A Swiftly Tilting Planet (Time, Book 3)
by Madeleine L'Englepublished
1981
(first published 1979)
by Yearling
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binding
Paperback, 304 pages
characters
Charles Wallace Murry,
Meg Murry,
Mrs. O'Keefe,
Mad Dog Branzillo,
Gaudior,
Echthroi,
Harcels,
Madoc Gywnedd,
Brandon Llawcae,
Matthew Maddox,
Chuck Maddox
isbn
0440401585
(isbn13: 9780440401582)
description
The Murry and O’Keefe families enlist the help of the unicorn, Gaudior, to save the world from imminent nuclear war.
Fifteen-year-old Charles Wa...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Morgan by:
Jennrecommends it for: everyone
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Read in August, 2008
This book is probably appropriate for ages 10 or above. I say probably because my son is only 5, so I am not that familiar with what an 10 year old could be reading/understanding. I might have suggested a younger reading level, but there is one part of the plot where there is some violence within a family and it could be too scary for a younger child, I think.
I enjoyed this book, even though I am quite a bit older than 10. I will read anything with a time travel story and pretty much love...more
I enjoyed this book, even though I am quite a bit older than 10. I will read anything with a time travel story and pretty much love...more
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Read in November, 2007
Though L'Engle's storytelling improves after the dull previous outing of "A Wind in the Door", "Swiftly" fails in other more serious ways.
The biggest problem is her somewhat silly reliance on hereditary family names from generation to generation--names that endure for hundreds of years and somehow continue to intersect.
Madoc, Madog, Maddux, and Mad Dog; Gwydder, Gedder, and Gwen; Zyllie, Zyllah, Zylle; two Branwens and a Charles and a Chuck round out the cast. I think...more
The biggest problem is her somewhat silly reliance on hereditary family names from generation to generation--names that endure for hundreds of years and somehow continue to intersect.
Madoc, Madog, Maddux, and Mad Dog; Gwydder, Gedder, and Gwen; Zyllie, Zyllah, Zylle; two Branwens and a Charles and a Chuck round out the cast. I think...more
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Read in January, 1991
interestingly, i think, i've heard from most people that this is their favorite of the time quartet. (the first quartet, i don't include An Acceptable Time in this series.) and it was my least favorite. which isn't to say i didn't like the story, but.
perhaps it's because i never loved charles wallace the way other people seemed to. i love/d meg, and always will, more than anyone. i wanted to know more about her, and i hate that...more
perhaps it's because i never loved charles wallace the way other people seemed to. i love/d meg, and always will, more than anyone. i wanted to know more about her, and i hate that...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
People with infinite patience.
I hate to admit it, but getting through this book has been a bit of a chore. I'm not altogether certain if I want to finish this chapter of the "Wrinkle in Time" series, though I'm sure I'll press on because I bought the entire series and I want to get through it at least once. What is interesting about this book is that it introduces us to an adult (and very pregnant) Meg, and a teenaged Charles Wallace, who is the center of this book. After getting to know these two characters so wel...more
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Read in April, 2008
A little bit long (and I think the religious "undertones" from the other books were made into "overtones" in this book in the series), but I was captivated by the complicated story involving the Welsh brothers and how over and over again, generation after generation, they still were fighting each other. Also, the environmental themes and threats of nuclear war are incredibly relevant to what's going on in the world (and especially in America) today.
My one quibble is the v...more
My one quibble is the v...more
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Read in August, 2008
This one is pretty weak. The name thing is especially stupid. It takes literally 150 pages (out of 278) for them to figure out "with a startled flash of comprehension" that there's - gosh! - a connection between various people named Madoc, Madog, Maddok, Maddox, Mad Dog, Branwen, Brandon, Bran, Zyll, Zylle, Zillo, Zillah, Zillie, Beezie (B.Z.), Branzillo. And then it's on p.195 that we get "Certainly the name Zillie must have some connection with Madoc's Zyll, and Ritchie Llawcae'...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
everyone
The book is clever, often to the point of confusion, as it uses the idea that one little incident can change the outcome of the world. It reminds me of something (I can't remember whether it's a story, movie, or something else) where a time-traveler struggles to keep himself from changing the present while in the past; after accidently stepping on a butterfly and thinking that it can do no harm, he returns to his own time and see the world in flames and chaos. This book showed that even small ev...more
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Maybe I should create a new shelf for "I loved the hell out of this book when I was a child"? L'Engle's "Time Trilogy" (composed of five books, not unlike Douglas Adams's "Hitchhiker's Trilogy") was one of the guideposts of my childhood. As a nigh-terminally out of place child, I found comfort in knowing that there were people like Meg and Charles Wallace Murray out there, if only in fiction. My mother told me recently that I never seemed to understand myself until ...more
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Mixed feelings about this one. In some ways, it is my favorite of the three L'Engle books I have read. I loved the title, and I absolutely, utterly loved Gaudior (and the especially good cover illustration of him). As I recall, Gaudior could easily travel through time, but it was difficult for him to travel in space (from one place to another). This stuck with me, and I've pondered it every once in a while, just as a novel idea, a "what if."
However, I remember the book placing a lot ...more
However, I remember the book placing a lot ...more
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Read in September, 2008
recommended to Laura by:
Maplewood Public Libraryrecommends it for: everyone
In some ways, I am always reading this book. Even though this is technically a children's book, this is one of the most important books I've ever read. Every time I get stressed out, I return to this book - so I read it two weeks ago!
Madeline L'Engle is one of my favorite writers, with Agatha Christie. Her emphasis on choice, that evil and good do exist and that we need to be conscious of ourselves, I think of her writing often.
And who doesn't love the Murrays? I wanted to be Meg ...more
Madeline L'Engle is one of my favorite writers, with Agatha Christie. Her emphasis on choice, that evil and good do exist and that we need to be conscious of ourselves, I think of her writing often.
And who doesn't love the Murrays? I wanted to be Meg ...more
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Read in January, 1992
Though I am hard-pressed to pick a favorite among Madeleine L'Engle's litany of novels, this is a likely candidate. The fourth installment in the Wrinkle in Time series, I adore L'Engle's incorporation of exotic cultures and climes, time travel, and a sense of overwhelming good battling evil regardless of how hopeless it may seem. I especially love Charles Wallace's many "reincarnations" that take him everywhere from the Welsh settlement of Patagonia to the witch-fearing colonies of ...more
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Read in January, 1995
recommends it for:
fantasy fans
As a third grader, I picked up this fabulous series and read it from start to finish, then read it again and again. While my feelings towards all the books changed as I got older and began to understand them on a deeper level, I believe that this book evolved the most over time. While Meg sits in her childhood bedroom, she follows Charles Wallace on an epic journey through time on a night-long quest to save the world.
This book is deeply layered, and was able to stand up to guilty pleasure l...more
This book is deeply layered, and was able to stand up to guilty pleasure l...more
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Read in January, 1998
This book has stuck with me for a very long time.
I remember doing a book report on this book in elementary school and how some of the vocabulary flew over my head a little bit.
However I remember being completely involved in the book and haven't forgotten it since.
The title of the book escaped me a long time ago and it took me a while on google to finally find it.
The story line however really did stick with me and it's something that's really unique and really my thing.
This is a book I...more
I remember doing a book report on this book in elementary school and how some of the vocabulary flew over my head a little bit.
However I remember being completely involved in the book and haven't forgotten it since.
The title of the book escaped me a long time ago and it took me a while on google to finally find it.
The story line however really did stick with me and it's something that's really unique and really my thing.
This is a book I...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
A favorite exchange:
"Gaudior, I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For making you try to get us to Patagonia. If I hadn't, we might not have been nearly killed by the Echthroi."
"Apology accepted," Gaudior said briskly. "What have you learned?"
"I've learned that every time I've tried to control things we've had trouble. I don't know what we ought to do now, or Where or When we ought to go from here. I just don't know..."
"I think&quo...more
"Gaudior, I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For making you try to get us to Patagonia. If I hadn't, we might not have been nearly killed by the Echthroi."
"Apology accepted," Gaudior said briskly. "What have you learned?"
"I've learned that every time I've tried to control things we've had trouble. I don't know what we ought to do now, or Where or When we ought to go from here. I just don't know..."
"I think&quo...more
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You get the idea: I read all three of these books as a kid, and reread them as an adult. The first time I reread this one as an adult, I was blown away by how much hinges on Charles Wallaces' finding the right moment to "fix" history. When he did, it blew me away. Then I reread it later, and missed the climax--I read it, but it lacked all the power from that second time I read it. I really wanted to be blown away again, but maybe it's just the nature of rereading. I love the poem ...more
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Read in June, 2007
A wonderful additon to A Wrinkle in Time (book 1), A Wind in the Door (Book 2). The journey to save the U.S. from being nuked that is taken by Charles Wallace into the past to chance the course of Might-Have-Beens. The intorduction of another character Gaudior, a unicorn, that the reader falls in love with.
This book's lesson lies in the journey of Chalrles Wallace and the things he learns. It teaches that the slightest change in history or the slighest brush with someobody can change the c...more
This book's lesson lies in the journey of Chalrles Wallace and the things he learns. It teaches that the slightest change in history or the slighest brush with someobody can change the c...more
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Read in July, 2001
recommends it for:
eh, who needs it
i didn't like this book. i read it after rereading a wrinkle in time and then discovering a wind in the door. this one made me feel weird. it's about a crazy south american dictator named "mad dog gonzales" or something like that, who's threatening to nuclear bomb the world, and meg's dad has to help the president of the united states save the world. the plot has to do with time travel which is kind of interesting but i had a problem with the use of native people as a symbol of an ...more
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Read in January, 1957
As a kid, I friggin' loved this whole series. Now I know why: "...in 2004, the poet Cynthia Zarin wrote that A Wrinkle in Time can be read as 'science fiction, a warm tale of family life, a response to the cold war, a book about a search for a father, a feminist tract, a religious fable, a coming-of-age novel, a work of Satanism.'" But especially the last one, obviously. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news...
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Read in May, 2008
I had a hard time at first understanding what was happening in this book. All the sci-fi stuff, time travelling, and going "within" other people was confusing. I got into it midway and by the end I was enthralled and liked the story very much. All the similarities in names (which helped to connect the generations of families together) was a bit confusing at first too, but I got it finally. What I really liked more than the sci-fi stuff was the story about the Llawcae and Maddox fam...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.12 (6480 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.09 (5224 ratings) number of reviews: 222
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quote
"At Tara in this fateful hour,
I place all Heaven with its power,
And the sun with its brightness,
And the snow with its whiteness,
And the fire with all the strength it hath,
And the lightning with its rapid wrath,
And the winds with their swiftness along their path,
And the sea with its deepness,
And the rocks with their steepness,
And the earth with its starkness:
All these I place,
By God's almighty help and grace
Between myself and the powers of darkness!"
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