythical beasts roam the de...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 7,041)

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09/01/07

Matt rated it:

Just barely edged out as my favorite book in the series (right behind "A swiftly Tilting Planet"). Tells a story less concerned with love and justice and all about the hard choices that people (and deities) make in a flawed world.

An out and out retelling of the Biblical Deluge from the point of view of two modern teenagers. Unique in that it makes no apology for all the fantastical stuff the Bible referred to in antediluvian times. Angels getting it own with the village ...more

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05/01/07

Elin rated it:

I adore stories that take a piece of established lore (in this case, the Noah's ark story), and really bring it sweating and breathing into life. When I read this book I felt the people's derision at Noah for building a boat in the desert, their bewilderment when it began to rain, the anguish of being separated from lovers and forsaken by God. This story makes that beautiful Bible verse real: "Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man tried to buy it with everyt...more

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08/23/07

Alexis rated it:

Read in January, 1995

so... this was the first of all the books which made me realize while i was reading it that it was all christian imagery. i mean, the arc and all - noah... hard to miss, right? and that's what people say about aslan - just a jesus allegory - but i didn't have any christian education as a child, so i missed all of that. and most people say the same "when i was a kid i didn't realize it had all that christian metaphor." which i think means that in effect, it didn't. if we don't know ...more

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03/19/07

Amanda rated it:

Read in January, 1991

This is the other contender for my favorite Madeleine L'Engle book. I especially love this book because of its version of the biblical story of Noah and the flood, a story that I've heard often and that loses its luster since I spent my entire childhood in Sunday School. L'Engle blends biblical ideas and stories with her own imaginative renderings of that time, like her interpretations of the seraphim and nephilim, mythical creatures like manticores, and her explanation of Noah's daughters' c...more

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03/26/09

Jacqueline rated it:

bookshelves: ancient-times, fantasy, jf

Read in March, 2009

I first read Many Waters as a young adult many years ago. I have been re-reading many L'Engle books the past couple of years, and this one has been hard to get ahold of. (Our large library system only has one copy, and it has had a long hold list.) I finally got my chance and enjoyed revisiting the story.

Many Waters is basically a fictionalized account of the Noah's Ark story from the Bible. Sandy and Dennys Murphy inadvertently disturb one of their father's science projects and ...more

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10/26/07

Qt rated it:

bookshelves: science-fiction

This is the third book in the Wrinkle in Time quartet, and, like the others, it has an unusual and intriguing mix of spirituality, quantum mechanics, philosophy, and fantasy. It's not your typical novel--no slam-bang action, no climactic ending--it's more of a "thinking" book. Some of the parts were sad or a bit unsettling to me, but that's a shortcoming of my own--not the book's, as it was really well-written and beautifully done :-)

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05/17/09

Rachel rated it:

Read in May, 2009

This Time Quartet book seems not to fit in really well with the other three, but I liked it very much. For one thing, it follows the twins, Sandy and Dennys, who were hardly noticed in the other three books except that they were described as the most "normal" of the Murry children. For another, they were not granted some great mission, like Meg and Charles Wallace in the other three Time books. It was much more like the Wizard of Oz, where the boys, having stumbled into a different ...more

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04/16/09

Rob rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy

Read in April, 2009

The Murry twins, Sandy and Dennys, get transported back to the time of Noah, just before the flood. I have to say, whatever you expect that to be like, L'Engle probably still has a surprise or two for you. Very good writing,. as always. THe plot is somewhat unsatisfactory to me towards the end, though. Maybe she addresses this in the An Acceptable Time. Doesn;t look like it, though.

***SPOILER******
******SPOILER******
*********SPOILER******
Well, I know where Pullman g...more

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06/13/09

Grimstnzborith Janeen-san-elda svit-kona rated it:

(review of isbn 0440405483)

bookshelves: books-i-own

Read in June, 2009

This book was good and interesting.
Sandy and Dennsy, the Murry twins, accidently mess up one of their Father's experiments with a tesseract and suddenly are transported back in time and help Noah build his ark in time to escape the giant flood they know is going to come.
This book was good, but there was one thing I found very strange: the author shortened her sentences, and this bothered as well as puzzled me.
For example, instead of saying 'He got up and walked across the ro...more

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11/19/08

Kirsten rated it:

Read in November, 2008

Probably 3 1/2 stars, which I am rounding up to 4. Another one which I think I liked better as a child, when the whole idea of reinterpreting the Bible seemed fresh and new. There's a lot here, but most of it doesn't really go anywhere. In most of L'Engle's books, there is a reason for the time/space travel - the person is needed as a catalyst or an inspiration for something key to happen. I just didn't get that sense here - I felt like everything in the plot would have happened even without...more

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06/17/09

Julie rated it:

(review of other edition)

bookshelves: children-s, historical-fiction, science-fiction

Read in January, 1995

The concept of this book fascinated me and has stuck with me for years. I don't remember the plot, as much as I remember ideas, like the idea that people in Biblical times could have been much, much shorter than people today (which would only make sense considering that the average height is increasing every year) and that they might not have kept time the same way - meaning that Abraham could have been 900 years old on HIS calendar. That kind of thinking was new to me then. I'd like to re-read ...more

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09/29/08

courtney rated it:

Read in October, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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09/22/08

Lindsey rated it:

Of the four within the traditional Time Quartet, this is the odd novel out. The previous three books focus on Meg, Charles, and Calvin O’Keefe as the main characters, and this uses the other two members of the Murry family as the protagonists. Also, the previous three have interweaving themes that bring out the ideology regarding self-sacrifice regarding social justice that has the ability to effect and entire culture or time period, whereas this is more about the process of boys becoming men ...more

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09/02/08

Margie rated it:

Read in October, 2008

recommended to Margie by: self
recommends it for: Teens interested in quantum physics and the space-time continuum

This was interesting because it not only took principles of physics (quantum leaps) but also the little-known Nephilum (fallen angels) and Seraphim of Noah's time (yes "THE" Noah of the Old Testament) and combined it into a thought-provoking tale of the Murray twins Dennys and Alexander (Sandy). This was my favorite of the series after "Wrinkle", but I was a little miffed that it was chronologically out of order with the 3rd book. The two books should have been flip flopped...more

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08/07/08

Chak rated it:

bookshelves: kid

Read in August, 2008

Even though I recommended the 3rd book in The Time Quartet for 10 year olds, I would think a reader's age of 12 or more would be warranted for "Many Waters," the last book in Madeline L'Engle's Time Quartet series due to recurrent sexual themes in the book and some violence. L'Engle handles everything morally and appropriately, but it just seems like a book for an older kid. Again, my son is only five, so maybe kids are dealing with these topics a lot sooner these days, I don't know....more

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06/18/08

Adhaar rated it:

(review of isbn 0440405483)

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06/18/08

Heather rated it:

Read in January, 2007

I've been a fan of the three other "Wrinkle in Time" books since I was a child, so I was interested in re-reading those books and reading this for the first time. The story is about the twins Sandy and Dennys, and their accidental travel back in time to Noah's (of Noah and the Ark) days.

I was surprised by how different this book felt from the other three. At first I was a little put off by the dialogue between the twins at the beginning. Their manner of talking to each...more I've been a fan of the three other "Wrinkle in Time" books since I was a child, so I was interested in re-reading those books and reading this for the first time. The story is about the twins Sandy and Dennys, and their accidental travel back in time to Noah's (of Noah and the Ark) days.

I was surprised by how different this book felt from the other three. At first I was a little put off by the dialogue between the twins at the beginning. Their manner of talking to each other seemed so unnatural, they were verbalizing each thought in their heads. I have 5 children, and kids just don't talk to each other that way.

The setting during Noah's time is bizarre: half-real unicorns, dark and light angels, Noah's family is disfunctional, all the young girls are half-dressed etc. I found the story interesting enough to read it through to the end, but I was fairly disappointed in it compared with the others in the series. I'm having a hard time even categorizing this book! It was biblicial fiction/fantasy with a touch of sciency fiction (time travel) and a book about brotherly friendship. A very odd mixture of ideas that didn't really seem to mesh well together.

As a note to parents, this book contains some sexual content that might not be appropriate for younger readers. The book discusses virginity (there are some quite promiscuous characters in the book), and the preservation and or loss of one's virginity is a decision the twins have to deal with (at age 15) in this book. The adolescent girl characters in Noah's time are topless. The author mentions their breasts several times. The author does not condone the promiscuity, and the boys do decide to preserve their virginity (and if they hadn't they would not have been able to get back to the present time).

Because of some of the content, the book really stands out from the other 3, and doesn't seem to be for the same audience. The others could be read by anyone old enough read and understand the complex storylines. This book would be more for a teen/young adult audience.

Personally, I thought it was just ok, and I wouldn't recommend it to my kids or friends. (less)

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05/01/08

Paula rated it:

Read in May, 2008

I was surprisingly pleased by this book. It started off a little slow, and it took me the majority of the book to figure out who was who, but it ended really nicely, and probably in the only way that was possible.

It was odd that this book seems to be a bit out of order in the series (for example, Meg is married in A Swiftly Tilting Planet, the third book in the series, while she's only in college in this one), and completely unusual to involve the twins as major characters in a book ...more

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03/27/08

Morgan rated it:

(review of isbn 0374347964)

bookshelves: children-s, christian, magical-fiction

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Morgan by: Jenn
recommends it for: everyone

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

The final in 'The Time Quartet', Many Waters follows the twins, Dennys and Sandy as they find themselves on their own adventure. Now, we haven't seen much of the twins, but it was really fun to see them in their own adventure.

After hockey practice one day, the twins stumble in their mom's lab and start messing around with dad's new "computer" (for lack of a better term). What they don't realize is that the machine is programed to allow tesseraction (right word? hmmmm.....more The final in 'The Time Quartet', Many Waters follows the twins, Dennys and Sandy as they find themselves on their own adventure. Now, we haven't seen much of the twins, but it was really fun to see them in their own adventure.

After hockey practice one day, the twins stumble in their mom's lab and start messing around with dad's new "computer" (for lack of a better term). What they don't realize is that the machine is programed to allow tesseraction (right word? hmmmm...) and the twins find themselves suddenly in a desert. In the middle of nowhere. After their father's own adventures with tessering, they know they could be anywhere; any planet, any galaxy, any time. What they don't know, is that they still happen to be on our planet, only thousands of years earlier. They actually end up in ancient Mesopatamia, pre-flood days. They are discovered by no other than Japeth, one of Noah's sons. Being badly burned and suffereing from heat exhaustion, both boys are taken to the tents of Noah to be healed. The rest of the story follows life of ancient desert nomads, the sin of the world, God's choice to save a few through the ark, and how in the world the twins are going to get back before the 'many waters' fall from the sky.

Now, what was really neat about this book were the liberties she took in telling the story of Noah. In her story, Noah and his father had not been speaking to each other for years; why, no one really remembers. There were more children to Noah than just Ham, Shem, and Japeth. She puts into play what happened with all of them. She takes the verse regarding the angels marrying humans, and plays off that story by creating her version of the Nephalim and Seraphim, both angels of God, some good....some bad. She interweaves unicorns, manticores, mammoths, and angels that change into their earthly hosts (beetles, owls, lions, crocodiles...) into a biblical account of God's redemption.

L'Engle has proven the fact that she is a truly gifted author; in league with Lewis and Tolkien. Anyone that can so seemlessly weave fact and fiction into a story that gives you hope and imagination deserves to have her books handed down to generation after generation.(less)

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01/26/08

Kelly rated it:

(review of isbn 0374347964)

bookshelves: old_friends

Read in December, 1987

My piano teacher asked me what I would like for my 12th birthday, and I said that I liked Madeleine L'Engle's books. This one had just come out, so she bought it for me. I can't believe how nice she was, especially considering I never practiced before my lessons.

(non-book-related aside)
The other thing she would give all her students every year was a little plastic bust of a composer - you'd get a different composer every year. Each one would come in a box with a checklist of...more My piano teacher asked me what I would like for my 12th birthday, and I said that I liked Madeleine L'Engle's books. This one had just come out, so she bought it for me. I can't believe how nice she was, especially considering I never practiced before my lessons.

(non-book-related aside)
The other thing she would give all her students every year was a little plastic bust of a composer - you'd get a different composer every year. Each one would come in a box with a checklist of every composer available on the side. One of my sisters kept one of these boxes, and every composer on her list was checked off. She took lessons the longest of any of my siblings. It was because of her that we could complete the set, with guys like Grieg and Schumann. Of course, all of us took lessons for at least a couple of years, so we had multiple Handels, Bachs, and Mozarts, amongst others. We had 4 Beethovens, and they were the best, because they all had the same sullen expression, so you could arrange them in a square, each one with his back turned to the others, so they'd all look like they were in a real huff with each other. The multiple Mozarts were also fun - Mozart was kind of looking over his shoulder slightly dreamily, so when they all faced inward, it kind of looked like they were dancing - as if they were about to put up their hands to go around in a wagon-wheel star, maybe. Liszt had a bob, and a worried expression, so you could face 2 Liszts together and make them look like they were commiserating about their haircuts.

(back to the real book review)
After A Wrinkle In Time, this is my favorite of L'Engle's books, partly because I was just amazed to discover that a book with a religious theme need not be filed under "horror." (Religion class was pretty upsetting at my Catholic school. All the stories involved someone getting tortured!) I also loved this book because I was a budding sci-fi fan when I read it. But mostly I loved it because I'd felt bad for the twins throughout the original trilogy - they'd always been glossed over as the 2D "normal" kids in the Murray family, with Meg and Charles Wallace getting to shine as the weird and lovable nerds. I was thrilled to see Sandy and Dennys finally get to be fleshed out as protagonists in their own right. (And, of course, my young adolescent self couldn't help but notice how handsome they looked on the cover!)(less)

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