Reading with Joy — Chapter Ten

“...a reassuring sense of safety flowed through her with the warmth which continued to seep deep into her as the beast touched her. Then it picked her up, cradling her in two of its four arms.”

— A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Welcome back to my summer book club! In this chapter, Meg awakes fearful, paralyzed, and angry at her father for failing to be the perfect rescuer she had dreamed of finding. Although her father assures her that he is doing everything he can to keep the children safe, her frustration at losing Charles Wallace boils over into despair that refuses to forgive or hope the best of her father’s actions.

It reminds me a little of the fear we are prone to when we find ourselves in a dark and broken world, full of injustice and illness and strife, with “only” true beauty and goodness to help us stand against it. In this episode (where we cover everything from the delightful motherliness of Madeleine L’Engle to Doctor Who), my dear friend Boze Herrington and I talked about the almost sacramental nature of art which points us towards God’s goodness in a broken and beautiful world and the way that children’s literature reminds us that the universe is a good place to feel at home.

It’s not too late to join in!

This is how the book club works: I’ll post an episode per chapter each week on Monday, which you can listen to in preparation for discussion. Then, I’ll post discussion questions on this website, my instagram, my twitter, and my Facebook. (full disclosure: I think discussion tends to go best on Instagram and Facebook). Post your thoughts, comments, questions on these threads as a way to engage the text. I also encourage you to discuss the book in real life (or over Facetime, given our weird times!) with a real friend… it’s so much more fun! In that spirit, each week I’ll have a different guest discussing each chapter with me.

A Wrinkle in Time (Time Quintet)

By Madeleine L'Engle



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Today’s Guest: Boze Herrington

Boze and I with the local stoic bovine

Boze Herrington, who has ghostwritten 20+ mystery novels, is the brilliant, humorous, and hopeful mind behind the Twitter account the Library Owl (@SketchesbyBoze), which is a place of appreciation for beauty and some of the best literary jokes on the internet. You can also keep up with his musings on everything from how Harry Potter is really structured like a series of mystery novels to the deep importance of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 on his Patreon.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:This planet is strange, grey, and so alien that the creatures we encounter help us to grapple with our own strangeness and the truth that we are not alone in the universe. What do you make of this new planet? Meg’s anger has been a consistent help to her, but here it almost seems to blind her to her father’s love… something we are prone to ourselves. Has art helped you to grapple with the goodness of life and love despite chaos?